18th century writing style is a good match for the plot. It's 25th century, there are seven different quasi-states, but they are ruled by disgusting lustful self-righteous hypocritical pricks akin to medieval absolute monarchs, which all happen to be members of their joint secret club.

The narrator is one well-connected person, employed by all the rulers, and even more abhorrent than them, and it's not just because of what's uncovered about narrator's past in the middle of the book; narrator, as a character, was revolting from the first pages. The book covers their quest to uncover certain mysteries in attempt to prevent a war caused by rulers' unimaginable unsuitability for their respective ruling positions. On that quest narrator interacts with some other characters, all of the elite; common people's lives are of no concern there.

Still, one can catch some glimpses of the actual society; and that's the society that botched it all. Gender issues are swept under the rug, so there are no more gender issues. Same goes for religious issues. It is suggested that democracy and egalitarianism evolved much further during these 4 centuries, but there is rampant cronyism and nepotism on the top, and there is a huge divide between elites and common folks.

Some reviews seem to believe this future is utopia, and praise the book for it alone. Some reviewers seem to like the book for how moral its characters are. I find it odd because it is horrifyingly realistic dystopia, and because all of the main and supporting characters, except for one 13-year old kid and maybe one or two more (which might well be because we don't know them well enough yet), are extremely repugnant. And that's why it rightfully earns its 4.5 stars, as a dystopia.