At first, I was listening to it a bit carelessly thinking that it's a nice adventure space opera type thingy but the longer it went the more I fell in awe of the world. And the characters have character which is always a plus. Honestly, Idris feels very relatable. I think I have a bit of a scale problem with this book in that the events are supposed to take place among such vastness yet all we get to see are a few perspectives so in the end I'm left feeling unsure I understood how grand the world where the events took place is. On the other hand, I'm not sure if it matters too much because despite all the political maneuvering and potential existential threats it's the human characters that influence events.