Absolutely superb, a full throated 5 stars.

Shades of a Hitchhiker's Guide acerbic humor, and a Dantean setting and plot. Tonally the book reminds me Titus Groan, that other overlooked gem of hard-to-categorize fantasy. The setting is brilliantly novel, and the story wonderfully unique.

Bancroft has a poetic sensibility, and his passages are as moving as they are gripping. I can't praise this book enough. Easily catapulted to the top my year's reading list, and Bancroft to my authors to watch.