When starting this read, I thought it was published and the series concluded years prior. I didn't realize that it came out fairly recently, May 30, 2023, and that the sequel had yet to be published. I'm not complaining; I was just pleasantly surprised.

First, I enjoyed this book immensely. It's the first non-Murderbot book I've read by Martha Wells, and she did not disappoint. I will gladly pick up the second one once it's published (July 2025).

Second, based on my extremely shallow perusal of reviews on Goodreads, this book polarizes its readers: they either love it or hate it.

Some readers disliked the way Wells' introduced the characters and worldbuilding (saying it felt like book 2 or 3 of a series as opposed to book 1). I get where they are coming from, but I found the lack of hand-holding to be refreshing. It allowed Wells' to worldbuild at her own pace while not sacrificing plot momentum (at least in my opinion).

Other readers critiqued her choice of names for some of the minor characters she used to flesh out the world, and I'll be honest: I get this criticism and find it valid. But I don't think it detracted from the story. Plus, some of the characters are from familial dynasties and shared (or similar) names are a way of signaling their shared background/heritage. At least that's how I read it.

Regardless, I enjoyed this first book in a new series and look forward to the second one.