User Profile

It's well-written, contains interesting ideas, and takes place in an interesting setting, but the story itself just didn't grab me. It was still pretty easy to keep reading though, in part because the writing was so enjoyable, and in part because there were some bits of lore sprinkled in that I actually found more engrossing than the main plot. They don't feel clunky enough for me to call them infodumps, though I suppose that's kind of what they are. Whatever you want to call those, I think they were my favorite parts.

Ultimately, I would say this is one of those books I admire more than I like, but don't take that overly harshly. I would say this is purely a matter of taste, not quality.

On the one hand, I didn't enjoy the main story that much. I wouldn't say it's boring, it just didn't grab me I guess. On the other hand, the writing/prose is quite good, and there were parts I did quite enjoy. I did like the core idea, and the setting is interesting and well-constructed. There are a couple of "lore dumps" in particular that were my favorite parts of the book.

I remember hearing someone say about some other book something along the lines of "I admire it more than I enjoyed it," and I think that somewhat fits my feelings here. I wouldn't go so far as to say I didn't like it, but I wouldn't call it a favorite either. That said, I find it hard to give it just an average rating, as it was so well-written.