I think Priest does approach several hairy aspects in the right way. I thought the historical aspects were handled well--in so far as people's worldviews were truly informed by their environment. Briar in particular felt like a fully realized character. However--and this is something I'm not quite sure a novel that's all about worldbuilding can ever overcome--there were instances where you could almost feel the story grinding into a halt in order to pay lip service to exposition.