Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely agree with the comparison to Naomi Novik's style of writing. The narrative tone is almost removed, very reflective on the actions that are taking place, rather than being caught up in them. I enjoyed the eclectic range of character, particularly the old woman (impossible to not love her attitude towards life), Barsiley, and Toba (the elder). 
I don't know how keen I was on all the various perspectives, I spent most of the time waiting to get back to Toba's POV but the pieces did all mostly come together for the finale. I don't know that I would pick up future books in this series, but I really enjoyed the overall historical-fantasy setting, and particularly all the ways this book covered topics such as language and translation!