Epic fantasy that feels very unique, not built off of western epics and tropes. It’s inclusive of a lot of identities and it’s got world building that pulls you right in, Constantly thirsty for more information about the various cultures, customs, and magic.

It’s got similar pacing to epics as well, especially the first in series. It’s pretty much all setup, which will appeal to some and not others. To help the pacing along, it has a more complex structure structured around the climax, jumping back in time from the end point by days, weeks, years, for all the main characters.

Again, similar to other starts of a series, there isn’t much closure, which will also polarize readers, I think. There’s a pretty large amount of plot hanging off a cliff here.

It would have been a 5 star book had there been tighter theme interwoven and the plot managed to leave things open for the next, while saying something and tying off some arcs/themes, etc.