I think this book is better than my experience of reading it, which is my fault for trying to follow an epic on no sleep. So it goes.
What I like so much about this is the balance between mythic modes of narrative and the up closer novelistic mode. The scope and time frame are mythic, but the depth of character development in each short chapter is far richer than myth usually allows.
And, of course, I prefer stories that don’t feel the need to explain all their references and boy does this one deliver on a world that feels mythologically grounded but also doesn’t feel obligated to be a primer for new readers. It was good.
Also I was exhausted while I was reading it and, while I really enjoyed it, I think I would have found it much more...unputdownable in a different mood.