"An epic fantasy in miniature" is the perfect description of this book. It's a carefully conceived world, a kingdom with obvious and brilliantly worked out magic. In the hands of a different author, it would be 500 pages long and it could probably support that size narrative. What Wilde does with it instead is equally fascinating.
It also has the short story tendency towards spareness and elegance in the face of exuberance. I wish I knew more.