This was the first book in this series where I noticed how wildly different the voices were and how good Neumeier is at conveying culture linguistically. 
The first half of the book was good and interesting and there was a lot going on and then the second half happened. 
(Cue John Mulaney “that’s when it went from good to great”)
Because suddenly it was a story about rules and kindness and power and whether it is possible to ethically hold power over another and whether even good people will eventually break…
There’s also this background story about “how do different societies handle malfeasance and the people who get swept up into it?” And also “what does mercy and kindness look like?”