3.5 stars. This was a HUGE story. The world, characters, schemes, side-schemes... all of it was a lot. I had a really hard time getting into this book. I think I was over halfway through before I got interested enough that I actually wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was a lot of world building, background information, and set-up to get to the "meat" of the story. At least, that's how it felt to me. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I didn't find that I favored any characters either, which meant that I wasn't rooting for anyone and I was loosing interest. I usually give a book just 100 pages before DNF it, if I feel I won't like it, but there were so many of my reader friends (who share similar book taste) that liked this, that I decided to finish it. I'm actually glad I did because it was a good story. I didn't expect the end result, and I always like when the ending are a surprise. I won't be reading anymore of this series since this book's story came to an end and I don't care to find out what happens to the remaining characters. If you like new, similar-to-ours worlds, based in the past, with schemes, thievery, and murder... then this is a great book for you!