This book is…imagine if Gideon the Ninth had queer men as the central relationship instead of queer women and was also somehow less completely bonkers. This is both a good thing, in terms of readibility, and a little bit of a loss because it can’t quite hit the highs that The Locked Tomb reaches at its absolute best. 
I don’t think it’s trying, though. I think it’s aiming squarely at writing an unconventional hero and letting him shine. And it does that really well and with a great cast that I am willing to forgive it both some handwaving on the part of the plot and a map/terrain that feels like it has all the geographic integrity of a Catan board.