Gardens of the Moon

Just finished the first book and my head is spinning a bit. This thing is crammed full of fantastic ideas, rich world building and dozens truly interesting characters. It asks a lot of questions that it doesn't answer and presents a lot of new concepts, characters, and even plots without any fanfare or explanation whatsoever... that sounds bad but it wasn't a negative experience. The style is jarring but it's also immersive, I found myself completely dialled in just to make sure I was soaking up all the details that I would need to know what the $&@! was going on, and for the most part that attention to detail was richly rewarded. I loved this world, loved these characters and loved this story... it's only getting four stars because It was so dense that I had to re-read frequently to make sure I had the story straight. Despite that, it felt epic, engaging, and I loved the style of the writing itself. I'll pick up book 2 for sure.