I keep thinking of this book as what might happen if Wes Anderson were hired to direct a big sci-fi/fantasy blockbuster. Perhaps not quite the right analogy, but close enough? The story isn't incredibly special, but the style is all sorts of weird and different. I laughed at a lot of the unexpected details, especially around the middle of the book. 
 Basically, I went into All the Birds in the Sky looking for something quirky and offbeat that would offer a change of pace, and that's exactly what I got.