I feel like the kid with no friends/the one who has chicken pox, so has to stay inside while she watches her friends play and have a great time in the sandbox. 
 I can appreciate that there is superlative storytelling and masterful word building here. I can feel it. I stayed up past 2 am so I could continue reading - I was that engaged. I love the characters, the world, and the plot. 
 However, I don't truly understand it. I can barely picture what's going on with my mind's eye, if I'm making any sense. Warlord, Eyrien, Demon-dead, Witch, (people of the) Blood, the Jewels, Offering to the Darkness, Queen, the different plaxes: Chaillot, Terreille, Askavi.... I don't really understand it or what exactly is going on. 
 It's a bummer. Because as much as I enjoyed it, I just know I would enjoy it so much more if I just bloody understood what exactly was happening.