3.5 stars. A good start to a series which gathers momentum in its final third. 
 The premise is great, the setting and descriptions are wonderful and the plot is sufficiently complex. I didn't have any issues with pacing and, on the whole, the characters had depth and became increasingly three-dimensional as the book progressed. 
 Unfortunately, I had to take stars away because the writing style commits a serious crime: it jars you out of the story. Firstly, I found myself turning to the glossary at the back of the book several times (thank you Ashley for mentioning this - it helped!). Secondly, the characters often have conversations referring to several characters we haven't met yet, discussing them as if we all know who they are and what's going on. This was very disorientating, not helped by how long the character names tend to be, with formal and familiar variations. 
 You can read the rest of the my review on my blog: https://clairehuston.wordpress.com/20...