Finally found the time to catch up with this series - and, damn. Everything in this book is big. Scale, plotlines, characters - everything is dramatic, everything is larger than life. There is never a normal conversation - everything includes grand plans, intrigue, and bombastic philosophical statements. It's massively over the top, all of the time, and I love it.

Unfortunately the cast of characters is also massively over-the-top big, and I cannot remember who they all are. The last time I had to keep a little piece of paper with names of characters on the side was War and Peace, and I don't think that's what your sci-fi space opera should be emulating, to be honest.