It's rare that a reader doesn't feel the clunk-clunk-chick of translation, but I was pleasantly surprised to know this steampunk/floating world/post-ecclesiastical disaster novel was first published in French.

At the local bookstore, this novel was recommended for its worldbuilding and character growth. Well, sure, I'll buy that. It's a hefty book, the first of a trilogy (quadrology? okay, series), and I was prepared for a deep dive. But it's dark down there.

Lots of casual misogyny, a possibly asexual heroine (it bodes ill for anyone hoping for a romance with the surly, tall "hero" who is her fiancé.), a hellishly complicated and unpleasant court atmosphere, and an as-yet-unexplained theology that seems to involve an immortal ancestor periodically impregnating his progeny.

Not a book I'll be suggesting for anyone else, but I'll probably give the next in the series a shot.