This is a provisional 5. I was blown away by what I read but I'll admit up front that I don't fully understand it. This will require re-reading at least once as well as some deeper reflection on it. I find it hard to believe that this could be just a masturbatory exercise in creativity (being weird for weirdness's sake), yet if it's an allegory, I haven't figured out what the author wants to say.

For pure enjoyment of the page-to-page process of getting lost in the truly excellent prose, setting, and flow of events, this earns a 5 from me (unless it turns out to be a vacuous joke played on the reader).