This is an epic tale that takes place over 5 days. It's a story within a story, unveiling itself as a play performed in a spirit realm outside of time and place. I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Keema and Jun as they take part in their hero's journey across the land.

All of the characters felt well developed and fleshed out, their motivations and struggles felt realistic. The villains were also enjoyable to read, each of them vile in their own way, definetly not for the faint of heart!

I liked the snippets of thought that were interspersed from background characters not involved in the main storyline, especially when they spoke to the struggle of the everyday workers that built and propped up the empire, a perspective that is often missing in epic fantasies.

The world building was really comprehensive and immersive, I haven't read a story with this kind of setting before but I really loved it and feel like it will stick with me.

The length is on the longer side, but I didn't mind because It allowed for even pacing throughout the story, and I love that it's a stand alone novel.

The only thing I was slightly let down by was the epilogue which I felt focused too much on a lineage I didn't really care about and the politics of what happened after. I also wished, maybe unrealistically, for there to be more of a popular uprising than there was.