Wow, this turned out to be VERY enjoyable.

Incredible worldbuilding for such a short book, some strong characterization, interesting commentary on imperial conquests, and a plot that wasn't action-packed but still had great pacing. Also one of the most interesting magic systems I've encountered.

Jeremy Ang Jones did a great job narrating, but the audiobook had truly terrible editing/mixing. Volume changes, clips that were clearly re-recorded in a different room and pasted in without much thought, etc.