This one was absolutely magnificent. Original, fresh, well-paced, with a setting managing to be both big and sprawling and small and intimate, all at the same time. The insights given into Mahit's thinking, her way of seeing the world (be that the world in the abstract or the concrete (as in being the Empire) sense are well-rounded and the character development is some of the best I've read in a while. The romances are believable and the foreshadowing is great. I can't wait to get started on the sequel.