this has a lot going for it in terms of the prose and the worldbuilding, but one thing that does bother me is how dim the main characters are. Nahri in particular is presented as a clever thief and con artist, but the writing from her perspective reveals her to be kind of generally uncurious, never asking the right questions or putting anything together on her own, and perpetually a step behind everyone else around her. maybe modern fantasy is just spoiled with political intrigue written from the standpoint of characters who actually are razor sharp (Tyrion Lannister, Inquisitor Glokta, Baru Cormorant...)