This early speculative fiction novel is over 100 years old and you definitely see it in the text. It recalls early space opera works like John Carter, with a protagonist involved in a quest on a weird, distant planet. John Carter though is a romantic, noble hero and the challenges he needs to tackle are immediate. Maskull's story is more philosophical, with a lot of death, sacrifices, discussions of philosophical concepts and so many weird names and characters.
The novel is definitely imaginative and describes very different cultures in broad strokes.
There a lot of discussion of gender roles, and even non-binary characters, which I did not expect in such an old novel.
Still, my main issue is that I still don't understand what the novel was discussing. The novel is mostly allegorical, and I was not able to grasp what the author was trying to say.