I have been intrigued by this book for many years & I’m glad to have gotten around to it so I can take part in the discourse. 
this was a tough book for me. the prose is very flowery and difficult to read. the plot is also very abstract which does not help the reading process. these are things that historically can break a book for me. for at least the first 50 pages I was very thoroughly confused. yet, eventually things click into place & I began to understand the format of the book, the rules of the world, and overall what was going on. 
there were portions I really enjoyed, especially towards the middle. there are some well chosen lines and the language is very deliberate. 
all in all, I thought this was a decent read but there were too many aspects that don’t gel with my preferences, which outweighed the high points. I really wish we had more world building; I think this is the main thing that would have elevated the novel to a higher rating/enjoyment level.