Definitely one of my most favourite reads of the past couple of years, and one I hope to re-read soon, and I hope it should gain more depth from a second reading, already knowing what happens.

I can forgive it the early chapters being a bit hand-heldy, as it's a complex world he's about to drop on us, and I think jumping straight in might just be too confusing, and lessen the impact. (Or maybe I've read too many books this year where I have gotten lost at how the world works, as they deliberately threw too many of confusing ideas at you, and there's no way of juggling them all in your head without multiple readings). And it *is* a crime novel - it's got to have suspense, and, yes, by a few chapters in, the suspense of how the hell these two cities worked had built up to just the right level for it to be the correct time for the world building to occur.