I must start by saying that the author sure liked to show off his vocabulary and penchant for flowery descriptions. Worse, this bled into the characters, the result being even more jarring because this style is also used to depict the thoughts or speech of those highly unlikely to even know a fair number of those words, much less use them so often. And the fact that the point of view suddenly, and usually very briefly, switches in the middle of some scenes only adds to the confusion.
Other than that, though some events unfold, it doesn't quite feel like much is happening until the last two chapters, and either way the book is quite short. In addition, some things, such as Baus' magic dagger, are insufficiently explained and tend to simply appear at certain moments and be ignored at others when they'd definitely be useful. And while I'm at things, should also point out the highly unusual lack of any ranged weapons bar those catapults on one ship's deck. No cannons, no bows or crossbows, no pistols, nothing, which doesn't make any sense.