I am unsure of just what rating to give this book. The story being told was interesting and almost always compelling to read, and the world-building was excellent. There are, however, two faults: Pacing, and characterization.

The pacing was rather bad. It felt like a man sprinting up, only to stumble, fall down for a little before regaining his breath and awkwardly speeding away for a little while before repeating everything again. Really. One moment everything was being described in detail, then it suddenly started glossing over facts that seemed important, and then again everything started being described in detail for seemingly no particular reason. The effect was that at times I felt like I was reading a summary of the novel, rather than the novel itself.

As for the characterization... It was not bad, but many supporting characters did suffer from a certain 'same-ness' that I suppose can be very reasonably attributed to the religious system portrayed. The main characters were rather better, I think, and I mostly enjoyed reading about them.

All in all, it was an interesting read about a side of the coin not often portrayed with such lenses in fantasy.