I don't think I ever saw the word-of-mouth about this novel! but clearly it had a lot of positive buzz since it ended up on the hugo ballot. I'm....a little baffled as to why so many people liked it so much.

I am glad my review could remove from you any sense of obligation to try to finish reading it! I wish I hadn't bothered finishing it tbh.

The author as a whole....her main other series of scifi I started out liking but the more I read of it the more certain aspects of it bugged me in ways that radiated out and back to the beginning of the series. And I haven't bothered to read her fantasy series because I've heard its understanding of history is pretty shallow. I have enjoyed some of her short stories though! but overall I wouldn't suggest it's worth your time to try any of her other works.