When I first started the book, I almost tossed it - I found the first chapter to be plodding, and it was all the newbie writer mistake of trying to dump the entire alien world's language, culture and naming conventions onto the reader all at once. But the next chapter did a better job of stepping back and assuming the reader doesn't know this world, and by the third chapter the narrative is starting to take off, the worlds (there are three so far) are becoming clearer, and it's taking shape to be built on the mold of Bridge Over The River Kwai -- the author takes you to different, but related places each chapter, and then (hopefully) by the end of the book merges them so all the stories come together.

I think the writing style changed dramatically after that first chapter, which helped a lot.