You will likely be confused for almost the entirety of the first book. It doesn’t hold your hand at any point. The metatextual nature of the many very unfamiliar aspects of the setting is a big part of the experience and sets the stage for other norms the author challenges. You start to develop a framework for how things work in the second book.

Yes but it’s a commitment. I’m on my second read, and I’ve read a few Esselmont books, and even I’m unsure about a lot stuff. But I like not knowing everything and having to slowly piece it together.