At this point, it's safe to declare this book officially abandoned. There were just too many things that bugged me in the first third or so and I don't think it'll get better.

@SallyStrange@bookwyrm.social In this case the things that bugged me were plot related and one of the main characters being a bad stereotype. I was thinking about trying again with Vagabonds but seeing your comment maybe not.

@Flauschbuch@bookrastinating.com The plot in Vagabonds was so confusing. But I will say that none of the characters struck me as stereotypical. It was difficult to follow because every time I thought I'd gotten what the main conflict was going to be, Hao went off on a tangent and revealed a different set of tensions and conflict to resolve. And several many of them did not get resolved.