Any additional comments?
To be honest I just soldered on through the 2/3 of the middle of the book. Knowing full well what this brutally long setup was all about.

The whole book was obvious to be honest. It could have been condensed into a character and scene set of chapters in the next book. At the same time I understand why the author tried so hard to create some version of time passing and people changing. It would have made the next book formulaic if it wasn’t done. I think honestly there could have been more done with back ground plot elements. This was a missed opportunity to expand the story universe.