So many books, so little time

I've read hundreds of sci-fi/fantasy books over my life, I have entire bookshelves full; I have no idea how I didn't read this sooner.

This book is great. The world-building and characters are next level, the seamless transition from Cyberpunk-style sci-fi with the TechnoCore and rogue manmade black holes interacts perfectly with dark, cosmic fantasy elements of the Time Tombs and the Shrike.

But what I think truly carries this book is the Canterbury Tales style writing, where each character tells their memoir throughout an overarching plot. And wow. Each one of these six memoirs could be a book in its own genre. Father Hoyt's memoir with the Bikura and Cruciform would be right at home in a horror novel. Brawne Lamia's memoir with the cybrid and rogue AIs would be otherwise found in a dark-detective-cyberpunk novel. Sol Weintraub's story is a heartbreaking tale of theological proportions.

But my most favorite was the Consul's. The tragedy of Siri and Merin Aspic was heart-rending. The doomed rebellion and intergenerational revenge plot that followed could have been epics all on their own, not just a 60-page explanation of who the Consul is.

And somehow, impossibly, each one of these stories tie back to this overarching pilgrimage to talk to Death himself.

I very rarely read books that blow me away like this anymore.

I already ordered the sequel so no spoilers please!