3.5*

Meh. I very much wanted to enjoy this, but was disappointed. The concept is interesting, and the science is fun (and good), but there is something clunky about the style. Maybe that's the translation, or me not being familiar with the writing culture this is from, or maybe it's this book itself - I don't know.
The reason I rounded down to 3 rather than up to 4 is that it just stopped, with no resolution, part way through the story. Yeah, I get that it's the first of three volumes, but I expected a bit of natural closure at the end of this volume.
I doubt I will be continuing with the series.