Finally finished it! Well, it was a couple days ago, but I've been mostly away from the internet, so haven't had a chance to jump on the forums. Thoughts in spoiler tag.

(SPOILER)This seems to have been a celebration of language almost more than a story. There was a plot, but it seems to be more a case of the language directing the plot than the other way around. Also, it doesn't seem like the first story set in the universe. The author kind of drops you in the universe and goes forward without a whole lot of background. Some of it is explained to you as you go, but a lot of it is just there. This isn't even necessarily is a bad thing, as it lets you fill in the blanks and imagine things yourself, but I am certainly interested in seeing if there's any other stories in this setting. Maybe that was on purpose as well. The whole book assumes a level of intelligence that one just doesn't see in most fantasy or sci-fi anymore, and it was kind of refreshing to read something that makes you think, rather than just drift along in the story.

It's fascinating how the very language that Rydra is trying to discover becomes the antagonist, even more than the people behind it. It's clear that there's a larger war going on, but it's only barely mentioned in relation to the mystery of the language, and it's origin.

Rydra herself is interesting, as she's not your typical hero. It seems like she might be somewhere on the autism spectrum; it's nice to see that a solid main character can be written that's actually human with human issues to be overcome. However, despite her obvious brilliance, some of the leaps of logic she takes are a little hard to believe.
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I would absolutely recommend it to others.