Mother of God, I was SO freaking excited for this book, and it did not disappoint. The first half(ish) introduces you to a ton of new characters, and the second half brings back some old favorites from the first book. I can't say I really connected to all of the new characters right off the bat -- I hated how ridiculous Dirac was (how can a full grown adult with a PhD in physics act like an actual child throwing a temper tantrum nonstop??) and it took a while to warm up to Harper, who I thought was too standoffish most of the time. However, I really enjoyed meeting all of them and seeing how all these different people came together. Also: this book is brutal in that it also isn't afraid to kill off members of this cast (no spoilers with regards to who gets the axe).
I'm kinda still overly excited from having just finished this, do I'm going to list some notable points of why this book is great:
-CONNECTED LORE. All the books written by this author are connected, and this story brings a lot of elements, scenery, characters, and world together in a more official sense. I love this kind of stuff! If you haven't read more of his work, I urge you to seek it out for FULL enjoyment of this story. Of course, having read The House That Fell From the Sky is literally a must; this is a direct sequel, after all.
-COSMIC HORROR. My top favorite type of horror, and this book/series has it in spades.
-[REDACTED]: Something Familiar. This also works as a slight point against the story, at least at first. I love the Grey World lore, so I don't feel like it needs to align itself with already established concepts/lore. That said, the book takes [REDACTED] and makes it very much its own, so it feels far more original than I was initially expecting. Thus, what I originally was somewhat torn over became something that I am SO FREAKING EXCITED TO SEE MORE OF!
-THEORIES ABOUND. You can ponder and wonder at who's who and the why's and the how's. You don't get all the answers, so you're given the space to try and figure certain things out for yourself before the next book (possibly?) answers these questions.
-Lastly, the IMAGERY. Cosmic horror is nothing without descriptions of horrors beyond human comprehension, and you see vistas of Eldritch monstrosities and hints at things far worse. It's great.
In conclusion: this is so very, very much my cup of tea. Highly recommended.