The Dragon Bone Chair Book review

The Dragon Bone Chair is well written (if potentially a bit dry) with an excellent main character arc in Simon. Simon’s growth is slow and believable, with him starting out as dreamy and a bit scatter brained and evolving in more than just competence but in tangibly maturing as well.
But I also found the book slow in general, particularly for the first hundred pages which progressed largely without conflict (narrative, action, intrigue or otherwise,) preoccupied more with bits of character and world and plot introduction in-between large swaths of description or daily life elements. As the book progresses and plot actually gets started, the narrative gets significantly stronger with actions scenes, character conflicts and growth, and stakes being far more densely packed (and all being of high quality.) The description scenes remain overburdened throughout, often encompassing whole pages in detailing environments visually.
The world building is decent, though many of the fantastical elements only emerge in the latter half of the book.