[tuatoru]

I re-read the series this year too. The books are just as good the second time 'round--maybe better. There's a fifth one new since my last read-through, and another in the offing perhaps[1].

Saunders' writing is for people who think that Gibson spends too much time explaining things.[2]

You do have to read between the lines a lot, and also stop a lot to figure out how bits of the world work, but the world-building is among the best I've seen. A fully worked out, humane society with its own customs, institutions, methods of government, and history in a world with multiple climatic zones and ecosystems.

Unlike most fantasy it's not fantasy aristocracy--there's no binary-thinking "of the blood/not of the blood" or lords and slaves stuff. Magical ability is Gaussian distributed; the mighty sorcerers come from the extreme right tail of the distribution, but everyone has a place and is allowed to grow and contribute as they desire and are able.

Democratic/collectivist welfare state fantasy, perhaps.

1. Saunders's blog: https://dubiousprospects.blogspot.com/

2. Must re-read The Peripheral.