City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sometimes a book comes along which exceeds already lofty expectations. Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs is such a book, and more. Many reviews have been so positive I was prepared for the glorious prose, the incredible world-building, (even to a degree, Sigrud!). What I didn't anticipate was that the book would make me think so much.
The book begins as a simple murder mystery, albeit one set in a post-deity ruled landscape. As the story develops though, so does the theme of religion and how it affects society. The world Bennett created is no longer merely a setting in which the story takes place, but a living, breathing character all its own.
The biggest compliment I can pay this book is that I have tried to start three books since I finished this, to no avail. My mind returns to Bulikov, a wondrous city filled with echoes of dead gods. The questions raised by Bennett are fundamentally existential. Do the gods create the people in their own image, or do the people shape the gods to be who they need them to be? Bennet doesn't presume to answer this, but poses the question in a totally unique way.

Stop whatever you are doing and read this book.
You're already welcome.