Since I began reading this book on-line, I didn't have that hurdle. This is a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty set in the milieus of ancient and modern Russia. Card, however, told a thick, well done New York steak of a tale. The characters were well developed, and did develop in the course of the story. The secondary characters actually had a pulse, and were not cardboard cutouts.
Card does a superb job of crafting characters that work within family organizations.
Card has a very tight family organization, which reflects how people really operate in the real world. Sherlock Holmes is single, and Watson's wife is a pale shadow of a person. One interesting plot point that Bro. Card does not develop is the importance of childbearing. It is interesting that part of the plot would be predicated on pregnancy.