I'm with Drunken Ghoo :)
I really enjoyed Bleak Seasons ... the jumping around for me added more interest. And I don't think we're supposed to understand everything ;)
Btw not only is there an obvious Indian influence with the Taglians and Kina, but the Nueng are definitely Vietnamese/Chinese in many many ways. I actually expected the books of the north to be the best and the others not as good, and have been very pleasantly surprised to see that's not the case.
Has anyone read any of Cook's other series? Garrett, Dread Empire etc?