It's actually a collection of four books, which I think these days are sold in sets of two.
It's got some fun stuff, like an author who's convinced of his own infallibility, and fantasy-like vocabulary, except none of the words are really made up, it's just applications of somewhat obscure latin and greek words. I'd also kind of encourage going into it blind, since there are some bits of it that are more fun to figure out as you go along.
Bonus for /c/finalfantasyxiv@lemmy.world players: it has Ascians.
It's generally conspicuous consumption, where the main point is to flaunt wealth.
Functional aspects like how well an engine runs or a clock displays time are part of that, as poorly functioning but expensive-looking stuff is generally derided, but you also can get great-working stuff that doesn't look flashy.