Paper Cuts

I've just finished Sabriel. Very satisfying. Garth Nix has structured this book strangely because you discover more details about the world throughout the book, rather than spending alot of time early on describing the world. For example early on he references electricity and yet the army still uses bayonets, and it's not till near the end of the book it's revealed that tanks are a new type of vehicle and that the current cars can do a top speed of 35mph.
At first I found this slow release of details a little off putting, because I felt that I didn't have a reasonable picture of the world and the specific quirks created for it. Having finished the first book I still don't have a semi-complete concept of this world, but what I've read has revealed a rich world that I'm eager to learn more about.