I enjoyed the series and really raced through them - they're good pageturners. The first volume is pretty much the Chu-Han Contention with names changed, but events and characters diverge from there. (There's another continent, with "floating cities" that attack the continent in the first book.) Although sometimes the technological developments the characters come up with are a little too timely and convenient, I thought it was a much more interesting approach than giving them magical powers. The main supernatural element is the presence of the gods, who mess with things in the manner of amused spectators.

Definitely a good pick if you're interested in a fantasyish series that's not Western-coded.