Age of Sigmar - The Big Rule Book

After a week of feverish reading I completed the new Age of Sigmar big rule book, and here are my initial impressions:

The Good -

• Great artwork.  Some really mind-blowing depictions of the new realms with battle scenes that remind me of the cover art from Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader and the cover of the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle Magic boxed set.  I have mixed feelings about the lack of John Blanche artwork....which was never beautiful but always evoked a unique sense of fantasy weirdness. 
• Interesting mix of game rules, realm rules, wars scrolls, and scenarios gives you everything you need for basic play and advanced scenario gaming.
• Classic over-the-top Warhammer writing style that is consistent with decades of GW's style.

 Needs Work-

• I like the expansiveness of the new realms, as it gives players plenty of room to create their own scenarios...but perhaps it's too much right now.  Maybe I'm just an old man, but I'm having trouble making the mental leap from "the world that was" on a decades-old map of a familiar looking world, to the new boundless sandbox of the Mortal Realms.  A few maps in the BRB help depict 4 of the realms, but only tiny portions of each realm.  And what about the other 4 realms?
• Unless you've been a Warhammer fan for years, the book gives little or no explanation or backgorund to 90% of the races in the Age of Sigmar.  As a guy who plays VC, Orcs and Ogres, I was left wondering where these guys are and why there was little or no mention of Death or Beasts.  Nagash is back....but which Mortarchs came back?  Is Manfred seriously still alive?  What about Krell?  A new player will have no idea what these guys are until more books come out. 
• Too many repetitive pics of the AoS boxed set forces....that space could have been optimized to showcase other races or more maps/details of the other realms.  
• Lacks the quirky sense of humor I love from previous Warhammer books, which is usually tied to the superior races like Orruks, Grots and Oggors (and others like Skaven and Nurgle).  The AoS book takes itself a little too seriously in the setting of super-good guys vs super-bad guys, and I didn't laugh once when I read this book (well, maybe a chuckle when Gorkamorka started bashing things).
• Where are all the toothless peasant of old, whose only functions is too farm dirt and get ravaged by the myriad of bad guys?  The new realms seem so desolate, with no real buildings or civilization to speak of, which makes me wonder who Sigmar is even bothering to save.  We need peasants to protect or plunder!  Is there even a house standing in any of the 7 non-Celestial Realms, or just ruins?

 Bottom line:  good first effort, I give it a C+.  It's enough to get you started, but unless you're a big fan of the Eternals or Khorne, you'll be left a little uninspired and wondering what's going on in the other 50% of the Mortal Realms.  I suppose more details will come out in the accompanying Black Library book, but not more info on the remaining realms.  I won't be satisfied until we get some Death and Beasts in the mix!