It's a great time! Would heed the warning in the rules about not using leaders and lore in your first game. It's not overly complicated rules wise but there's already a lot of asymmetry in the base with starts and the court deck, leader powers can be overwhelming.

And for the record I neither of the friends I played knew the rules going in. I taught the game to them and they proceeded to wipe the floor with me.
Clearly an excellent teacher...