Read this last year – my recollection is that enjoyed the book although it could have used some heavy cutting somewhere in the middle. Jane Eyre meets Harry P. trite I know, but the best quick summary I can think of.

About half way through. Slow readin but enjoyable in a sort of laid back, interesting way.

i’m about 100 pages into the book and it is beautifully written. it feels very period but the book is so richly detailed that i have had a hard time sitting down and reading more than 5 or 6 pages at a time. i’ve had to switch to reading some less dense books while allowing this to digest. i hope it gets easier to read.

Short of perfection, but certainly original and worth reading.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/livredor/84820.html

Haven’t started it yet, but it’s gotten good praise :)

I completely wish she had written in her beautiful prose a book that actually had a plot. The one she had didn’t justify nearly 800 pages.

i have added this book my my cantilevering pile of “must be read”s. very excited to start the book. sounds delightful!

Completed January 2005

A rich and fascinating alternate history – thick, but worth it

I’ve been listening to the audiobook version of this for weeks. Who’s the protagonist? Still not sure. I like some of the minor characters, such as Steven, a black head servant who is depicted well.

Captivating, perfectly readable, one of the classics of our century.

Mind bogglingly well-researched. Have been living in it for the last few weeks. The footnotes provide a convincing backstory, that adds to the feeling of this being a historical novel, really, and not one of fantasy. Also, good to hit someome over the head with, though haven’t had a chance to yet.

s: 1/17/2005
f: 1/18/2005

It is rather slow moving, but I enjoyed it.

Downloaded from audible.com.

I’m not entirely sure what I thought of this book. I liked the concept and the imaginative ideas behind the magic etc. but it was a bit flat and drawn out.

The first 100 pages were fairly slow, but after that I enjoyed it quite a bit. (12/23/04)

I wasn’t all eaten up with this book. It was interesting and fascinating in its way, but in a mild sort of way. Maybe that’s just an effect of the narrative style. Good book, just not overly compelling for me.

It’s more Austen than Jane and less Dickens than Charles, but it’s still taking me a little bit of effort to get involved.

Great fun.

This book is great fun, and does a wonderful job evoking a familiar, yet slightly different Enlightenment era England. Clarke’s imagination of a long English history of magic is fascinating and keeps me wondering, “did this really happen?”, “was there really a Raven King?”