The narrative took me in, set me on fire and left me to deal with it. :)

I loved it, despite some weak parts. I found an echo of some of my thoughts, loved the way the characters´ emotions (and their evolution) were drawn and perhaps most of all, the way the author creates the atmosphere of a scene... From banquets to fire, suburbs and buildings to political intrigue and crowd gatherings, the mingling of reality and people´s thoughts and imaginings was astonishing... There were parts that felt so real, so palpable...

The book had other parts that felt way too sentimental, dialogues that were just too perfect and a weakly written ending. However, some of that may be the effect of the era it was written in and I felt there were quite a few sections where the author successfully managed to pull off ideas that almost anyone else would have totally screwed up or given up on.

So I bow to the author and thank him for this emotional journey that I still have to think through a little :)