Rating: 
Summary: Seeing through a telescope and a microscope - simultaneously
Review: To the punchline, first: if you enjoy the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or loved "Fall On Your Knees" by Anne Marie McDonald, or simply admire a successful poet's translation to prose, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Buy it, borrow it, look over the shoulder of the person in the seat next to you - just read it. Now the review:I won't repeat the plot of this book: you can read that above, and it is every bit as complex and fascinating as it sounds. What I will say is that Christopher has created a unique, believable world that doesn't just invite you to suspend your disbelief, it virtually compels you to do so. At every level - the plot, the setting(s), the lush descriptions of events, locations, feelings and people - the author impresses and amazes with his love of language, and his ability to paint with words. Reading this book is like viewing a huge canvas painted by a master, as visually appealing in the mind's eye as it is to the ear (both inner and outer). As a whole, it is impressive; at the detail level, every line counts. I found myself doing something that I absolutely never, ever do unless reading non-fiction or the newspaper: reading sections out loud, to my companion, as if I were reading "truth". And despite the length and breadth of this novel, Christopher successfully maintains our interest, forcing the reader to choose between moving on quickly, to see what happens, and lingering on the page to enjoy the poetry. So why only four out of five possible stars? you ask. Well, here's my only quibble: all of the characters speak with the same voice. As well-drawn as they are, as much as they stand out from one another (despite the above-referenced unusual and very similar-sounding names for most of the characters), as soon as they open their mouths, it's as if they have identical histories, training, and IQs. Whether it's a ten year-old boy, a student of arcane languages, a rock star or a ruthless businessman, they all speak with the same cadence, enunciation, and complete lack of stuttering, verbal tics or other identifiers. This becomes a bit of a problem, given the complexity of the story, because without these cues the reader (me) has to periodically look up the page to remind himself of who is speaking. Frankly, given the evidently incredible talent of the author, I was surprised by this shortcoming. However, don't let this quibble keep you from reading this story, because that is exactly what this book is, in its finest form: STORY. Or, to be accurate: STORIES.
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