Rating: 
Summary: A Brilliant Piece of Fiction
Review: I was very disappointed with this book; I bought it because I love Emma Bull's BoneDance, which does not resemble this one at all.
I don't like Victorian books, or pseudo-Victorian anythings, anyway, and wading through the rhetoric and the letters in this was not worth the time. Unlike another customer review, I did manage to finish it, mainly because I was sick this weekend and because I got stubborn; I wanted to know what happened. But the ending was hardly worth the work to finish it, and the other reviewer might not want to bother.The plot does pick up a little about half the way through.
Rating: 
Summary: Major Waste of Time
Review: I was very disappointed with this book; I bought it because I love Emma Bull's BoneDance, which does not resemble this one at all.
I don't like Victorian books, or pseudo-Victorian anythings, anyway, and wading through the rhetoric and the letters in this was not worth the time. Unlike another customer review, I did manage to finish it, mainly because I was sick this weekend and because I got stubborn; I wanted to know what happened. But the ending was hardly worth the work to finish it, and the other reviewer might not want to bother. The plot does pick up a little about half the way through.
Rating:
Summary: I've sent it to three friends
Review: It's rare to come across a book that drives me to buy and send it to friends. Usually I will just recommend a book - but this one I happily have sent on at my own expense. I'm very cheap. A well-written X-Files meets Sherlock Holmes meets Lovecraft, meets Emma Bull and Steven Brust. Throw in the beginnings of communism and the 19th Century British Labor movement, elite British families, and a hearty dose of feminism, and you've got magic. (really - it works far better than you'd imagine!) Emma Bull is one of the great unsung writers of her generation. I stumbled across her 'War for the Oaks' in a used book store years ago, and was blown away. I then did the same with 'Falcon' and was again surprised. Unfortunately, she has been sucked into 'genre' writing and storylines that just plain don't differentiate her. But she writes so very well! I've never read anything by Steven Brust before, and I would guess that I'm one of the few out there that read this for Ms. Bull's reputation. But I'm going to be picking up his work soon. Outstanding just for the style. A VERY SMART BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: I've sent it to three friends
Review: It's rare to come across a book that drives me to buy and send it to friends. Usually I will just recommend a book - but this one I happily have sent on at my own expense. I'm very cheap. A well-written X-Files meets Sherlock Holmes meets Lovecraft, meets Emma Bull and Steven Brust. Throw in the beginnings of communism and the 19th Century British Labor movement, elite British families, and a hearty dose of feminism, and you've got magic. (really - it works far better than you'd imagine!) Emma Bull is one of the great unsung writers of her generation. I stumbled across her 'War for the Oaks' in a used book store years ago, and was blown away. I then did the same with 'Falcon' and was again surprised. Unfortunately, she has been sucked into 'genre' writing and storylines that just plain don't differentiate her. But she writes so very well! I've never read anything by Steven Brust before, and I would guess that I'm one of the few out there that read this for Ms. Bull's reputation. But I'm going to be picking up his work soon. Outstanding just for the style. A VERY SMART BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: A Thumping Good Read
Review: Okay, I stole that line from "A Common Reader", but it seems appropriate! Espistlatory novels, works written in the form of a series of letters and diary entries, are rather old-fashioned. They were very popular back in Victorian times but rather less so nowadays. To many they seem contrived. But consider this: this is a novel set in the Victorian Age. What better way to pay homage to the time then to attempt to copy the style and the verbage of that time? This is one of the many glories, great and small, of this novel and I raise my glass to Brust and Bull for it. The cast of the novel is fairly large by modern standards but much curtailed for Dickens and his ilk; there are essentially four main characters (James Cobham, a ex-Chartist part-time anarchist, Kitty Holbourn, devoutee of the arcane, Richard Cobham, James' cousin and erstwhile lover of Kitty, and Susan Voight, 'an houri in practical shoes and sensible stays'). The plot revolves around several points, but primarily it is a mystery -- James falls from a boat, is assumed drowned, and yet finds himself very much alive and working in an inn as a stablehand several months after the event. Working in and out from here are possible faery sightings, would-be Satanists, or at least individuals bent on human sacrifice, a possible government conspiracy, a traitor in the Chartist movement that may have led to the unravelling of the abortive revolutions of 1848, and even a wonderfully drawn appearance by Friedrich Engels. The characterizations are sharp, the descriptions clear, the manners superb; I never heard a false note in the cadences of voice and manner through the book, no sense of the 20th century imposing itself on the 19th. I ended up truly caring what happened to the characters and wondering what had happened to force them into their current horrible predicaments. I can recommend this novel as a great fun read, a wild ride, and not a half-bad intro into certain aspect of the mid-19th century, at least as far as England is concerned.
Rating:
Summary: A Thumping Good Read
Review: Okay, I stole that line from "A Common Reader", but it seems appropriate! Espistlatory novels, works written in the form of a series of letters and diary entries, are rather old-fashioned. They were very popular back in Victorian times but rather less so nowadays. To many they seem contrived. But consider this: this is a novel set in the Victorian Age. What better way to pay homage to the time then to attempt to copy the style and the verbage of that time? This is one of the many glories, great and small, of this novel and I raise my glass to Brust and Bull for it. The cast of the novel is fairly large by modern standards but much curtailed for Dickens and his ilk; there are essentially four main characters (James Cobham, a ex-Chartist part-time anarchist, Kitty Holbourn, devoutee of the arcane, Richard Cobham, James' cousin and erstwhile lover of Kitty, and Susan Voight, 'an houri in practical shoes and sensible stays'). The plot revolves around several points, but primarily it is a mystery -- James falls from a boat, is assumed drowned, and yet finds himself very much alive and working in an inn as a stablehand several months after the event. Working in and out from here are possible faery sightings, would-be Satanists, or at least individuals bent on human sacrifice, a possible government conspiracy, a traitor in the Chartist movement that may have led to the unravelling of the abortive revolutions of 1848, and even a wonderfully drawn appearance by Friedrich Engels. The characterizations are sharp, the descriptions clear, the manners superb; I never heard a false note in the cadences of voice and manner through the book, no sense of the 20th century imposing itself on the 19th. I ended up truly caring what happened to the characters and wondering what had happened to force them into their current horrible predicaments. I can recommend this novel as a great fun read, a wild ride, and not a half-bad intro into certain aspect of the mid-19th century, at least as far as England is concerned.
Rating:
Summary: A bloody waste of time.
Review: Since I purchased this book (sometime in the late 90s)I have given it a go on three separate occasions. Each attempt was a failure. The authors do appear to have successfully captured the essence of the 19th Century British writing style. That's the problem. Having said that, there are some who might find this book interesting. If you're an Anglophile(or a bit fey), have at it!
Rating:
Summary: A bloody waste of time.
Review: Since I purchased this book (sometime in the late 90s)I have given it a go on three separate occasions. Each attempt was a failure. The authors do appear to have successfully captured the essence of the 19th Century British writing style. That's the problem. Having said that, there are some who might find this book interesting. If you're an Anglophile(or a bit fey), have at it!
Rating:
Summary: Like Climbing Everest...
Review: some hard going, but that's why people do it.
Most of the hard reading in this fabulous book can be attributed to neither Bull nor Brust, but rather to 19th century German philosophy. Anything is easy reading compared to that! Nevertheless, the letters and news clippings which tell the story require some work as they are written in 19th century English - and 19th century English is quite different from modern English (is this a surprise to anyone?). Despite the somewhat difficult reading, it is well worth it - Hegelian philosophy and all.
Regarding the negative reviews, this book is definately not for everyone. If you have never read anything written prior to the latter half of this century be prepared to work hard - this doesn't come with Coles Notes to help you through like so many people needed to get through Shakespeare in high school. You are reading English that is 150 years old (or, rather, styled after English that is 150 years old) - it is understandable but not comfortable for a 20th century English speaker.
I agree that billing this as fantasy is a misnomer, but Brust and Bull have been pigeon-holed - much like you'll find Bob Dylan in the Folk section at too many record stores (Shot of Love = Folk?). Regardless of the genre it has been assigned to, it is a fantastic book - period. Not an OK Historical, great Fantasy - just a great book regardless of the genre. It's just that too many books, even historical fiction, are written in modern English which make them easier to digest.
The 19th Century letters and news clippings add a feeling of reality - there's not some omnipotent Narrator detailing everything that happened. I think it is a great way to tell the story and Brust and Bull pull it off with great flair. Think The Blair Witch Project - what is so powerful about it is it seems like it did happen, or at least like it could happen, because of the raw nature of the documentation (very "primary source" in History speak). But as to the originality of this device of telling the story through letters and news clippings, has no-one read Bram Stoker's Dracula? No, I am not refering to Bram Stoker's Dracula the movie, book, and marketing extravaganza from 1992, but rather the original from 1897.
Overall, a great tale that gradually reveals more and more of an Epic plot (yes, only a few cities may be visited, but the Fates of Nations, the Clash of Idealogies, Revolution, and the questioning of Reality are the backdrop!). And the device of letters and journals revealing this Epic, while not entirely novel, is most certainly daring in the late 20th Century. Coupled with Hegelian philosophy, mysticism, the Occult, independance versus Love, Marx and Engels' Communist ideology, et cetera this is a book you should not miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Great execution but weak plot
Review: The execution is fascinating; an entire book in the form of letters and journal entries. I was reminded of Nabokov's "Pale Fire" and the fascination of reading correspondence. Its incrediable to think that people really used to sit down on a daily basis and exchange news and ideas.
Unfortunately the story was not nearly as compelling. There was little explication as to James' motives for becoming a Chartist, or exactly what he hoped to accomplish. Some great visual images however, it would make an exciting TV-movie.
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