As the back cover suggests, there are a lot of good parallels between this book and the Amber chronicles. The author does a good job of showing us the world… then peeling it back like an onion and showing the enclosing layer, and the layer around that. Well done.

This book has a very charming narrator and moves along quickly. I started reading it and didn’t put it down until I was dpne. The book is relatively short and made for a great afternoon.

The events that illuminated in this book are horrifying—ranging from hot blooded and violent to calculated campaigns of starvation and threats. It’s particularly hard to believe when you think about how recent this was… and how there are other books filled with abuses against other out groups lurking in the background of this one.

The author is at her best when she quotes and expands on the testimony of the Chinese, or when she’s quoting newspaper articles. The book feels solid and methodically researched, though phrase repetition and a few accidental duplications mar the feel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and immediately recommended it to my girlfriend. The characters do a good job of slogging and conveying the drain of war… but the characters matter. You care about them and hate to see them go.

I enjoy a lot of fables and retellings. This book collects a huge swath of fascinating stories, ranging from fractions of a page to ten or so pages. The more familiar tales are told well—and with hints or twists that subtly change the story.

Reading other cultural fables was great. It’s interesting how the lessons vary dramatically by culture. Do yourself a favor and read it. If you have kids (especially daughters, but sons would benefit too) many of the stories are perfect for sharing with kids of many ages.

A solid investigative adventure with a fun universe. The use of “trains” is inventive, and the many layered political plotting is fascinating. A solid, fun book.

The story is good—I really liked the characters and their struggles. Unfortunately, the last few chapters rush new elements that don’t work as well as the first 2/3rds of the book. The last chapter didn’t match the previous book as well. It went for the shallowly dramatic, instead of the previously well done complex internal story lines.

I’ve long appreciated the solid look at the aftermath of limited nuclear war that this book provides. When Jordan aired this season, it brought this book to mind—it’ll be interesting to see if they follow through as well as the book does.

I found the ideas put forth in this book to be very persuasive. Ms Jacobs spends the first several chapters taking real city components, carefully organizing them and explaining their particulars. While the arguments can feel a bit repetitious, that’s because the influence of one element usually influences many of the other factors. (In fact, that’s the core of her concluding chapter—that cities are complexly interrelated systems, and should be studied as such.)

When the book started, I was greatly worried that the pain-loving was going to detract from the rest of the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was well integrated and contrasted well with other types of duty and sacrifice.

I teared up a few times while reading it, empathizing greatly with Phedre. Talented writing—well done.