This is a very visual book, focused as it is on the imagery not just of mosaics, but of the world surrounding them. Particularly effective, I thought, were the parts with the bison, which were lovely and creepy all at once - I could picture it perfectly in my mind, so kudos to Kay for managing that.

As for the story itself, I'm interested in the main characters and in the political struggle that's ongoing within Sarantium, but I do not care in the slightest about the chariot racing, and I wish there were a greater range of female characters than queens or whores (or queens who were whores). I mean, I've read very few epic fantasies with an artist as the main character - it's a welcome change, and it would have been nice to see that originality in the other character choices. Seriously, this book is whore-obsessed.