If I hadn't read Slade House (the much shorter companion novel) first, I would have given up on this book after the third change in character with no advance of the plot. Since I already knew the basics of the game, however, I stuck it out, and while this book is full of Mitchell's eclectic storytelling style and remarkable metaphors, it meanders through time much too slowly for such little actual story. It's a great display of Mitchell's linguistic gymnastics, but could have benefited from a great culling of pages.