So, as you can tell, I seem to be on a bit of a Jo Walton kick.
Also, this book was advertised as Anthony Trollope, with Dragons! How could one say no to that?
I have to admit, I was impressed. To be fair, I picked this up knowing that the options were "really good" or "really bad" and, fortunately, Walton did a good job. She obviously has a nice feel for the structure of the Victorian Novel, not to mention the necessary cultural absurdities that have become necessary biological absurdities in this story.
And, of course, the characters were nice renderings of the archetypes in the Victorian novel.
A very good story, and one I would recommend.
That being said, it was not quite as excellent as her Small Change trilogy. I don't know what it was, perhaps the difference between a very well crafted story and a truly inspired work of fiction. I'm not sure. The first two thirds or so dragged slightly, but the story picked up nicely in the last third. (And I suppose Victorian Novels always drag).
Still, a very good read and one that I can't pinpoint any flaws in, which is quite a nice recommendation