So far this book is the front runner for "2007's Book Most in Need of an Editor". There were times when it felt like no one other than the author had looked at it. Which made the dialog hard to follow at times. Egan seems to belong to a sect that considers quotation marks an abomination. There were none in this book. She uses the "high school play" format as in
mark: wow cool
sam:yep

But then there were a few times where a character would speak, someone else's reply would be a line below, followed by another un-attributed line which happened to be the omniscient narrator. And all this is a shame because the book had all the elements to be a great story.

Old castle, boyhood friends with dark past, a baroness locked away in a tower, torture chambers, some folks in prison recounting parts of the story. Lots of great fodder, it just never comes together.
And by the time the "big reveal" rolled around, about who is who and who the narrator is, etc. I was frustrated and just didn't care.