For someone who is obsessed with grammar like myself, this is a joy to read, full of humour and correct punctuation!
An absolutely brilliant collection of stories! I look forward to reading much more by Ted Chiang.
I think this appeals to a certain class of person who yearns for the "good old days" (i.e., white, Anglo-Saxon, perhaps even Protestant). It is quaint but dated.
The initial chapter (on Cardinal Manning) was exceedingly tedious, especially if one had no knowledge of who Cardinals Manning and Newman and some of the other major players were. The remaining chapters, if you managed to persevere through the first, picked up a bit, especially the final chapter on General Gordon.
