This has most of the same strengths and weaknesses as [b:Sailing to Sarantium|104097|Sailing to Sarantium (The Sarantine Mosaic, #1)|Guy Gavriel Kay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328000207s/104097.jpg|1336666]. In fact they are really a single long novel split into two volumes -- you couldn't read this volume as a standalone novel.

Once again Kay draws vivid characters and realistic settings and spends a lot of time revealing what's going on in their heads. Halfway through, the plot went totally over the top, and most of the characters acted in a completely unbelievable way. After the major climax things calmed down and got back on track, but I was disappointed that he'd gone to such extremes to add drama. His prose is overly portentous and long-winded at times, and I wasn't too impressed by the final resolution; it simply didn't ring true based on what had gone before. I also couldn't see the point of the whole Sarantine fire thing. Again the best parts of the novel revolved around the mosaicist's feelings about his art, the doctor's vocation, and the desire of many characters to leave something of themselves behind when they were gone.

I mostly enjoyed it, but I probably won't read any more Kay for a while.