This is too many books trying to be one book. It reminds me a lot of Tolstoy, where instead of writing several books with a familiar cast of characters, Seth tries to make this book ALL THE BOOKS, and it suffers for it. The core story of Lata trying to find a husband felt secondary to all the drama with other characters, like Maan, who I simply did not care about. I was there for Lata, and would have liked the book more if I actually could have read about her without constant interruptions from other characters, some who really did not feel like they tied into the narrative.

That said, the writing in this is so well done, it is an immensely readable 1500 page book, and that is a rare accomplishment! The writing is good and there are stories worth reading in this book, the narrative simply suffers from having all those narratives smashed together. This would have made a better series.