I had read the short story version of this earlier, corresponding to the first 20% or so. It was a fun read, with some sympathetic characters. The antagonists were were maybe a little on the thin side when it came to their characterization perhaps so the book maintained a light tone throughout.

The plot was engaging and inventive, though I thought it had a few clunky elements, such as the way the subsidiary character experiences the novel's one devastating moment of failure without really redeeming herself in the end, while the main character sails through all his scrapes and questionable decisions basically unscathed. I'd like to see the character earn that victory in the end more. Also, I am not completely sure the mystery of Gerritszoon actually holds together in the end. The thread running through about the fictional children's fantasy series written by Clark Moffat had me thinking about the very similar plot device used by Lev Grossmann in his book The Magicians, which I am pretty sure was coincidental. From the way it ends, it doesn't seem like it points toward any kind of sequel in the works.

From what I'd read before, I knew there were going to be references to the wonders of Google but it got to be a little much by the later part of the book, which I am sure are more wince-inducing for readers who are fans of that company's tech rivals. I'm willing to give the book a pass on the details of cryptography, which felt far-fetched but were at least entertaining.