Reviews and Comments

An outstanding, slightly old-fashioned thriller, with lots of couleur locale, almost like a Maigret. But the pace is very modern, and its plot completely credible.

Short, well written, with a memorable plot twist.

I try to read Dutch, French, English and German books in the original. Das mangelnde Licht looks daunting from its number of pages and it's German run-on sentences, but I'm going to try it anyway.

In its critique of capitalism, discrimination and blind reliance on technology, this is a highly modern book, though it takes place in the 1830s. The book doesn't contain too much plot or action, but is based on a clever idea that is taken to its full consequences.

A spectacular premise, so much so that the ending hardly matters. So many characters that you wonder how to keep track of them all, but don't worry, it all works out in the end. I found the book well written: some sound ideas, some humour, lots of suspense, thoroughly researched. A compliment for the careful translation.

Very clever, as are the first two, as well as funny and heartwarming.

Just compelling enough to finish, but not a very memorable story. Colourful, a pleasant kind of weird, and occasionally funny. Don't look for a strong plot though, or a surprising twist. This book shows glimpses of a universe that potentially brings forth many sequels - that I'm probably not going to read. Although one day I might wonder about those sinister booksellers of Bath, who knows.

What I liked about this book was the way the author sits down with you and very honestly says: Look, here are the facts as well as we can possibly know, and the rest I made up. The story may not be exactly true, but something like this must have happened. Perhaps not Robert Harris's best book: it contains lenghty descriptions of actual battles on British soil. Also, I haven't counted the Puritan church services described, but it seems as if there were several Sundays a week in those days. The end, while long expected, seems written in a bit of haste. That said, even an average Robert Harris book is still a good book.

Well, that was very...transformative.