From Publishers Weekly
Di Filippo's lyrical debut fantasy novel, conceived when he was 18 and written a decade later, features an innocent young hero much in the mold of Voltaire's Candide. After a brief, unexpected meeting with his doppelgänger, perhaps the book's most original if overly enigmatic figure, Thomas Rhymer strides down the Great Road to discover a world "where everything's in harmony." In a series of mild adventures, Rhymer encounters scoundrels, liars, villains and even an upside-down castle. The action picks up a bit when he comes across the scrumptious tidbit Mab, Queen of Faerie, whom he later catches reading Candide. This amiable apprentice work will be of most interest to fans of Di Filippo's more sophisticated fiction (The Steampunk Trilogy; A Mouthful of Tongues; etc.) curious to see a lighter side of this versatile author. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly