Anticipation is annoying. I read this book a lot faster than I thought I would and I was never tempted to stop reading it, so that much good can be said for the story. However, I did have some major beefs with it. I wasn't overly impressed with the writing style; it seemed too simplistic at times, almost like this was one of his first books. The amount of research that went into this book was mind boggling, though, and I was blown away by the history aspect. Actually, I though it would've been a great a history book! Nonfiction, that is. I didn't care a lot about the characters, because they seemed like badly written archetypes. I was especially annoyed by the American politician who didn't see what the big deal was with Jack Johnson marrying a white woman. Seriously? A rich, white, American politician arguing in FAVOR of interracial marriages? In 1914-15? I could not buy that. Just like I couldn't buy the all around nastiness of the Russian princess or any of the other nobility. Nobody is that black and white. I really enjoyed the story, however, and will definitely read the next two in the trilogy.