I liked it as a story of London (tidbits and details about different areas and times), but was much less excited by the actual characters. They seemed a bit flat and contrived (who just happened to know Shakespeare, King Charles, etc.). There was also a whole lot of telling instead of showing. The constraint of also having to track a few families across hundreds of years also stretched the credibility even further. But I guess if you don't expect a whole lot going into this, it was an ok read.