Storyline: 2/5 
 Characters: 4/5 
 Writing Style: 4/5 
 World: 2/5 
 This was a pleasant read. The prose was flowing and smooth, avoiding both ostentation and blandness. The story, likewise, settled comfortably between world-building fantasy and medieval court intrigue. 
 I am surprised that this was nominated for a Hugo award. If the Hugos are to stand for anything, I would think that it would be for creativity. This, the novel lacked. Though this was a fantasy world with elves and goblins, one could easily have replaced every instance of the former with "Spaniard" and the latter with "Moor" and little would have changed in the book. The descriptions of eye and hair color, of course, would have to be altered - and those repeated mentions of ears flattening - but otherwise there was very little development of race, culture, or geography. Much of the world building comes in the discussion of court etiquette, but in this area the book was more a melodious sample of actual royal language than the work of an inventive mind. 
 In many ways, one of the greatest strengths of the book is also its greatest weakness. Addison did not succumb to the temptation to sensationalize the story. The role of swashbuckling swordplay and magic fights are minimalist - in a good way. They serve as minor adornments to a story about relationships, uncertainty, and responsibility. In other areas this minimalism comes off as a lack of ambition. The cast of characters and the politics of court is broad but never deep. The backgrounds of supporting characters are interesting but never developed. The resolution of this relaxed and pleasant plot degenerates - much to my disappointment - into a contended laziness. 
 This book is appropriate, although not necessarily written for, younger audiences. It is relatively prudish (there are two, minor, gay characters), and the relationships between men and women are fairly Victorian. The primary difficulty preteens would have with this book are the large number of fantasy proper nouns. Every building and government department has a unique name (including seemingly-extra consonants and apostrophes), feudal society titles aplenty, and a large cast of multi-generational characters with similar sounding names. It can be difficult to keep track of all the new terminology.