This book took far longer than it should have. Conceptually it is brilliant. China has the most fertile imagination I have come across since Neil Gaiman. However, as a narrator, there are failings. For many parts of the book I was literally pushing myself into reading it. Just for the ideas discussed in the book, I give it three stars. I know for a fact that in retrospect the book will be lauded by me, as I did with Perdido Street Station.