The tale was strange and had some very metafictional moments where the characters - especially the magician breaks the fourth wall. At the same time it is a really beautiful writtens story. The mood is so melancholy. I don't really like the middle all that much but the beginning third and the last third was great. So I am cutting of a star of my score for the middle part of the book. 
 Read my review: http://wp.me/p40HVI-4h