I first read this book roughly two/two-and-a-half years ago, and after discussing it with a Goodreads friend, it put me in the mood to reread. 
 I greatly enjoyed the book first time round and was slightly nervous that it might not hold up on second read. (Sometimes a book hits the emotional spot at a particular time in your life, and that's not always the case next time round.) But my fears weren't justified. If anything, I loved it more this time, as having knowledge of exactly what was going on only increased my enjoyment. The book takes elements from Marlowe and Shakespeare's plays, as well as known facts about their lives and of the political climate in Elizabethan England at the time, and it winds them together with elements of Arthurian legend and folklore about the Fae. It's such a beautiful story that I wish I had reread sooner! 
 I mostly read epic fantasy or urban fantasy, and whilst this book is certainly fantasy, it's a world apart from my typical fare. It's beautiful and poetic and the characters are absolutely luscious. I may have a, ahem, minor fixation on Christopher Marlowe(!) and this book is my absolute favourite fictional depiction of him. He's such a beautiful, broken, vulnerable, sweet character and he carries the novel. A certain Will Shakespeare has a starring role too, and their interactions are wonderful. There is a delicious erotic undercurrent running through the book, but it is never explicit and I think I prefer it that way. There's nothing like a bad sex scene (or worse, a laughable one) to destroy any mystique the author has created. Elizabeth Bear gets it just right and leaves me desperate for more. 
 I'll be starting the concluding novel Hell and Earth immediately!