A very unique (and very enjoyable) narrator helps this otherwise floundering book hampered by some really unlikable characters. The mystery kept me going and the ending satisfied me, but-- the writing was very shaky in places and some of the twists seemed purposeless beyond simple 'ha ha not what you thought, right?' misdirection.

Still, enjoyable. I hope Barnes' second offering is stronger, though. ( )

El extraordinario mago Edward Moon, en otro tiempo la sensación de la alta sociedad londinense, ha dejado de inspirar respeto y admiración, pese a haber resuelto más de sesenta complejos crímenes. Una noche, la vida de un actor de dudosa reputación encuentra un extraño y terrible fin, y la policía, confundida, recurre de nuevo a él. Así comienza la extraordinaria historia de este detective y mago y su silencioso compañero el sonámbulo, un personaje enigmático y sombrío, envuelto en el misterio profundo y oculto tras un velo de medias verdades, en medio de una trama diabólica para derrocar el Imperio británico.

Gosh I can't believe I actually finished this. So much potential just fell flat. Barnes tries too much and too little at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters and the historical gimmicks weren't interesting enough. For instance, the character of Coleridge (minor spoiler, but I could not care less) is under-used and the nature of the title character is never answered--why the fuck is it called the Somnambulist?! It makes no sense. Is he some sort of golem? It feels like Barnes took a bunch of notes on "how to create a unique alternative world" and started to try to lay the groundwork in some overly subtle way for a follow-up novel in the Domino Men (which also falls flat, given this poor foundation). But where his world-building had the potential to be unique and interesting, he just glossed over it. In the meantime, his characters are boring and predictable and the plot is grand but kept on too short of a leash to flourish. I feel like Barnes tried too hard and couldn't keep track of his own pieces. The unreliable narrator was cliche and predictable.

It's been a long time since I've read a novel that was so good at reminding me it was a book, consciously knocking me out of its narrative grasp. It was *this* close to being a page turner, but it just ended up a wannabe. ( )

Gosh I can't believe I actually finished this. So much potential just fell flat. Barnes tries too much and too little at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters and the historical gimmicks weren't interesting enough. For instance, the character of Coleridge (minor spoiler, but I could not care less) is under-used and the nature of the title character is never answered--why the fuck is it called the Somnambulist?! It makes no sense. Is he some sort of golem? It feels like Barnes took a bunch of notes on "how to create a unique alternative world" and started to try to lay the groundwork in some overly subtle way for a follow-up novel in the Domino Men (which also falls flat, given this poor foundation). But where his world-building had the potential to be unique and interesting, he just glossed over it. In the meantime, his characters are boring and predictable and the plot is grand but kept on too short of a leash to flourish. I feel like Barnes tried too hard and couldn't keep track of his own pieces. The unreliable narrator was cliche and predictable.

It's been a long time since I've read a novel that was so good at reminding me it was a book, consciously knocking me out of its narrative grasp. It was *this* close to being a page turner, but it just ended up a wannabe. ( )

Hm. After spending the middle of the book thinking that I was missing the key to this story, I liked it better once it was over and context was revealed. It was well written but I find it slipping away from me already. Back to Austen! ( )