The Revolutions has a slow start, a rousing middle, and a tremendously disappointing end. At its best it's reminiscent of Tim Powers, but never quite rises to that level, and ultimately it feels like two or three different stories awkwardly jammed together. ( )

After reading almost a 100 pages, I’ve given up on Gilman. I took up the book in the first place, because I do enjoy Victorian detective stories—including Lovecraft and Hodgson—but this book, and a few others, are just too depressing for me. No matter how broke the protagonists are, the antagonists are too seedy and malevolent to be accepted as a source of any kind of needy funds. The moment anyone—especially the hero and heroine—starts descending, both physically and emotionally, into degraded, if not degenerate, states I stop reading.

Maybe it’s a matter of “type” of evil: breaking the 10 Commandments is one level of evil (although I kind of think of those trespasses as “just” sins), where “evil”, for me, means something disgustingly sick…like intentionally twisting someone’s emotional state into total degradation. This book has that flavor for me and there are too many more uplifting tales of fantasy and science fiction for me to waste my time on anything the promises to be less so.

Meanwhile, I’ve read some of the other reviews and I accept that I may be crediting Gilman with more depravity than is actually there. But my sentiments remain: if the story doesn’t promise more than depravity, don’t waste time on it. ( )

Late 19th century spiritual travel to Mars in doubtful company. Nobody has any fun. The Martians are kind of interesting, but they don't have much fun either and all of the landscapes tend toward dreary at best. I do wonder why he bothered with this and I can't recommend anyone else should. ( )

Mixed up, fantastical, story woven through other story. Not sure how I feel about it now, but I was gripped throughout unable to imagine what new strangeness could come next. ( )

I loved the beginning ...the hints of supernatural presence and powerful, magical enemies that are watching...the world within the world. I found Podmore and his minions creepy and unique, and I especially loved the magical duel in The Savoy. It was brilliant and creative and wonderful! But ... I found the second half, especially the last third of the book really dragged for me. I feel like it kind of lost it's way and became tedious and unfocused, and the main focus shifted so much away from all the mysterious and creepy things I enjoyed in the first part of the book that I found it hard to maintain interest. It just dragged for me, and I didn't really like how it all wrapped up. ( )