A decent idea, loved the Horrobin character, but the story was all over the place. This would have been much better if it spanned several books instead of trying to cram so much into so few pages. And while the beginning of the book dragged along, the ending was so hurried and abrupt that I lost my connection with the characters.

I loved loved loved all the time travel, the back and forth, and following the different characters across the ages to figure out how they all fit together.

My biggest hate of this novel was the weird obsession with poets. While I understand that the main character had this obsession and was deeply involved writing a biography of the poets, I don't care. This should have been glossed over a little more because it stood out too much in a book that already had too many plot points.

When I was about halfway through the book (the meatiest part, and my fave part of the book), someone at work asked me what the book was about. So I gave a 2 minute overview of the crazy deformed clown on stilts, his beggar minions, the time traveling, the obsession with dead poets, etc etc... and realized how incredibly insane the whole plot sounded. I'm glad I didn't know anything about this book before I picked it up, or I wouldn't have bothered reading it!

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but I don't regret reading it.