Range of Ghosts

This is one of the most wonderful fantasy books I've read in a long time. Elizabeth Bear does in 330 pages what most authors take 1000 or more pages to do - create a vivid, fascinating world with amazing complicated characters. The Eastern setting gives it a spice that is missing from so many other fantasy books that stay in the comfortable confines of western medieval constraints and lends an entirely new perspective on what fantasy world building can be. Besides all that, Elizabeth Bear has a wonderfully lyrical voice that had me tasting the spices, smelling the horses and earth and seeing the skies of this world through her beautiful descriptions. Cannot wait to read the second and third books!