Much like the computer game Myst, the reader is set down in the middle of an unusual world known as the House. Piranesi, one of two inhabitants, has extensively explored and mapped this world, including its seasons and tides.

The reader immediately thinks, "What or where is this?" But not Piranesi. This is his world as he knows it.

I found myself questioning whether I wanted to finish this book around page 50 (a fifth of the book) because the story was simply mundane. Piranesi doesn't question his world and his journaling was about his bland and banal existence. These were the hardest pages to read because their content was so repetitive. I was slogging through them.

Eventually, we learn there's a secret to discover and mystery to unfold. I'm happy I pressed on because reading was very quick and entertaining from there forward.

I haven't read Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but having read favorable reviews and this her newest work, I'm looking forward to it.