The story seemed to drag and I didn’t like the narration. I wanted to hear more of what happens to Steven, but it just kept going on about the relationship with Katie.
I may skip forward a few chapters because it’s supposed to have more excitement.

Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. I absolutely loved it! I have read others by Mark Helprin, but none that captured me the way this book did. The story was engrossing. There was a lot of detail, but not too much, and it was all interesting. The narration was excellent. Overall story was easy to follow, even on audiobook, which can sometimes not work with different characters/times. Will highly recommend!

I DNFed this one, sadly, despite really loving Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War. First, it was dedicated to the U.S. Navy. At a time when I want to the U.S. to significantly decrease its exorbitant defense spending, its "might makes right" approach to global politics, and my hesitancy to support organs of war in general, this gave me pause. But I kept an open mind. However, it quickly became clear that Helprin has a worldview that is not in keeping with the times. In one of the opening scenes, he rags on college students these days, using derisive terminology to describe them. Listen, I'm old and crotchety in my own ways, but I feel like this demeaning language does not make me want to listen to more. It's hard for older people to accept the ways of youth, but I'd hope that Helprin had more self-awareness than to just brush them off.