Full review below, but the first thing I need to note is that this book embraces antisemitic tropes regarding Jews, money lending, and international cabals manipulating things behind the scenes. The world background of this story is surprisingly rich in detail, which makes this crude antisemitism all the more disappointing. If not for that, I would recommend that people give this book a shot, even though I have serious criticisms regarding character development. The Crown Prince wants France to become the dominant power in Europe and is willing to kill (and let people kill each other) to ensure that it does. Beyond that, Enlightenment values, and some amount of naivete regarding women, he doesn't have much of a personality. In some ways, the details of his decision making process and world building can help make up for his lack of character development. Other characters are similarly one-dimensional. The translation of this book also seems to be MTL. The story is readable but some parts are painful.
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