A fine novel, although a bit long and heavy, with a few too many characters and a rather obvious ending. I suppose I was expecting something as enjoyable as Harry Potter, but for grown-ups; instead I got a sort of so-so book about small-town politics. Many of the characters were simply too flat and cartoonish for me, though perhaps I liked Gaia and Sukhvinder best.

One high note on this book: the woman who brought us Expelliarmus and the Patronus charm getting into the intricacies of SQL injection attacks. Simply priceless.