Small Change series: any thoughts?

[MAC161]

Just read Farthing in Jo Walton's Small Change series, and not entirely sure what to make of it; felt like a more-or-less typical whodunit with a heavy dose of dark Downton Abbey. The constant shifts from 1st to 3rd person left me kind of disoriented for most of it, and a lot of the dialogue seemed off somehow (or maybe it was just the uber-rich personalities and speech/thoughts that dominated the story). Biggest annoyance was relatively minor: a character mentions the battle of Manzikert happening in 1050, not its ACTUAL date of 1071; put that gaffe down to the author. The premise was definitely interesting, if a bit vague on the POD: a successful Hess flight, or a more isolationist U.S. I've read my share of successful Sea Lion or "U.K. goes fascist" stories (The Leader, SS-GB, Collaborator), so I started this work with a fair amount of anticipation; finished it with a good deal of ambivalence, and uncertainty about reading the rest of the series. Anybody care to chime in?

 

[Skinny87]

@MAC88 I've stumbled across them now and again, and they seem different enough to the usual 'Sealion goes right' that I intend to read them if I ever go back to reviewing this year.