You know, I think I might be the problem here. The story begins brilliantly, with an obscure present-day scholar specialising in an even more obscure 18th-century poet being given the chance to travel back in time to meet the object of his studies – only to be marooned in the past. There are beggar kings and warlocks, and all sorts of villains and goodies, although every character has depth, and the story is turbo-charged, powering through adventures in London and Egypt.
So, I ought to love it. And for the first half I did. But then, to be honest, I started getting a bit lost. Because the hero, and the villain, and various other people, all start swapping bodies and I simply lost track of who was who and why they were trying to kill/flee from/avoid other characters. Now, if I had read this when I was 18, when my brain was like a sponge and I could soak in all the details of a story, then I wouldn’t have had any trouble following our hero through all his changes of identity. But now, with my brain pretty full, it all washes through but much less sticks – so I got lost.
So, my apologies, Mr Powers. I think you probably wrote a brilliant story but it’s one I am no longer able to appreciate.