This is one of the most original, unusual, eccentric, competent books I have ever read. It's so unusual and different that one almost can't believe that the book comes out as well put-together and nicely crafted as it does. The novel succeeds at being extremely odd while reading like mainstream fiction. How does Carroll do it?
It's really too bad that Carroll's stuff is so hard to find; I searched for this book for six years before finding it, believe it or not. Carroll has such an individual voice, is so original, that all of his stuff should be readily available.
The only problems I have with this book are the plot's leapfrogs from one style of novel to another; when I read the book, I felt like I was reading several stories at once. While it is usually good to have different themes running together at once, somehow this novel didn't come off as one book with many themes, or even many books with their own themes, but as all kinds of authors and ideas taking hold of the novel at different times. You've got a little Richard Bach there for a while, then some brothers Grimm, then some Tanith Lee, all with a Milan Kundera-type voice. Very strange. Plus, the ending is so abrupt, I found myself wondering if perhaps I'd lost a page or two.
However, the book is well-written enough and entertaining enough and literary enough to go beyond its bizarre literary flightiness, and what comes out is a masterful, wonderful, classic novel. I highly recommend it.