Quite frankly, I stopped reading about 3/4 of the way through it. I just did not care for any of the characters and at no point did any of the ever so many plot lines pull me in. Life's too short and there are too many books.
I have heard about Crowley's Aegypt cycle for years but found it difficult to find. When I learned that the cycle was being re-issued, I brought the first volume warily, fearful that it would not live up to the hype. It does. What I really liked about this first book was Pierce's musing at the end...