Quite A Cast of Characters
589331
At first, this novel seemed contrived. However, as I continued to read, I began to care about the outcome. ( I continued to dislike one character even though the author tried to redeem that character). Then I thought I had the ending figured out, but the author had an ending I hadnt anticipated.
1046461
A fairly interesting  book that seems to set up the series really well.  Each chapter is from the viewpoint of a different character, at a different point in time, though it's usually the two main characters.
3321382
Well done, although the number of characters became confusing at times.  Plenty of action and a plausible (and all too realistic) scenario.
4760677
This was a fun read with likable characters, and it was a good deal.  It was somewhat painful to see the characters be oblivious for several hundred pages when it was quite obvious what was going on.
299290
Definitely a lot of characters to keep track of at first.
589284
Because there is such a variety of characters in this book - and it was some time ago that I had read the first part - it was a small puzzle to remember "who" everybody was.

The story is interesting and colourful and in the end all ends are neatly tied together. Some characters are worth remembering!
585818
This was a book that wove together several stories of a sad and unfortunate group of people.  At times it was a bit difficult to move from one character's story to another, but it all pulled together in the end.  Good character portrayal.
433354
There are several stories contained in this novel, with characters that weave together.  The stories themselves are built one upon the last, in some cases, and in others, a bare mention of a character from the previous set.  I like the characters, and frankly, the story flow, though I may be in the minority on that latter.  The enormity of time mentioned in this book is almost unheard of, and decades are spoken of as if they were days.  When humans have unlimited life spans, the lack of time constraints becomes feasible.  Unfortunately, this is not explained until nearly three quarters of the way through the book, so you are left to wonder how these humans are capable of what they are.

I liked the read, and was able to get through it in less than a week while working full time and only reading on lunch breaks and such.  The universe is not dominated by humans, nor are they the galactic bad guys, which makes this book an outlier, but enjoyable nonetheless.
1022775
A very excltlng read, but a lot charactes to keep track of.
3690609
Great read......You can almost see the characters in motion.
90907
Interesting characters who come together in spite of their differences.
1671289
The set up for this novel is a bit thick, because the author is introducing the characters and setting up the following scenes. After the first third of the book, the rest reads like a movie, with a lot of action and passion.  He takes a lot of liberties with the history, largely because the historical record of this period is a bit thin.  (Hence the term "Dark Ages").  By the end, I was thoroughly invested in the remaining characters (a lot of them die).  I am looking forward to volume 2.
3855801
I enjoyed this book a great deal. Not only is the main character very well thought out, but there are a few supporting characters I am very interested in following to the next story.
771584
While considerably different in subject matter and content, the Casual Vacancy exhibits many of Rowling's traits, both strong and weak, familiar to readers of the Harry Potter series. (And face it, you probably are thinking of buying this because you know Rowling from that series.)

The story features a large cast of characters, overlapping in a variety of ways, with multiple kinds of sub-plots developing in parallel. While some of these characters are sympathetic, and some fill the role of "bad guys," they all have at least a little of each characteristic, and Rowling takes pains to make them all understandable, if not likable.

There's quite a bit of sex, some of it quite explicit, and none of it romanticized. The depiction of the sexuality of the teenage boys is quite effective--somewhat oddly, the sexuality of the teenage girls is treated with more distance. There is also a throwaway lesbian adult character who seems like she might be there to check off a box.

Pacing is a bit of an issue. The book takes a long time to introduce all the characters, and while it's doing that, it moves slowly. It then develops a nice pace, but suffers a bit from Rowling's habit of rushing to wrap everything up at the very end.

Overall, a decent read; it would be entertaining even if you didn't know who the author was.
1693050
Several characters including protagonist and  villain drawn with  exacting  precsion,  and like a crossword puzzle,  everything fits as the last piece snaps into  place.  A well  plotted,  precisely wrought read,  with some  well rounded  characters.
541715
I can't tell you what the characters looked like but I know their emotions. Some scenes where far fetched but I do know a person or two who would act/react the same way. Well done and will look for more from this author.
1659479
I like reading books that have characters with a little some Thing extra.  And this book has several such characters.