What a remarkable book Piranesi is. Fifteen years have passed since Clarke's last novel, the magnificent Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Clarke has transposed this period of stasis in her life into the pages and passages of Piranesi, infusing the tale with atmosphere and insight. Piranesi, he who is the mysterious hero of this tale, inhabits an almost infinite house filled with halls of porcelain statues and a questing sea whose tides he has mastered. As the truth of his odd existence unspools, it feeds a quiet intensity that suddenly steps out into the light of a brilliant and satisfying conclusion. Many are the tales of portals to adjacent worlds. Piranesi has an air of authenticity about which is unique.