"If Le Carré scares you, try Jo Walton. Of course her brilliant story of a democracy selling itself out to fascism sixty years ago is just a mystery, just a thriller, just a fantasy--of course we know nothing like that could happen now. Don't we?"

--URSULA K. LE GUIN

"Farthing is a quietly convincing horror, a tale of a world that might have been and that we're damned lucky we never really saw. Read it, think about it, and count your blessings."

--HARRY TURTLEDOVE

"It really is one of those books that succeeds in almost too many ways to count. It's a great, engaging read, and sharp as a knife. The most meaningful parahistorical novel I've come across in a long time, succinct and rivetingly readable."

--ROBERT CHARLES WILSON

"Beneath the facade of a classic English country house mystery, Jo Walton unfolds a disturbing tale about how easily freedom can be let drift away…This is a thought-provoking story that kept coming back to trouble my thoughts long after I had read the last chapter."

--JANE LINDSKOLD

"Farthing is a wonderful book, simultaneously a gripping mystery and a harrowing cautionary tale. Walton's credible--and entirely convincing--alternative history becomes a terrifying meditation on class, power, and persecution. I only wish it seemed more like science fiction."

--SUSAN PALWICK

"Farthing starts out as a cozy period house party mystery, becomes a brilliant alternate history yarn, and at last reveals itself to be a chilling cautionary political thriller. It's smart, riveting, and deeply moving. Once you start reading, don't plan to put it down."

--EMMA BULL

"Jo Walton's delightful Farthing starts out as a romp among the English aristocracy, and ends up tracing the way the unthinkable really can happen among those of us who think of ourselves as moral. A parable for today."

--MAUREEN F. MCHUGH

"Jo Walton is always surprising and surprisingly wonderful. This time she has written a British country house mystery as if she were Agatha Christie channeling Diana Mitford Lady Moseley. Only better."

--JANE YOLEN