A funky book that holds together only somewhat… but by design. A good choice for a main character keeps the attention where it belongs– on the main character, Macy, not on the mechanics of the world falling apart.
The world is somehow falling apart– ancient empires roam modern America, somehow, and technology fails over large swaths. It’s an interesting backdrop– a way of crossing modern and historical cultures without resorting to fantasy derivations to twist them into dwarfs and elves.
The focus on Macy and her family keeps a lot of geeky details on the periphery. We see one zone where guns don’t work, but don’t concentrate on how that works out and what other ramifications it has. Similarly, the refugee status their family endures throughout the book keeps you from looking too carefully at the underpinings of trade and empire. Short asides between each Macy chapter give you more detail about other characters (like her mom and dad), and about the “powers” of this fallen world.
In many ways, the setting is a lot like a Rifts universe– and is the closest I’ve seen to a setting that I’d want to play something like Rifts in. Though the lack of super-science and ley-lines means you’d have to rework just about everything for it to work…