I suppose the style of the book (contemporary, I suppose, with the action portrayed) makes the reader expect a long tale (all those multi-volume novels). But I too am surprised that such a large volume was taken as someone's debut effort.
I know we shouldn't trust Wiki, but it states that the book was published in the US 12 days before it was in the UK. I didn't notice American spelling in the hardback copy I read, but perhaps I was too involved in the stories and all those footnotes.
I enjoyed the book. I can't give chapter and verse (there are too many
) on why that was, but when I drew near to the end, I was disappointed that there wasn't more to read.