Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel

Okay, I didn't write about this when it first came out, since the paperback release was not to long ago, maybe it's a good time now.

Has anyone read the book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? I got it for my girlfriend when it first came out and was not disappointed (after swiping it out from her hands). The characters are brilliant and the story was just so in-depth and vivid in detail that it was easy to forget where fiction and non-fiction overlapped. My favorite character, without explaining why and spoiling the story, is the man with the thistledown hair.

So it's been out for almost a year now, with a paperback release done earlier this month (the 5th), and I want to know who's read it and what do they think?