Ghosh is a masterful, powerful writer. His decriptions are some of the best...in fact they often substitute for dialogue and action. With a lesser skilled author, it would have ended up poorly. All I wanted was his lush description! However, by the end of the book, it did start to feel a bit burdensome...but this is because the book is so long.
I really enjoyed the beginning of the book; I kind of wished it would have stayed at that timepoint in a way. Yet, I completely understand why it fast forwarded through time to other characters. I really want to read some background on Queen Supayalat after this and the pre-colonization of Burma after this.
I don't think I had a favorite character. In fact I went back and forth between liking and disliking them throughout the book. I suppose that itself is a result of great writing.