Books feeling rushed is a major peeve of mine, especially where the narrative is all about the details. Several horror books are so frustrating because they start out wonderfully detailing all the visceral experiences and visuals, but then you get the feeling the author wants a cup of tea, or has run out of descriptions so he just says something quick about how it's totally indescribable, and buggers off. Maybe this dude should have split off the bit about the peasants fighting over the pig into a separate novel. :)

Well I guess the problem with horror is that, as soon as you've described it, it becomes less horrible because nothing can live up to the ancipation of dreadfulness. Anyway, I guess I'll be skipping TPOE. Amazing, isn't it, that a book about building a cathedral could be dull...