Book review wanted

Has anyone read Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull? I noticed a copy in Waterstones and the idea of a historical epistolary fantasy with Chartists looks decidedly interesting. However, I get this terrible niggly feeling when I read historical novels when I don't know either the period or the authors well enough to know whether I can trust the research. Is this likely to be a problem with this novel? And can anyone recommend a good History to go along with it?