The previous reviews did an excellent job of explaining the game and its many charms, so I will add one aspect that hasn't been mentioned. This is the netbook game I've been looking for. I've been playing turn-based games for more than 15 years (starting with HOMM2 and Panzer General) and it is my preferred game type. This game runs very smoothly on my netbook (Toshiba NB305), and looks great (it comes with the option of setting the resolution at 1024x600). Given the already mentioned highly addictive nature of game, I'm able to play in every room of my house (to my wife's slight chagrin) and in my car pool (when I'm not driving). For me this is gaming nirvana. I also somehow missed this game when it was originally released, but I'm making up for lost time.
