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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All I can say for an intro is that Susanna Clarke had a lot of moxie, putting out a tome like this, and a tome it certainly is. My copy amounted to some 900+ pages on my Nook, and with the kind of baggage I lug around daily, I would have been hard-pressed to have read this any other way.
The story, set during the Napoleonic Wars is an alternate history set in a world where magic exists, or at least a world that knew magic. In the world of the book, famous magicians of the past are revered as we might revere great statesmen or great writers, but the England of the story has evolved (some might say "deteriorated") to a point where the only magic left is theoretical, written about with an academic detachment in scholarly books. No one practices the art of magic anymore. No one, that is, except for one very humbuggy sort of crank, who attempts to restore Magic to England and a self-taught upstart who complicates the matter. Ultimately, the story becomes a complex, somewhat moving, sometimes maddening tale of a collaboration turned rivalry turned--almost--love story between these two magicians of completely different temperaments and viewpoints but who share the same dream, the same love, of magic. While they strive (in their own ways) to achieve their ends, they might well destroy each other in the process, but the one thing they can't do is avoid each other. Clarke commits to writing the entire epic story in a style and tone that matches the time period, down to employing archaic words, phrasings and spellings, and does it so convincingly that it begins to seem impossible that this could really be a book that was written only a handful of years ago. The narrative itself is set up almost as an embroidered biography of the two title characters, extensively employing authentic-sounding footnotes that reference magic texts and scholarly works that do not actually exist. This is a book that will envelop you, to be sure. The effect is so masterful, it's no wonder that the book garnered a Hugo and multiple other awards.
That being said, imagine if someone had attempted to publish the Harry Potter saga as a single volume, and that is pretty much what you have to deal with here. Just like Rowling, Clarke isn't wasteful with her characters and side stories. Everything plays a role, all the little puzzle pieces fit into place eventually, but believe me when I say that Clarke is in absolutely no hurry to get you there. The story is not strictly linear and sometimes the diversions, though interesting, are pretty frustrating to the reader. Characters and plot lines are dropped--and begin to feel abandoned--not to be picked up for much, much later. We don't even meet Jonathan Strange properly until maybe a third of the way through the book, if I recall. She is not in a hurry with her storytelling by any means, and it's a real testimony to her abilities that she is able to get away with this. It also means that a certain level of patience is required from a reader. My litmus test is this: if you read Lev Grossman's The Magicians and had a hard time getting through it, avoid this book like the plague, because it takes that pacing to a whole new level. If you were fine with the strolling "we get there when we get there" pace of Grossman's storytelling, by all means try this because as magical books go, this is about as good as you can get.
Anyone who loved this book should read Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. They're technically Young Adult books but it's really just a great trilogy period. The main character feels like a young Jonathan Strange, and the footnotes in that one (asides from Bartimaeus, the magician's demon) are incredibly entertaining. They're not exactly the slimmest of volumes either, but comparably, they're a breeze, with more action and brisker pacing.
The story, set during the Napoleonic Wars is an alternate history set in a world where magic exists, or at least a world that knew magic. In the world of the book, famous magicians of the past are revered as we might revere great statesmen or great writers, but the England of the story has evolved (some might say "deteriorated") to a point where the only magic left is theoretical, written about with an academic detachment in scholarly books. No one practices the art of magic anymore. No one, that is, except for one very humbuggy sort of crank, who attempts to restore Magic to England and a self-taught upstart who complicates the matter. Ultimately, the story becomes a complex, somewhat moving, sometimes maddening tale of a collaboration turned rivalry turned--almost--love story between these two magicians of completely different temperaments and viewpoints but who share the same dream, the same love, of magic. While they strive (in their own ways) to achieve their ends, they might well destroy each other in the process, but the one thing they can't do is avoid each other. Clarke commits to writing the entire epic story in a style and tone that matches the time period, down to employing archaic words, phrasings and spellings, and does it so convincingly that it begins to seem impossible that this could really be a book that was written only a handful of years ago. The narrative itself is set up almost as an embroidered biography of the two title characters, extensively employing authentic-sounding footnotes that reference magic texts and scholarly works that do not actually exist. This is a book that will envelop you, to be sure. The effect is so masterful, it's no wonder that the book garnered a Hugo and multiple other awards.
That being said, imagine if someone had attempted to publish the Harry Potter saga as a single volume, and that is pretty much what you have to deal with here. Just like Rowling, Clarke isn't wasteful with her characters and side stories. Everything plays a role, all the little puzzle pieces fit into place eventually, but believe me when I say that Clarke is in absolutely no hurry to get you there. The story is not strictly linear and sometimes the diversions, though interesting, are pretty frustrating to the reader. Characters and plot lines are dropped--and begin to feel abandoned--not to be picked up for much, much later. We don't even meet Jonathan Strange properly until maybe a third of the way through the book, if I recall. She is not in a hurry with her storytelling by any means, and it's a real testimony to her abilities that she is able to get away with this. It also means that a certain level of patience is required from a reader. My litmus test is this: if you read Lev Grossman's The Magicians and had a hard time getting through it, avoid this book like the plague, because it takes that pacing to a whole new level. If you were fine with the strolling "we get there when we get there" pace of Grossman's storytelling, by all means try this because as magical books go, this is about as good as you can get.
Anyone who loved this book should read Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. They're technically Young Adult books but it's really just a great trilogy period. The main character feels like a young Jonathan Strange, and the footnotes in that one (asides from Bartimaeus, the magician's demon) are incredibly entertaining. They're not exactly the slimmest of volumes either, but comparably, they're a breeze, with more action and brisker pacing.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, War
slow-paced