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kat_hou's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
deep_in_the_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Video Review Here!
I may just be high off the fumes of reading this but I think this may be my favourite fantasy novel now. JUST shy of a 5 star review. Had some issues with characterization in a few places, and though I understand that the meandering, meticulous pace had intent (and was certainly done a lot better than in all the other fantasy novels that attempt to do that), there were a couple hiccups. But the issues are relatively minor as I'd say this is a must-read fantasy novel. Better than LotR, ASoIaF, Dune, and Narnia by a country mile.
I may just be high off the fumes of reading this but I think this may be my favourite fantasy novel now. JUST shy of a 5 star review. Had some issues with characterization in a few places, and though I understand that the meandering, meticulous pace had intent (and was certainly done a lot better than in all the other fantasy novels that attempt to do that), there were a couple hiccups. But the issues are relatively minor as I'd say this is a must-read fantasy novel. Better than LotR, ASoIaF, Dune, and Narnia by a country mile.
k_lindberg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
muksreads's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars.
As with most longer books it takes a while to get going. Until roughly two hundred pages in I wasn't particularly interested in what was going on, despite some interesting character development. After that it becomes considerably more interesting, particularly when the character of Jonathan Strange is involved.
The characters of this book are what I enjoy the most. They are wonderfully done and the relationship between the two main characters feels natural and full of disharmony. Set in the an alternative version of early 1800s Britian where magic is real, Clarke clearly has fallen in love with the world she has created. This passion flows into every page. For me this was too much at the beginning, before I had even invested any time into the story there were footnotes everywhere explaining the minute details of what was happening in the book. Some readers will love this, I personally did not.
This was an enjoyable read by an Author who has fallen in love with the characters and world they have created. If you do too, you will love this book. For me I could not help thinking that the story could have been told more succinctly and with less tangents.
As with most longer books it takes a while to get going. Until roughly two hundred pages in I wasn't particularly interested in what was going on, despite some interesting character development. After that it becomes considerably more interesting, particularly when the character of Jonathan Strange is involved.
The characters of this book are what I enjoy the most. They are wonderfully done and the relationship between the two main characters feels natural and full of disharmony. Set in the an alternative version of early 1800s Britian where magic is real, Clarke clearly has fallen in love with the world she has created. This passion flows into every page. For me this was too much at the beginning, before I had even invested any time into the story there were footnotes everywhere explaining the minute details of what was happening in the book. Some readers will love this, I personally did not.
This was an enjoyable read by an Author who has fallen in love with the characters and world they have created. If you do too, you will love this book. For me I could not help thinking that the story could have been told more succinctly and with less tangents.
erin0999's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
smithmick14's review against another edition
this book is such a refreshing split from the usual depiction of magic that we get in fiction. so often we're subjected to wands-as-guns or magic-as-technology. i don't want "magic systems". i want wizened old academics realizing they're like children in the face of the arcana into which they've delved. i want pleasant banter over whose implementation of a given charm is better for a situation based on several different texts and schools of thought. things that feel more real (as far as magic can be real) than just a simple video game program.
if you also want these weird and arbitrary elements of magic and fantasy then Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one place to start. the magic of this novel is historical in a way that feels very much like reading an old book you find in the back of the library. there are references to Western Esotericism that are absolutely surgically inserted into the footnotes gilding the periphery of this book. in the middle of a conversation between two diplomats in a coffeehouse a reference to Hermes Trismegistus will bubble to the surface like swamp gas formed in a previous geological era.
this book provides these things all couched within a world that feels fantastic and impossible but also somehow more like our own than almost any other fantasy novel that i've read. by that i mean that the people in this novel behave like real people instead of just pawns of some magical plot. the dialogue is dense and real. the characters have motivations and flaws that eschew archetypes or traditional plot clichés. this book feels like a perfect artifact from another universe where English magic ruled in the physical world as much as it did in the psychosocial world. magic is discussed as an academic pursuit in a manner that feels so deeply.....correct. so true. ironically it depicts magic as a sort of scientific discipline akin to physics or math in a way that is more true to the historiography of those fields than pulpier fantasy books.
it's also such a deep celebration of the (some (not me) would say banal) magic of reading and literature. people become the books that they read and the books that they hoard and the books that they protect. the only difference from our world is a slightly more literal penchant within this book.
this book is also a celebration of teachers and the process of teachers becoming friends and colleagues. so much of this book revolves around the split between theory and practice and how what was once revolutionary practice can become dusty fearful theory with just a little bit of perspective shift. all the while it nods its head at the fact that most people couldn't advance and call out their predecessor's work without standing on their shoulders to do so. but at the end of everything we still have that communion with the written word connecting the teacher to the pupil. no amount of genre-busting or enactment of new methods can get in the way of the love of the pursuit of knowledge that every generation has for what they study.
“And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!”
i liked this one.
if you also want these weird and arbitrary elements of magic and fantasy then Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one place to start. the magic of this novel is historical in a way that feels very much like reading an old book you find in the back of the library. there are references to Western Esotericism that are absolutely surgically inserted into the footnotes gilding the periphery of this book. in the middle of a conversation between two diplomats in a coffeehouse a reference to Hermes Trismegistus will bubble to the surface like swamp gas formed in a previous geological era.
this book provides these things all couched within a world that feels fantastic and impossible but also somehow more like our own than almost any other fantasy novel that i've read. by that i mean that the people in this novel behave like real people instead of just pawns of some magical plot. the dialogue is dense and real. the characters have motivations and flaws that eschew archetypes or traditional plot clichés. this book feels like a perfect artifact from another universe where English magic ruled in the physical world as much as it did in the psychosocial world. magic is discussed as an academic pursuit in a manner that feels so deeply.....correct. so true. ironically it depicts magic as a sort of scientific discipline akin to physics or math in a way that is more true to the historiography of those fields than pulpier fantasy books.
it's also such a deep celebration of the (some (not me) would say banal) magic of reading and literature. people become the books that they read and the books that they hoard and the books that they protect. the only difference from our world is a slightly more literal penchant within this book.
this book is also a celebration of teachers and the process of teachers becoming friends and colleagues. so much of this book revolves around the split between theory and practice and how what was once revolutionary practice can become dusty fearful theory with just a little bit of perspective shift. all the while it nods its head at the fact that most people couldn't advance and call out their predecessor's work without standing on their shoulders to do so. but at the end of everything we still have that communion with the written word connecting the teacher to the pupil. no amount of genre-busting or enactment of new methods can get in the way of the love of the pursuit of knowledge that every generation has for what they study.
“And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!”
i liked this one.
librarianmorgan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dandelionjester's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0