A review by manuphoto
Among Others by Jo Walton

emotional informative lighthearted medium-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

2.5

This is probably the worst well written book I have ever read.

Let me explain.

This story is elegantly written, well paced, and has some very interesting elements in it. The main character, Mori, is actually very relatable. But the whole thing feels like a bragging effort by the author to talk about her knowledge of Science Fiction and fantasy. The plot is never really there and serves as an excuse to chat about reading books and being a nerd.

I am certain that I would enjoy a conference given by her. Or that I would greatly appreciate a talk with her about the genre. I can relate with Mori, I’m a book nerd myself. But in this case, we are talking about a work of fiction, and I don’t think it works. 

It is a love letter to Science-fiction fans, but I would rather have that in a short story or novella than in a full-fledged novel. Here, it seems like 300 pages about almost nothing, or at least not much.

Hence the low rating, which is quite rare for a Hugo and Nebula award winner. It gets them for the quality of the writing and for touching on a subject matter that I care about, but overall it was a very underwhelming read. Walton quotes Louis XVI’s diary on July 14th 1789 a couple times in this novel and I’m going to do the same: “aujourd’hui, rien”. Quite appropriate.