Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

[avid reader]

just curious to see if anyone else has read this...

if you have not you should. it is excellent. I would describe it as a cross between fantasy and historical fiction.

[EAP]

Better books in comparatively similar settings:

Annubis Gates - Tim Powers
The Light Ages - Ian R. MacLeod
Newton's Cannon - J. Greg Keyes

[avid reader]

thanks, ill have to check those out

[Stewart]

I started it but, by about 100 pages, the magic - for me at least - was lost forever. ;)

[mister_noel_y2k]

im reading it at the moment and have to say that despite the footnotes becoming rather annoying and some parts of it could have been edited out, the book is great reading. kudos to ms. clarke for a brilliant debut!

john uskglass...what a cool character, and a great name :banana:

[mister_noel_y2k]

actually y'know i think i'll edit my last reply.

the characters of strange and norrell are pretty thinly drawn, one is an extrovert and one is an introvert; that pretty much sums them up. and for such a lengthy tome (782 pages!) its very easy to put down, even when you manage to get to page 700! in that sense the novel is very much a slow affair and i think part of that is due to a lack of plot. there is a promising character of john uskglass and i thought childermass was a great character if again a bit of a 2D character. for most i would say that its entertaining for 50 pages or so, the anecdotes and what have you are entertaining but theres very little except sheer perseverance that could keep a reader going. then again it makes you wonder if this couldn't have been divided into various short stories which is what it seems like; a patchwork quilt of interesting stories all stuck together into one massive book which really adds up to nothing spectacular. for one huge book as this you'd expect a lot more out of it combined with the hype and sales. unfortunately it doesn't deliver much and isn't a very satisfying read, it had its fine moments but frankly in the end i was glad to finish it. :banana:

[Satine]

just curious to see if anyone else has read this...

if you have not you should. it is excellent. I would describe it as a cross between fantasy and historical fiction.


I loved it as well. Fantastic book, great plot, twists, character development, etc. I was pleasantly surprised, as I bought it without having researched the author or anything. Just picked it up because it looked like it might be good. Lengthy, 800 pages, but well worth it.

[Zippy]

Great idea and engaging characters, but far, far too long.