Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

It took me more than a year after this book came out to get ahold of a copy and finally start reading it, and I was beginning to fear that it would take me just as long to finish it; but finish it I did, and in the months it took me to do so (you guys, I'm just not a fast reader), I went from mildly entertained but dubious to blown away and in love.

There are a few things you should note when deciding whether to take up this book. One, it's long. The paperback weighs in at over a thousand pages. The only other contemporary author I've been willing to wade through that many pages for is George R. R. Martin, and coincidentally enough, I had a similar reaction the first time I read A Game of Thrones. "This book is so looong," I whined in the beginning. "It's long and it's hard to read because there are so many characters to keep track of and so, so much description and gah! It's long!" This, of course, eventually turned into "This book is the best book ever and I can't wait to read the next one OMG I need it now!" All of which is pretty much what I felt while reading Strange & Norrell.

Another thing is the style in which it's written. It's set in Regency England, and the writing deliberately affects the style of literature from that era, most notably Jane Austen. So if you can't handle Pride & Prejudice, you won't be able to handle this. On the other hand, if you love Pride & Prejudice, you will most likely love this book even if you're not a fan of fantasy, if only for its deft handling of the language, it's reserved yet painfully sweet treatment of romance, and its wry sense of humor.

Also, there are footnotes. Don't let them scare you away. You can safely skip them without losing any information that's vital to the story, although taking the time to read them adds to the richness of Clarke's version of English history.

The book opens on early 19th century England, an England in which magic was once commonplace and practical magicianship was a highly regarded profession as well as a matter of national pride, but is now a lost art, gone away with the overgrown fairy roads and the disappearance of the Raven King. The only magicians remaining in England are the theoretical kind, and are more historians than actual practicioners of magic, devoted to studying the history of English magic. That is, until one Mr. Norrell, an elderly gentleman with undeniable talent and skill, makes his presence and his power known in a spectacular display of true magic. Norrell is an overnight sensation, quickly achieving celebrity status and becoming England's foremost authority on magic in his determination to restore England to the glory days of its magical past.

Norrell has a free and clear road to rebuilding English Magic in his own image, at least until he agrees to take on a pupil. Jonathan Strange is a young gentleman whose natural talent astonishes even Norrell. As he grows in both knowledge and skill, he begins to have different ideas of what is best for English Magic, and his frustration with the limitations placed upon him by his teacher, as well as his unwillingness to place any limitations upon his own magic, ultimately leads to a conflict that changes the face of England, and of English magic, forever.

The story spans about ten years in the lives of these two men, and includes a rich cast of supporting characters. In the beginning, as first Norrell and then Strange make their way through English society and slowly advance their careers, the people and events they encounter seem random and unrelated to the point that I began to wonder if there was any plot to this story. Thank goodness I kept reading, though, because Suzannah Clarke accomplishes the awesome feat of tying everything together into a seamless, satisfying whole, painting vivid imagery, revealing surprising twists and relationships, and subverting the reader's expectations in effective, delightful and often even gut-wrenching ways. She has an almost Whedonesque way of building anticipation of a seemingly inevitable outcome, only to undercut it by doing exactly the opposite, and the result is both unexpected and absolutely right for the characters involved.

This is an astonishingly well-written, romantic urban fairy tale. It requires a certain amount of patience, but the payoff is well worth it. I definitely recommend it.