Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

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English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory. But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative-the very opposite of Mr Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.

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ISBN
9780765356154
9781608195350
9781582346038
9781593977429
9781582344164

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Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Witty British banter and Dickensian characters bring these historical fantasy stories to life. Both novels are stylistically complex, take place in an England of old, contain elements that defy explanation, and feature romantic relationships gone awry. -- Alicia Cavitt
While the romantic fantasy Shades of Milk and Honey employs a lighter tone and more self-contained setting than Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, readers will enjoy the detailed Regency England setting, inventive use of magic, and complex etiquette that governs the characters' lives. -- NoveList Contributor
Both descriptive historical fantasies are set in 19th-century Britain and star pupils of magic questioning the systems in which they are involved. -- Kaitlin Conner
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell appears to be set in a version of 19th-century England; The Philosopher's Flight in 20th century America. Both combine the vivid details of historical fiction with a scientific study of magic (and its use in war). -- Shauna Griffin
Magic serves as social capital in these historical fantasies, set in alternate versions of Regency England. In Sorcerer to the Crown, race and gender present obstacles to advancement, whereas Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell's rigidly class-based society limits educational opportunities. -- NoveList Contributor
Both these novels blend history and fantasy along with magical and realistic characters to create alternate worlds that are surprisingly rich in authentic historical detail. These imaginative, complex, and layered stories ramble along at a leisurely pace. -- Joyce Saricks
Both of these atmospheric novels seem equal parts literary and supernatural. While The Accursed combines elements of horror with bookishness and a literary style, Jonathan Strange grounds fantasy in academia. Both offer detailed historical settings. -- Shauna Griffin
Readers looking for richly detailed epics that offer a twist on typical Victoriana may appreciate both books, although Washington Black lacks the historical fantasy aspects of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. -- Autumn Winters
In these literary fantasies, humans seeking more magic in their lives unleash forces beyond their control. Jonathan Strange features a richly detailed Napoleonic Era England, while The King of Elfland's Daughter evokes an atmospheric medieval setting. -- Michael Shumate
These intricately plotted, richly detailed novels romp through magical history with Victorian flair. A magician duels human and fairy rivals to save his wife in Jonathan Strange; a woman races to save her magical protégé in Return of the Witch. -- Kim Burton
Historical fantasy fans will enjoy these atmospheric, intricately plotted novels that bring magic into the political tensions of twentieth-century America (Uncanny Times) or nineteenth-century England (Jonathan Strange). -- CJ Connor
Though The Prestige has a faster pace, both these novels have a historical setting and unsettling ambiance, and they feature dueling magicians whose competition spawns unexpected, far-reaching effects. -- Bethany Latham

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Morgenstern and Clarke both write Fantasy fiction characterized by intricate plots and a relaxed pace that draws the narrative through multiple generations. Their richly detailed stories are populated with characters such as magicians, witches, and circus performers; infusing realism and history with a hefty dose of magic. -- Keeley Murray
These literary authors employ fantastic elements in their novels, in Susanna Clarke's case often moving into fantasy fiction and with Jeanette Winterson into science fiction and mythology. Their fiction is richly detailed and witty, with a keen insight into characters and their relationships and intricate, sometimes fantastic plots. -- Melissa Gray
Words such as labyrinthine and byzantine soon come to mind in describing the exotic, richly detailed fictional worlds of Mervyn Peake and Susanna Clarke. Both write a sort of hybrid fiction, Clarke combining historical fiction with magic, and Peake combining atmospheric Gothic settings with hints of fantasy. -- Michael Shumate
Both authors write descriptive, richly detailed fantasy novels set in or inspired by real historical periods. Readers looking for stories with intricate world-building and a strong sense of place will find much to appreciate, -- CJ Connor
Expert storytellers Susanna Clarke and Patrick Rothfuss write Fantasy fiction with a dramatic, atmospheric tone. Both authors favor a relaxed pace as they allow character histories and intricate plots to unfold. Their books can be dense, but attention to detail and sufficient action make these books into page-turners. -- Keeley Murray
Most simply put, Christopher Priest and Susanna Clarke are two of the towering figures of British speculative fiction of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They use world-building elements of genre science fiction (Priest) and fantasy (both) to write unconventional, psychologically insightful works of literary fiction. -- Michael Shumate
Clarke and Dahlquist both write Fantasy fiction with large casts of characters and dramatic, intricate plots. Both authors turn the magical world into a comedy of manners -- issues like marriage, betrayal, and social climbing play a role -- but ultimately stay true to the adventurous nature of the genre. -- Keeley Murray
These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex and nonlinear, and they have the genre "historical fantasy"; the subjects "wizards," "aristocracy," and "english history"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex, strong sense of place, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genre "historical fantasy"; the subjects "aristocracy" and "english history"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex, lyrical, and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "psychological fiction"; the subjects "aristocracy" and "dukes and duchesses"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex, and they have the genres "historical fantasy" and "literary fiction"; and the subjects "english history," "witchcraft," and "supernatural."
These authors' works have the appeal factors stylistically complex and leisurely paced, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "page to screen"; the subjects "recluses," "men recluses," and "english history"; and characters that are "complex characters."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

It's surprising that this first novel works at all. Readers have to accept an especially fanciful premise but, as it quickly becomes obvious, acceptance presents no difficulty. This novel took 10 years to research and write, according to publicity material; for readers at least, the author's arduous task results in a smashing success--it's an exceptionally compelling, brilliantly creative, and historically fine-tuned piece of work. The brilliance of the novel lies in how Clarke so completely and believably creates a world within a world: the outside world being early-nineteenth-century England, as Napoleon the eagle looms over all of Europe; the inner world being the community of English magicians. At the story's outset, magic in the land is moribund; magicians, who convene in various convocations, did not want to see magic done; they only wished to read about it in books. But circumstances arise that cause magic again to become manifest, not simply discussed as an academic subject; this resurrection has extensive consequences for the heretofore stately state of magic in the English realm. History and fantasy form a beautiful partnership in this detailed, authentic, and heartfelt novel, which is part fairy tale and part epic. The inner world it creates is completely furnished and credible; the outside world is exact in its accuracy. Written in a style correlative to the writing and speaking of the time, which the reader will come to find quite mellifluous, this novel is, in a word, charming. Comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable but not distracting, for this novel stands on its own. --Brad Hooper Copyright 2004 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

The drawing room social comedies of early 19th-century Britain are infused with the powerful forces of English folklore and fantasy in this extraordinary novel of two magicians who attempt to restore English magic in the age of Napoleon. In Clarke's world, gentlemen scholars pore over the magical history of England, which is dominated by the Raven King, a human who mastered magic from the lands of faerie. The study is purely theoretical until Mr. Norrell, a reclusive, mistrustful bookworm, reveals that he is capable of producing magic and becomes the toast of London society, while an impetuous young aristocrat named Jonathan Strange tumbles into the practice, too, and finds himself quickly mastering it. Though irritated by the reticent Norrell, Strange becomes the magician's first pupil, and the British government is soon using their skills. Mr. Strange serves under Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars (in a series of wonderful historical scenes), but afterward the younger magician finds himself unable to accept Norrell's restrictive views of magic's proper place and sets out to create a new age of magic by himself. Clarke manages to portray magic as both a believably complex and tedious labor, and an eerie world of signs and wonders where every object may have secret meaning. London politics and talking stones are portrayed with equal realism and seem indisputably part of the same England, as signs indicate that the Raven King may return. The chock-full, old-fashioned narrative (supplemented with deft footnotes to fill in the ignorant reader on incidents in magical history) may seem a bit stiff and mannered at first, but immersion in the mesmerizing story reveals its intimacy, humor and insight, and will enchant readers of fantasy and literary fiction alike. Agent, Jonny Geller. (Oct.) Forecast: A massive push by Bloomsbury has made this one of the most anticipated novels of the season. It's convenient to pigeonhole it as Harry Potter for grownups-and grown-up readers of J.K. Rowling will enjoy it-but its deep grounding in history gives it gravitas as well as readability. 200,000 first printing; rights sold in 14 countries. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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School Library Journal Review

Adult/High School-This delightful first novel exerts a strong and seductive pull on readers who might otherwise balk at its length. Like Philip Pullman's work, it is dark, deep, and challenging. It compares dead-on with Jane Austen's novels, and YAs who have underappreciated her wit may find it delicious when applied to magicians. Clarke even tosses in a bit of Dickens and Hardy-with great characterization, subplots, and a sense of fate bearing down hard on us. At stake is the future of English magic, which has nearly dwindled to all theory by the early 1800s, after centuries of prominence. When the book opens, only the reclusive and jealous Gilbert Norrell is practicing. Enter Jonathan Strange, a natural who has never studied magic formally. Norrell resents, then adopts Strange as a pupil whose growth he insists on controlling until the two come to the impasse that nearly leads them to destroy one another. Strange champions the 12th century's "Raven King" as the greatest magician in English history and hopes to summon him from Faerie, an alternate world. Norrell is determined to erase both from English memory-to hide the fact that he himself made a bargain with a fairy that has cost three people their lives, though their hearts go on dismally beating. Expertly written and imagined, the book is a feast for fans of fantasy, historical novels, or simply fabulously engrossing reads.-Emily Lloyd, formerly at Rehoboth Beach Public Library, DE (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Library Journal Review

This book's rather lackluster title does a grave disservice to a story of tremendous imagination and exquisite style. First novelist Clarke recounts the struggle of two English magicians to return their craft to the level of professional respect it commanded during the medieval golden age. It is 1806, and with the Napoleonic Wars raging, England calls upon Mr. Norrell, a prudent, practiced magician-scholar, to fend off the little general once and for all. Then along comes Jonathan Strange, a handsome and reckless aristocrat who tries his hand at magic and quickly excels. Admirers of Austen will find much to entertain them as they read of the magicians' travails (Norrell takes on Strange as a pupil), English economic ills, and the much darker, more dangerous forces of the Faerie world. This tour de force is sure to appeal to fans of Charles Palliser and Diana Gabaldon and anyone who appreciates a distinctive voice. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

Rival magicians square off to display and match their powers in an extravagant historical fantasy being published simultaneously in several countries, to be marketed as Harry Potter for adults. But English author Clarke's spectacular debut is something far richer than Potter: an absorbing tale of vaulting ambition and mortal conflict steeped in folklore and legend, enlivened by subtle characterizations and a wittily congenial omniscient authorial presence. The agreeably convoluted plot takes off with a meeting in of "gentleman-magicians" in Yorkshire in 1806, the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The participants' scholarly interests are encouraged by a prophecy "that one day magic would be restored to England by two magicians" and would subsequently be stimulated by the coming to national prominence of Gilbert Norrell, a fussy pedant inclined to burrow among his countless books of quaint and curious lore, and by dashing, moody Jonathan Strange, successfully employed by Lord Wellington to defeat French forces by magical means. Much happens. A nobleman's dead wife is revived but languishes in a half-unreal realm called "Lost-hope"--as does Stephen Black, the same nobleman's black butler, enigmatically assured by a nameless "gentleman with thistle-down hair" that he (Stephen) is a monarch in exile. Clarke sprinkles her radiantly readable text with faux-scholarly (and often hilarious) footnotes while building an elaborate plot that takes Strange through military glory, unsuccessful attempts to cure England's mad king, travel to Venice and a meeting with Lord Byron, and on a perilous pursuit of the fabled Raven King, former ruler of England, into the world of Faerie, and Hell ("The only magician to defeat Death !"). There's nothing in Tolkien, Mervyn Peake, or any of their peers that surpasses the power with which Clarke evokes this fabulous figure's tangled "history." The climax, in which Strange and Norrell conspire to summon the King, arrives--for all the book's enormous length--all too soon. An instant classic, one of the finest fantasies ever written. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

/*Starred Review*/ It's surprising that this first novel works at all. Readers have to accept an especially fanciful premise but, as it quickly becomes obvious, acceptance presents no difficulty. This novel took 10 years to research and write, according to publicity material; for readers at least, the author's arduous task results in a smashing success--it's an exceptionally compelling, brilliantly creative, and historically fine-tuned piece of work. The brilliance of the novel lies in how Clarke so completely and believably creates a world within a world: the "outside" world being early-nineteenth-century England, as Napoleon the eagle looms over all of Europe; the "inner" world being the community of English magicians. At the story's outset, magic in the land is moribund; magicians, who convene in various convocations, "did not want to see magic done; they only wished to read about it in books." But circumstances arise that cause magic again to become manifest, not simply discussed as an academic subject; this resurrection has extensive consequences for the heretofore stately state of magic in the English realm. History and fantasy form a beautiful partnership in this detailed, authentic, and heartfelt novel, which is part fairy tale and part epic. The inner world it creates is completely furnished and credible; the outside world is exact in its accuracy. Written in a style correlative to the writing and speaking of the time, which the reader will come to find quite mellifluous, this novel is, in a word, charming. Comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable but not distracting, for this novel stands on its own. ((Reviewed July 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

Clarke's debut is also a generous and unexpected novel, one that is equally portentous and provides readers with a similar sense of wonderment. While darker than The Night Circus (which itself is not sweetness and light), Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell also explores the consequences of two dueling magicians (and is also available in audio, superbly narrated by Simon Prebble). Mr. Norrell is a humorless and judgmental man, wishing to lock the secrets of English magic within his library. Jonathan Strange is a more open, but no less complicated figure, determined to learn magic. The novel traces much of their relationship and rivalry in London and through the campaigns aboard during the Napoleonic War. The story line is complicated by a dangerously powerful being from Faerie and the allusive figure of the Raven King, whose history is given, as is much of English Magic, through a series of footnotes. Like The Night Circus, Clarke's novel is lushly written and languidly paced, building to a conclusion that leaves one going back a few pages to experience it again. Both books also share a similar approach to the details of magic, which are allusively sketched, and a writing style that is at once luminous and crisp. As a result, both books make readers wish that the pages were transparent overlays that would allow us to lift up the corners and peer inside for more. - Neal Wyatt, "RA Crossroads," Booksmack! 10/6/11 (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

The drawing room social comedies of early 19th-century Britain are infused with the powerful forces of English folklore and fantasy in this extraordinary novel of two magicians who attempt to restore English magic in the age of Napoleon. In Clarke's world, gentlemen scholars pore over the magical history of England, which is dominated by the Raven King, a human who mastered magic from the lands of faerie. The study is purely theoretical until Mr. Norrell, a reclusive, mistrustful bookworm, reveals that he is capable of producing magic and becomes the toast of London society, while an impetuous young aristocrat named Jonathan Strange tumbles into the practice, too, and finds himself quickly mastering it. Though irritated by the reticent Norrell, Strange becomes the magician's first pupil, and the British government is soon using their skills. Mr. Strange serves under Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars (in a series of wonderful historical scenes), but afterward the younger magician finds himself unable to accept Norrell's restrictive views of magic's proper place and sets out to create a new age of magic by himself. Clarke manages to portray magic as both a believably complex and tedious labor, and an eerie world of signs and wonders where every object may have secret meaning. London politics and talking stones are portrayed with equal realism and seem indisputably part of the same England, as signs indicate that the Raven King may return. The chock-full, old-fashioned narrative (supplemented with deft footnotes to fill in the ignorant reader on incidents in magical history) may seem a bit stiff and mannered at first, but immersion in the mesmerizing story reveals its intimacy, humor and insight, and will enchant readers of fantasy and literary fiction alike. Agent, Jonny Geller. (Oct.) Forecast: A massive push by Bloomsbury has made this one of the most anticipated novels of the season. It's convenient to pigeonhole it as Harry Potter for grownups-and grown-up readers of J.K. Rowling will enjoy it-but its deep grounding in history gives it gravitas as well as readability. 200,000 first printing; rights sold in 14 countries. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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School Library Journal Reviews

Adult/High School-This delightful first novel exerts a strong and seductive pull on readers who might otherwise balk at its length. Like Philip Pullman's work, it is dark, deep, and challenging. It compares dead-on with Jane Austen's novels, and YAs who have underappreciated her wit may find it delicious when applied to magicians. Clarke even tosses in a bit of Dickens and Hardy-with great characterization, subplots, and a sense of fate bearing down hard on us. At stake is the future of English magic, which has nearly dwindled to all theory by the early 1800s, after centuries of prominence. When the book opens, only the reclusive and jealous Gilbert Norrell is practicing. Enter Jonathan Strange, a natural who has never studied magic formally. Norrell resents, then adopts Strange as a pupil whose growth he insists on controlling until the two come to the impasse that nearly leads them to destroy one another. Strange champions the 12th century's "Raven King" as the greatest magician in English history and hopes to summon him from Faerie, an alternate world. Norrell is determined to erase both from English memory-to hide the fact that he himself made a bargain with a fairy that has cost three people their lives, though their hearts go on dismally beating. Expertly written and imagined, the book is a feast for fans of fantasy, historical novels, or simply fabulously engrossing reads.-Emily Lloyd, formerly at Rehoboth Beach Public Library, DE Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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