Startling, unusual, and yet irresistibly readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a t... read full description
reviews
Feb 03, 2011
Nikki
rated it: 
I tried to write this review without spoilers, but it depends on what you consider to be spoilers. I think it's a book based more on characters than events, and I don't think knowing some of the events will spoil the whole, but you might want to exercise a bit of caution...
Among Others feels like a book written just for me. The protagonist, Mori, is Welsh, disabled, synaesthetic, listens to folk music, reads SF and fantasy (reads anything and everything)... She says, early in the books More...
Among Others feels like a book written just for me. The protagonist, Mori, is Welsh, disabled, synaesthetic, listens to folk music, reads SF and fantasy (reads anything and everything)... She says, early in the books More...
11 comments
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(25 people liked it)
Jan 18, 2011
Sherwood
rated it:
When I first finished Jo Walton’s to Among Others, there was this instinctive pang of hurt at being left out because when I met Walton in Tempe for World Fantasy a few years back, she didn’t tell me about the fairies.
A heartbeat later my reasoning brain is sending the “Hello, this is fiction!” memo, but there it was, that delicious (and painful) sense of my having lived in that fictional world, the reading experience was so intense: it's the liminal existence I went to books for ever s More...
A heartbeat later my reasoning brain is sending the “Hello, this is fiction!” memo, but there it was, that delicious (and painful) sense of my having lived in that fictional world, the reading experience was so intense: it's the liminal existence I went to books for ever s More...
7 comments
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(21 people liked it)
Oct 17, 2011
Ryandake
rated it: 
meh.
this books rambles along for a couple hundred pages, and then things happen on the last few. for me, by the time i got to the last few pages, i was pretty much just hoping to finish this book and be done with it so i could go on to the next book (a new collection of Thurber James.
the book is written in the form of an adolescent bibliophile's diary. that form gives it a plus: the narrator's voice, unadulterated. in this case the narrator's voice is very clear, distinct More...
this books rambles along for a couple hundred pages, and then things happen on the last few. for me, by the time i got to the last few pages, i was pretty much just hoping to finish this book and be done with it so i could go on to the next book (a new collection of Thurber James.
the book is written in the form of an adolescent bibliophile's diary. that form gives it a plus: the narrator's voice, unadulterated. in this case the narrator's voice is very clear, distinct More...
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(4 people liked it)
May 23, 2011
BunWat
rated it: 
Its so odd, because when I finished this book I wasn't at all sure I liked it. So much of the plot takes place "offstage." It either happened before the book started, or its going on behind the protagonists back or is being reported to her after its finished and decided, and on and so it goes. She reads, she thinks about things, she wonders if that person over there would talk to her, and meanwhile the fairies, her mother, the aunts, her father, the teachers are all making choices th
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10 comments
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(15 people liked it)
Apr 08, 2011
Virginia
rated it:
Walton is clearly an author who loves SF/F books and so does her main character. In fact, Morwenna Phelps is extremely well-read and comments constantly on these books, so if you haven't read a lot of SF/F books or even the classics, this "name-dropping" of sorts might get annoying or distracting. As it is, I found it like cozying up with an old friend who knows all the same books I do.
Set in the time after she and her twin sister save the world from their evil mother, Morwe More...
Set in the time after she and her twin sister save the world from their evil mother, Morwe More...
2 comments
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(2 people liked it)
May 09, 2011
Brooke
rated it: 
I keep going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars. I should have really loved this book, but I found myself more annoyed than charmed. Although it appears we're supposed to take the main character's story at face value and believe that the magic and fairies and her evil mother are real, I found myself writing it all off as her way of coping with a more mundane unstable mother and car accident. I think what pushed me over the edge into disbelief was the scene with the aunts and the earrings. I me
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6 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jan 20, 2011
Carl
rated it:
By page 30 I was thinking: You know how you meet some people and it's awkward and difficult to find anything interesting to talk about, but you meet other people who are fascinating to talk to and it's like you've known them your whole life and just didn't realize it until now and you know you're going to be friends for life? If books were people, AMONG OTHERS would be that second kind.
It was both numinous and a love letter to Inter Library Loan, a combination I find very appealing, More...
It was both numinous and a love letter to Inter Library Loan, a combination I find very appealing, More...
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(7 people liked it)
Feb 12, 2012
Constance
rated it:
"There are books you can fall into and pull up over your head." I adore this book, and at the same time suspect it is not for everyone. It is for introverted outsiders who grew up on a steady diet of books--preferably 1970s science fiction and Lord of the Rings--and who long for a karass and wish to see fairies. It is a poem and pavane to reading and to life. Love. Love Love Love.
Favorite passage: "... he meant that I was halfway through Babel-17, and if I went on [di More...
Favorite passage: "... he meant that I was halfway through Babel-17, and if I went on [di More...
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 27, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Other than mentioning it’s exquisitely excellent and I loved it, I don’t want to say too much about this book. It speaks for itself eloquently, including parceling out just enough information at just the right times for the character to ring true--for this to work as her diary recording her thoughts--and for the pacing and plot to work so effectively. So a few quick introductory facts, then a couple of passages from the text to tease out a few more:
It’s 1979 and Mori is 15. She’s de More...
It’s 1979 and Mori is 15. She’s de More...
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 06, 2011
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
Among Others—science fiction, fantasy, coming-of-age, memoir—is a homage to the great books Jo Walton read as a girl in Wales, and her novel draws life from those classics. Reining in such disparate threads as Walton does can be a daunting task. To be sure, this is a book about much more than the pitfalls of adolescence, although the author has proven again and again that she’s equal to the challenge (as evidenced by award nominations in just about every major SF/F category over the years). Amon
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 18, 2012
Throughthetrees
rated it:
I just finished reading "Among Others" by Jo Walton. This was a book that I had heard about and waited painfully for as it made it's slow climb to paperback. I was excited to read it: Mori is crippled and her twin sister dead after an accident involving her evil witch mother. She runs away to a father who she never knew and begins life in a boarding school where there is no magic except for the magic she makes herself. Unfortunately, that magic captures the attention of her mother
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Feb 17, 2012
Rebecca
rated it:
This novel is two stories, possibly three.
One is about surviving a sacrifice one had never intended to survive. Morwenna and her sister resolve to die preventing her insane mother from gathering enough magical power to take over the world. But Morwenna survives, and is forced to deal with geeky adolescence in 1970s England by herself instead of moving on with her sister after their heroic battle.
One is merely implied, in which a girl with a mentally unstable mother begins her More...
One is about surviving a sacrifice one had never intended to survive. Morwenna and her sister resolve to die preventing her insane mother from gathering enough magical power to take over the world. But Morwenna survives, and is forced to deal with geeky adolescence in 1970s England by herself instead of moving on with her sister after their heroic battle.
One is merely implied, in which a girl with a mentally unstable mother begins her More...
Feb 08, 2012
Jacqie
rated it:
Loved it- this book could have been written just for me. The shy teenager who loves to read science fiction, wishing for people who love the same things she does. The inscrutable fairies were fascinating and we got just about enough of them to still leave me wanting more. The horrid boarding school reminded me very much of some of the Madeleine L'engle books featuring an introverted heroine tossed into communal life.
Characters: I found Wim vaguely threatening, although I was impr More...
Characters: I found Wim vaguely threatening, although I was impr More...
Feb 06, 2012
Nancy
rated it:
I really enjoyed the voice in this book, and the matter-of-fact way magic realism was handled, and the way certain things were hinted at without ever being entirely spelled out. I suspect it will stay with me for a long time as well and may grow on me more over time. There are some truly unforgettable lines in here ("If you love books enough, books will love you back") and I enjoyed the ruminations on the ethics of magic.
What I didn't like was the anti-climactic climax-- wh More...
What I didn't like was the anti-climactic climax-- wh More...
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Jan 22, 2012
Miki
rated it:
This is really terrific. In many ways, it's a love letter to sci fi books and the power of reading and libraries, but it's also about standing up for what you think is right, and understanding that life isn't fair.
Morwenna is a Welch girl raised by a half-mad mother, who she has had to face in magical battle, which results in the death of her twin, and leaves Morwenna with a badly damaged leg. She flees her mother, and winds up with her estranged father, who sends her to a boarding sc More...
Morwenna is a Welch girl raised by a half-mad mother, who she has had to face in magical battle, which results in the death of her twin, and leaves Morwenna with a badly damaged leg. She flees her mother, and winds up with her estranged father, who sends her to a boarding sc More...
Jan 11, 2012
Gwyneth
rated it:
Many science fiction and fantasy books build up to a final great battle between good and evil. This book is about what happens after.
Mori (Morwenna) and Mor (Morganna) are twins growing up in the coal mining valleys of south Wales. They have known and played with fairies all their lives. Their mother is a bona fide evil witch. Sometime before their 15th birthday, the twins unite with the fairies to do battle with their mother, to prevent her from becoming a black queen and controlling t More...
Mori (Morwenna) and Mor (Morganna) are twins growing up in the coal mining valleys of south Wales. They have known and played with fairies all their lives. Their mother is a bona fide evil witch. Sometime before their 15th birthday, the twins unite with the fairies to do battle with their mother, to prevent her from becoming a black queen and controlling t More...
Jan 08, 2012
Suki
rated it:
This is the story of a Welsh 15-year-old girl, Mori, told by way of journal entries. It takes place in 1979 to 1980. Mori loves to read Sci-Fi and is amazingly insightful and articulate on the subject. Her twin sister is dead, her mother is horrid, and her father committed suicide. She believes in magic and, in fact, is able to see fairies. Are they real or simply the imaginings of a lonely girl with an astute and creative mind? You'll have to read it to find out. I found the book tedious at fir
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 04, 2012
Elaine
rated it:
I should have adored this book. Intelligent, honest teen female lead with a strong voice - check. Homage to libraries and the interlibrary loan system - check. Celebration of books and particularly speculative fiction - check. Set in an English boarding school - check. Magic and fairies and witches and tea and honey buns - check. Twins and identity confusion - check. Some good - even beautiful at times - writing - check.
I didn't adore it and I barely finished it and I still am not s More...
I didn't adore it and I barely finished it and I still am not s More...
Jan 03, 2012
Snail in Danger (Sid)
rated it:
Dates approximate. This sounded great, and like something I really wanted to read as soon as I read ... a thing by the author that I can't find now. I can't find it on her LiveJournal, where I thought it was. Something about how she didn't consciously mean it as a metaphor for the industrial changes in Wales, but now that she'd thought about it, yes, that was in there too? I can't find it, so I can't rule out the possibility that I made it up. Or at least that I am wildly misremembering cri
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Dec 27, 2011
Shannon
rated it:
Among Others is a library book that ended up here per my husband's request. I was between books and chose this one from the available stack. Told in diary form, Among Others is the story of 15 year-old Morwenna - Mor or Mori, for short. Mori's an avid Science Fiction reader, attends a boarding school and has just recently gone to live with her father after an accident involving her mother (who is a witch) and her twin sister (who is dead).
While the diary format made the book a fairl More...
While the diary format made the book a fairl More...
Dec 17, 2011
Jill
rated it:
I'm of two minds about this book...on one hand, I do not get the effusive praise for it, I found nothing about it particularly original (perhaps having read too many fairy tale books, gothic novel- with twins of course,, and boarding school coming of age stories...this just combined the three formulas). On the other hand, I don't agree with those who didn't like it because it was slow moving, had no plot and only referred back to the exciting stuff without ever delving into it. Often you read
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Dec 07, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Loved. This. Book.
It's the first book I've read on my Kindle that I wish I'd read in print -- not only because I want to pass my copy around to everyone I know, but also because the book itself is so much about reading, about books, and about talking about books.
It takes place in Wales and England in 1979/1980, and the main character is a SF/Fantasy reader. The book is in the form of her journal, and many of the entries are about the books she reads -- lots of references t More...
It's the first book I've read on my Kindle that I wish I'd read in print -- not only because I want to pass my copy around to everyone I know, but also because the book itself is so much about reading, about books, and about talking about books.
It takes place in Wales and England in 1979/1980, and the main character is a SF/Fantasy reader. The book is in the form of her journal, and many of the entries are about the books she reads -- lots of references t More...
Dec 03, 2011
FABULOUS!!BOOKREADS BOOK BLURB.. Startling, unusual, and yet irresistibly readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirit More...
Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirit More...
Nov 12, 2011
Lightreads
rated it:
…Huh.
So this is the sequel to a book that doesn't exist. That book -- the prequel -- is a standard issue fantasy about Mor and her twin sister growing up in Wales and seeing faeries, and how they save the world. This book is about the aftermath -- about Mor sent away from home, and grieving, and having to live in the world of school and estranged relatives after all she's done and seen. Having to live disabled in the world, I should clarify. And it's about that -- a coming into the mu More...
So this is the sequel to a book that doesn't exist. That book -- the prequel -- is a standard issue fantasy about Mor and her twin sister growing up in Wales and seeing faeries, and how they save the world. This book is about the aftermath -- about Mor sent away from home, and grieving, and having to live in the world of school and estranged relatives after all she's done and seen. Having to live disabled in the world, I should clarify. And it's about that -- a coming into the mu More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jul 29, 2011
Samantha
rated it:
'Among Others' is a warm and quiet coming-of-age fantasy about a teen girl, Mori, with a tragic past who finds herself shuttled off to boarding school, where her only comfort lies in the genre books she devours avidly. Related in diary format, the novel follows her tale as she contends with her new situation and relates her daily happenings - including her numerous encounters with faeries, something that's been happening since she was a child. For her own sake, she has to find a way to integrate
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Jul 22, 2011
Cheryl
rated it:
This book was beautifully written and drew me into Mori's worldview completely. It works on so many levels: a coming of age story, an exploration of how magic in the mundane modern world contrasts with magic in books, and the process of healing from family tragedy. I believe the author wants us to take magic and fairies as real in the story, not some projection of Mori's grief or family mental illness. The main theme is an old one: you are too old now for fairies and magic--the adults who try to
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Jul 15, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Usually I can read through a book in a couple of days– a week or two at the most. This book took me much, much longer. It was just interesting enough for me to pick it up from time to time, but not interesting enough to hold my attention for very long.
I had been impressed with the reviews I had read on the back of the book. It sounded outstanding. However, there were just so many references to so many science fiction novels (most of which I had never heard of) that it was more tedious More...
I had been impressed with the reviews I had read on the back of the book. It sounded outstanding. However, there were just so many references to so many science fiction novels (most of which I had never heard of) that it was more tedious More...
Jul 11, 2011
Suzanne
rated it:
I'm incapable of writing an objective review of this book, so if you want that, you'll have to read a different one. I felt more as if I were reading my own fictionalized biography. While I did not -- and do not -- have Mor's magical powers, I absolutely shared her fanatical love of science fiction and fantasy. At last count, I'd read "Lord of the Rings" at least 15 times, and will be re-reading it again soon.
While it's unabashedly fantasy, it's also firmly realistic. It deals wi More...
While it's unabashedly fantasy, it's also firmly realistic. It deals wi More...
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Jun 26, 2011
Minli
rated it:
I enjoyed Among Others--I think anyone who has felt like they didn't belong in some place, or some group of people can sympathize with Mor. But I can't help but feel misled, a little bit. Was this a boarding school story? A fairy story? (I drew the parallel with Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, another book that messes with your expectations).
The most profound part of Among Others was the isolation and loneliness Mor felt while at school, and her interactions with her classmates, the sci-fi boo More...
The most profound part of Among Others was the isolation and loneliness Mor felt while at school, and her interactions with her classmates, the sci-fi boo More...
Jun 21, 2011
Lesley
rated it:
This is a book you read and either think, "Oh God yes that was me," or "Huh? I don't get it." Nothing wrong with not getting it--you may in fact have had a much more pleasant childhood than those of us who did. This is the first book it's been hard for me to review because I don't want to put my feelings about it into words. It's like Jo Walton wrote a review of it by writing the book itself. It's also impossible not to reveal personal things, like what kind of kid you were.
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(7 people liked it)
