Among Others in Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy

Jul 14, 2012 Kevin Xu rated it it was ok

There are few problems I had with the book. First, as far as fantasy goes, I'm not really a big fan of the magical realism type of fantasy like this book is, I like to be transported into a new world with great world building. Second, I'm also not a big fan of geek nostalgia like this or Ready Player One. Third, I thought there could have been more to the book than basically about discovering the genre.

The book is about a fifteen year old girl who gets send to boarding school after the death of ...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Anmiryam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

What a lovely balancing act Jo Walton accomplishes in this tale of a damaged, smart and feisty young girl becoming a woman in 1979/80. Is magic real or metaphorical? You decide. The book can be read either way and neither decision is the wrong one for regardless of your personal view this is a genuinely brilliant look inside the mind of a teenage girl who lives for books and finds salvation in them. I cheered every time a book I liked was mentioned as one the our heroine and narrator, Morwenna, ...more

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Aug 12, 2013 Trice rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, childrens-ya, cymru, audio, britannia, books-about-books, sff-bkclub, 2016

I truly love this book, but a word of warning: don't expect it to be rollicking adventure type fantasy - it's much more the contemplative type with intense but incredibly brief and subtle moments of numinous action.

It evoked in me what Terry Pratchett's Band with Rocks In in Soul Music calls "hole" which is a deepest sense of home. It made me ache for Wales, a country of green and rolling hills that rooted my heart in less than 6months, and even though I somehow missed the "yes, no"s of the nor ...more

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May 26, 2018 Wendy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Perfect book for me. So much of it resonates. The wish to find your karass, the pleasure of immersing yourself in different worlds, the feeling at times of watching events from the outside, rather than participating. It did make me think about natures patterns, and how we are all connected. I loved the idea that all objects contain magic from their users, and how magic works in ways which are difficult to define. It's easy to dismiss all of this superstition in todays practical, knowledgeable wo ...more

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Jul 25, 2019 Dea rated it it was ok

Get your tropes! We got your old overused tropes here! We got “You are not like the other girls!” We got “Girl being molested by parental figures!” And save the best for last, we got “All your problems will be solved, girl, as soon as you get a man, or three, in your life!”

More seriously though, and to avoid having to go on a rant about the tropes above, half of this book is book reviews. If you like reading about people discussing books you have not read yet, or reducing some pretty big concept ...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Simon Hedge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hugowinner

One of the finest books I've ever read, period. It is by turns incredibly enchanting, deeply moving, comic, and nostalgic. The writing subtly beautiful. And I might have fallen in love with Mori. ...more

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Jun 05, 2013 S H A R O N rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf, 2013

[I also reviewed this title on my blog: Ishari's Bookshelf]

I was oh so looking forward to this read. Maybe I had too many expectations?

I managed to get through about half of it before I stopped and looked up some reviews to see if I was missing something. Maybe that's cheating? I don't know, but I am glad I checked the reviews. It seems like you either love this book for its homage to classic science fiction and the good ol' interlibrary loan days at the library before e-readers came onto the s ...more

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