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What Members Thought
I’ve read this along with some buddies in the book club but despite its length, it was an enjoyable reading experience. For all its 900 plus pages, this is a book which does not feel like a chunkster at all. The story egged me to read continuously even up to the wee hours of the night, and believe me, I am not easily fascinated by stories about magic at all. (Yes, I am not a hardcore Harry Potter fan.) But this book, it made me appreciate magic more through the way it made magic sound scientific
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Set in the early 1800s, this novel begins with a mystical and magical feel that builds and builds as the story continues, with both Norrell and Strange delving deeper and deeper into the world of magic, taking much of England with them as they do. The atmosphere of the book is perfectly suited to the story and by setting the story in the early 19th Century, Clarke has been able to use candles, gloomy pre-Victorian rooms and the widespread suspicions of the time to add to the depth and feeling of
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I'd describe this one as Harry Potter crossed with Pride and Prejudice. It combines Austen's social wit with a world in which magic is completely normal. The character of Jonathan Strange in particular is wonderful, I think I fell in love with him a little.
Admittedly, I struggled with the opening couple of chapers. It reads quite dry to start and the footnotes can become really difficult to bear. Still, overall, a brilliant novel. ...more
Admittedly, I struggled with the opening couple of chapers. It reads quite dry to start and the footnotes can become really difficult to bear. Still, overall, a brilliant novel. ...more
I loved this. It was a slow read (a very slow read) but the style and language and mystery were beautiful. It's the sort of book you need to read a little at a time, without a deadline, so you can think about it and imagine it.
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May 25, 2009
Brian Maicke
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
alternate-history
Sep 27, 2009
Heather (DeathByBook)
is currently reading it
Oct 04, 2009
Kate
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fill-in-the-gaps-project
Oct 08, 2009
Blue Eyed Vixen
marked it as to-read
Oct 27, 2009
Sarah
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
own,
historical,
adventure,
speculative-fiction,
english,
my-library,
2015,
books-about-books
Jan 25, 2010
Eileen Woie
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2010
GracieKat
marked it as kindle-to-read
Aug 08, 2013
Mmars
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
long-bks-sagas-epics-genrrations
Aug 18, 2014
Kate
marked it as to-read
Oct 06, 2014
April
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
fantasy
