Neil Gaiman declared the book, "unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last 70 years." Considering Tolkien published Lord of the Rings less than seventy years ago, that statement is way over the top. Still Clarke's novel is undoubtedly one of the greatest examples of fantasy English or otherwise. It is an amazing journey, and though it has been months since I've read it, I'm still digesting how exactly I feel about it. Ultimately, I think it will be regarded as a defining book in the fantasy genre. ( )

The first time I read it I couldn’t make sense of it. The plot wanders around between different places and groups of characters and the whole thing is over-peopled (like the real world) with persons who seemingly don’t have much to do with the main action.You can tell it’s set in the past, in what appears to be Regency England; but it isn’t our Regency England. It’s one existing in some alternative universe where history took a very different turn. In this universe magic is real, and so are its most gifted practitioners, fairies. So this England was successfully invaded shortly after the Norman Conquest by a fairy army led by a magician, John Uskglass, who declared himself king and proceeded to rule successfully for 300 years. Then, mysteriously, he withdrew; and when he left the magic and the fairies went with him. The book starts centuries later when nobody in England even believes in doing magic anymore and it’s up to Norrell and Strange to reinvent it. They’re an ill-assorted pair. Norrell is scholarly and hyper-cautious : he wants to make magic modern, predictable and safe. Strange is whimsical, impulsive and reckless: he wants to push the boundaries. But neither man is anything like a match for the great magician-king who retreated long ago, somewhere behind the rain and the dark; and who may still be there.

Though she convincingly creates a world in which magic is real and sometimes chilling, Clarke doesn’t do raw-head-and-bloody-bones horror. There’s plenty of droll humour though and she is good at imitating the prose of the period. So, if you know Austen-speak puts you off maybe this is not one for you. Once you get your head round the plot though it is absolutely ingenious. If there’s a hole in it anywhere I haven’t found it yet. ( )

Despite the incredibly large page count, this book was incredibly intriguing throughout and never seemed to drag as so many novels of this size do.

Mr. Norrell is an old crotchety magician who wants magic in England to once again be respected and widespread, but doesn't think there's a single other person in England that could do magic as wonderfully as him. He spends a great deal of time buying up old magic books and putting magical scholars out of work while forcing "magical societies" to disband because they aren't real magicians.

After moving to London at the behest of his man servant/business manager, Mr. Norrell starts to assist the English parliament with their fight against the French. Everything seems to be going wonderfully until Jonathan Strange shows up, a charming young magician that seems to have a great aptitude for magic as well. Mr. Norrell hesitantly takes on Strange as a pupil, but refuses to allow Strange to actually work magic, only read about it.

There's a fight, their partnership breaks up, and Jonathan Strange goes to Spain to fight hands-on for the British. All the while there's a faerie king kidnapping pretty people at to dance for the rest of time in his magical kingdom. Despite the many different plot lines involved, everything weaves together quite nicely in the end. ( )

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are two English magicians. Both aim to bring magic back to England and both have very different ideas about how that should be brought about. Though filled with magic and with adventures big and small, this massive book reads as more of a comedy of manners with fantasy mixed in. Those who dislike Jane Austen and other such classic writers of this vein may be put off by the style of writing. It did take me a little while to for me get completely into the story, but once I got there I loved it.

P.S. There are footnotes. I love footnotes in fiction. They amuse me, so that was a bonus. ( )

For centuries, the study of English magic has been entirely theoretical. Spells have not actually worked in three hundred years or more. Enter Mr. Norrell and later his apprentice Jonathan Strange, who work toward the return of practical English magic at the turn of the 19th century, with somewhat unexpected consequences. I loved this book, but I will be the first to admit it's not for everyone. You've got to be in it for the long haul. And I do mean long: almost 800 pages (though there are a fair number of poorly drawn illustrations thrown in for no discernable reason other than to add heft). It's also not the sort of story where you can grasp the gist of the plot from the first couple chapters. Rather, you have to simply enjoy what you are presently reading and trust the basic arc of the story will become clear in time. It does, but there are a lot of seemingly spurious asides that don't appear to have much to do with anything for quite a long time. It's written more like a history, complete with footnotes, with the author writing with the voice of a contemporary of most of the events described. I found this angle charming and quite convincing, to the point where I almost forgot that people like Martin Pale and John Uskglass never really existed. I will definitely be on the look-out for Clarke's future novels. ( )