Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Falls flatly into that category of 2000s fantasy of which Neil Gaiman is basically the undisputed leader. Terrific atmosphere, if a little light on plot. The prose makes me wish I was re-reading Mason & Dixon.

The basic premise is: Regency-era England, magic was rife during the middle ages but has retreated from the country and is studied more or less as history. But lo: by dint of hard study, one man (Norrell) begins to do practical magic in England again. He takes on a pupil (Strange), who goes a little bit off the rails (but in a good way). In the process, magic begins to return in earnest to England.

(No evidence that magic exists or ever existed in other countries, which must be very frustrating for them.)

There’s a bit of conflict that builds very, very slowly and then is resolved hastily at the end, but I think that the major appeal of the book is textural more than narrative. The world of magic feels dangerous and alien; the borders between worlds blur in just the right way. The mechanics of magic are beyond the scope of the work; while there’s some diegetic scholarship to the working of magic, as far as the reader is concerned magic just happens—maybe with a bit of effort but never really with any limits. Nevertheless I didn’t find myself questioning why don’t they just resolve this problem in such and such a way with magic? but maybe that’s because I’m not a very critical reader.

Where I found the book fell flat was in its pacing. We spend long stretches building and building narrative tension but it doesn’t make any move towards resolution or climax until like 100 pages from the end (of an 800-page book). For the whole first half is scene-setting; things don’t get going until Strange goes away to Spain.

There’s a curious duplication of plot elements as well: Strange goes to war twice; two women are abducted into Faerie; Norrell is advised by two ne’er-do-wells. I think that at least some of these are on purpose—things happening in pair seems to be a theme here—but others just feel like rehashing the same scenes over again.