Mr. Norell and Jonathan Strange by Susana Clarke

Mr. Norrel and Jonathan Strange is a novel about the return of magic to England, taking place in an alternate universe England in some undefined victorian-esque era. The new magicians have to deal with many obstacles on the way to promoting magic, including a mad fairy.

Sometimes I wish the editor of a novel had done his job. After all, if he had, about a third of this enormous book would have been cut out - and maybe more. While the beginning is intriguing, by the end of the novel little of it is relevant and Clarke could have started further along in the story. Many bits were dry and unentertaining, and I was tempted several times to put down the book, save for the fact that I paid $9 for it and had heard so many good things.

That being said, this novel is absolutely beautiful. The whole tone and elements of the novel had a very magical and whimsical feel to it, but at the same time dealt with very realistic situations and politics despite the unrealistic nature of the magic. This is not a book where you end up questioning the ability of eleven-year-olds in a magic school to defeat a Dark Lord - the only suspension of disbelief here is the existence of magic. The characters are well-defined. The plot, when one stumbles upon a scene that contributes to it, is clever and complex. The good parts are interesting enough - and following the social politics is a lot of fun. The picture of England that Clarke paints for us is rich.

Overall, when I reached the end, I was glad to have read it. I just wished I didn't have to read so much of it, and could have skipped the irrelevant information.