Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke · 2004
An alternate-history fantasy in which magic returned to England during the Napoleonic Wars, told as if by a Regency novelist. Clarke's footnotes are as good as the novel itself. The most formally accomplished fantasy debut of the 21st century.
The case against
Eight hundred pages, and the first two hundred belong to Mr Norrell, the dullest man in England, by design. Clarke's Regency pastiche commits fully, which means the pacing does too. The women exist mostly to be enchanted, abducted, or mourned, and the footnotes you have heard praised will, around page 500, start to feel like a second book invoicing you.
Science Fiction & Fantasy · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
if this one calls to you, so will these →
