Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

By: Susanna Clarke

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 32 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.

But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr. Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.

All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative, the very opposite of Mr. Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr. Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr. Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.

Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that 32 hours leave readers longing for more.

©2004 Susanna Clarke (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, and Bloomsbury Publishing

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 2005

• World Fantasy Award Winner, 2005

• Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2005

"A smashing success....An exceptionally compelling, brilliantly creative, and historically fine-tuned piece of work." (Booklist)
"Extraordinary....Immersion in the mesmerizing story reveals its intimacy, humor, and insight, and will enchant readers of fantasy and literary fiction alike." (Publishers Weekly)
"Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of the genre that rivals Tolkien." (Time)
"Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British writers - not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald - as well as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip Pullman." (The New York Times Book Review)

Enthralling!

Loved it from start to finish! I was sad to finish it and wished there was more.

Baroque and Beautiful

Reading more like a history than a novel, this book enchants the reader with the depth and color of its magical, period England. With the exception of only a few mispronunciations if Gaelic words, the narrator creates a seamless tapestry of words and sounds.

Wonderfully Intriguing! Excellent Performance!

I loved this book. I took a break about halfway through to read others, and after finishing this, I want to rewind all the way to the beginning. It's captivating the whole way through. I can reccomend this to anyone interested in English Magicks and Faerie Lore. Such a wonderful story and is read so well by Simon Prebble.

EXQUISITE!!

Pure Joy to become a part of , a masterpiece tale to fall asleep to then continue on once your awake!

My Favorite Book and Audiobook Ever

This is a book of magic. I have read the text twice and listened through this wonderful performance 4 times. I never tire of it. Each character and detail sizzles with life. I cannot recommend it enough.

Most enjoyable!

What a wonderful story! Loved the characters. The only negative is the the voices were sometimes hard to distinguish. But overall the performance was well done.

Love it

This was a great book. It took a little while to get going, but as soon as Stange was introduced I was hooked.

My honest review of Strange & Norrel

Hello. My full name is Ulf Jonas Hiller. I am 42 years old, am born on April 1, year 1981. When 16 years old my Psychiatrist diagnosed me with a condition called "Asperger's Syndrome". I do not wish to bore anyone with the details of the syndrome, except to say I have my entire life been knowingly unable to tell any lie. It does not concern me whether anyone believes this statement, but I do solemnly swear that it is the truth.

Now that, this introduction said, I will begin my actual review.
Firstly, as a way of comparison, I shall tell you all that I have for many years and, almost three decades, have been a large fan of Sci-fi and (especially) Fantasy literature. So, having said this, I will offer a few examples of my favorite books I have read or listened too. Perhaps my first and most well known books I read were four of Mr. Tolkien's books. I was then 13 years of age. The Hobbit I did like, but perhaps did not love. I did like Tolkien's other 3 (except the Silmarillion junk which I never liked). But if I were to rank in a zero to five star rating system, I might give the Hobbit a 4 star rating. The other/next 3 I did like a good deal better. Perhaps the "Fellowship of the Ring" I could have given a 4 and one-quarter star rating. "The two Towers" I may have given a 4 and perhaps one-third star. The "Return of the king", I may have given a 4 and a half star rating. This being said, even though I have given 5 star to Mrs or Misses Clarke's book I would like to specify that I have never read or listened to a "perfect book". So my rating would be somewhere between 4 and a half and 4 and 3 quarters of star(s). For simplicity's sake let me give it a 4,65 star rating. So yes, perhaps a little better than my favorite Tolkien book, but if so, only by a slight bit.

I have read (or listened to) something like 10 to 20 also very good books which I may review at a later date. But, so as to not bore everyone to tears/death I will mention only two or three. Another book on my top 5 or 10 list is an old book I read as a teenager by one Mr. Oscar Wilde, namely "Dorian Gray" (it may have been called the "Picture" or "Portrait" of him or something like that). This book I give something like 4.5 stars. Three other good Fantasy writers I will mention are these gentlemen: Patrick Rothfuss (who has written thus far "Name of the Wind" and "Wise Man's Fear"). Gentleman number two is named Lev Grossman and has written some books who the (formerly) Netflix show "The Magicians" was based on. He wrote a trilogy. The third and final gentleman author I will mention on this Sunday is named Terry Brooks. He also written books on which the current Netflix show (which is also my all time favorite show) is called "The Chronicles of Shannara". He has written one "main" trilogy and also a "warm-up trilogy" which I do not care to mention here. He has perhaps written about twenty books in total who are all centered around the "Shannara" word/name.

This concludes my review of the book "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel".

Best regards to all audible listeners,
Jonas

I was lost in the world of English Magic

In that world I found characters with depth and a story that just might be true.

Stick with it!

I tried listening once before but gave up. I gave it another try and WOW I am so happy I did! It does have a slow start but it’s all so entirely necessary - this is one of the best books I’ve ever listened to, and the story is immaculate. So entirely unique. Worth every minute. Stick with it and enjoy the journey!