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)

The Best Audiobook

Don't be put off by the length. My only regret is that it wasn't longer! The narrator does a great job changing his voice and accent for each character.

Spectacular, on all levels!

I am a die hard "Harry Potter" and "The Night Circus" (as well as Jim Dale) fan and loved both reading the books and listening to the audio versions endlessly, but longed for something new. Then I found Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Simon Prebble has exceeded any expectations that I had before hesitantly deciding to take this lengthy book on, and his performance of the clever, witty, mesmerizing story is brilliant. And I say performance, because he voices the characters and reads this incredible piece of work with such subtle nuances and absolute perfection in keeping each character distinct and identifiable. Susanna Clarke's story itself is a masterpiece. I don't know if reading the book would have intimidated me at 782 pages, but I relished each and every minute of the 32 hours, Mr. Prebble's narration is that good. I am so glad that I listened to it first, because I am now looking forward to adding this wonderful book to my fantasy collection and reading the printed version. But not before listening to it all over again... so many things I missed! It might be difficult to follow the Old English style initially, but the story ever so slowly builds and twists and winds around so many different characters and settings - magicians, faeries, castles, countries, "otherlands"! I found myself holding my breath in anticipation as I neared the end. Bravo, Susanna Clarke and Simon Prebble, and thank you both for bring magic back into my life.

Mesmerizing and beautifully read

I became so absorbed in the world of Strange and Norrell that when the book ended I felt grieved in spite of the very satisfying ending. This is a brilliantly written, literate novel, and the author is adept at characterization, plot and dialogue. I disagree with the other reviewers' suggestions that it needs editing--not a word should be changed. The narrator, Simon Prebble, has a remarkable talent and is perfectly in tune with the author. I hope this will be the first of many books by Susanna Clarke.

I am on my third listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was the very first book I downloaded from Audible many years ago and ever since, I have been trying to convince my husband to listen/read it. Finally, we have begun commuting together and he chose this as our first listen, after my years of nagging. I was so nervous and excited that he was finally going to experience something I love unreservedly, but afraid he wouldn't get it. It is not for everyone, for sure. The pace is languid, the characters are revealed slowly, the plot is not very ... plotty. It's a book full of surprises and moments of true magic, but it is not a whiz bang kind of book. It's not showy and yet it is a totally engrossing story.

We listened for over an hour on our first commute. He chuckled in all the right places, but I still wasn't getting a sense of what he thought. And then when we finally arrived at work, he turned it off, turned to me and said the three words I wanted to hear: "I love it." Yay!

What other book might you compare Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to and why?

It's an alternate reality world in which magic exists/existed, but that's about all it has in common with Harry Potter. It's a pitch-perfect send-up of Regency-era writing, with Dickensian overtones (I find the dry humor to be very Dickens, and hilarious). It's also a gentle satire of academics and historians, especially in the beginning. Maybe it's because I am an academic who works with historians that I didn't find the beginning boring or slow; those useless debates are very familiar to me and I appreciated the gentle ribbing. I happen to love both 18th century British writing and alternate reality fiction, so this is right up my alley.

Have you listened to any of Simon Prebble’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, and that's really a crime because he is fantastic. He's not a narrator, he's a voice actor. There is a huge difference. He doesn't just read the book, he inhabits it and every one of its characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I just adore it. It's so many things. Alternate history, 18th century novel, satire, philosophical text. Other people wait for George R.R. Martin's next, I am waiting for Susanna Clarke to write another book. Her book of short stories is also quite good (I read it in print) but it's not enough!

Any additional comments?

I can't recommend this book enough. It's in my top ten, and I'm a pretty voracious reader/listener.

An enjoyable listen.

Susanna Clarke captures a sense of humor through the footnotes that I really appreciated. I was a fan of the details put into some of the spells. If I were to criticized any aspect of the book it would be the inconsistency with descriptions of spell casting and lack of a reader's understanding of how the magic system works. I may just be spoiled by Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss. A fantastic breakdown of spell structure is given in the second to last chapter. This description would have certainly served the reader better much earlier.

Difficult, but worth it.

There was a lot of filler with this novel, but rather than review that badly and think that it's a waste to listen rather than to read it, I think it actually works well with the format of an audiobook.
There were moments I completely zoned out, only to come back 5 minutes later. Simon's voice is quite soothing and he's very good at this sort of thing. But when I came back, I didn't really miss anything. Claim that as a problem with the novel if you wish, since it might be considered "wasted space" or something, but I enjoyed the audiobook greatly. And let's be honest, at over 800 pages the only way I was going to finish this novel was by listening to it.

Neil Gaiman meets Jane Austin​

I enjoyed the tone and characterization. The satire was fun and provocative. I also recommend the Netflix series.

The best thing I've heard!

This book is a marvel--of language, of plot, of ingenuity, of style. Clarke's turns of phrase literally made me SMILE to myself during my commute. The story engaging, Prebble's performance just stunning. I was sad when it was all over. I hope Ms. Clarke is husbanding her energies for another tour de force such as this.

Amazing writing with a snooze of an ending

90% of this book is wonderful and at the 80% mark I fully expected it to be one of my enduring favorites. The ending, however, was dull and shrank from the grandness of the rest of the story.

Least magical book

For a book about magicians this was the least magical book I’ve ever read. Left me wanting so much more. If you found “Wuthering Heights” a riveting page turner you might enjoy this book. Otherwise your better off re reading Harry Potter.