Changelog

It’s hard to right a ~900 page book that can keep a reader’s interest throughout the entire book. Robert Jordan lost this ability about five books ago in the Wheel of Time series. Neal Stephenson managed it with Cryptonomicon, but not with the Baroque Cycle. Susanna Clarke manages it admirably with her debut brick novel.

I seem to have a soft spot for amusing books set in victorian England with sci-fi/fantasy leanings (I’m a huge fan of To Say Nothing of the Dog), so I was an easy sell. Still, I was impressed that I was up reading a 2:00 am two nights in a row trying to finish this thing before it consumed my every waking moment.

Jonathan Strange is one of my new favorite literary characters, and I wanted to reach into the book and throttle Mr. Norrell on more than one occasion, so I have to say the characters were well done. The plot doesn’t get bogged down in details, though there are some more descriptive passages that I found myself skimming.

Highly recommended.