Reading For The Heck Of It

Congratulations, Susanna Clarke! You have cracked my Top 10 Favorite Authors! *confetti explosion* I couldn't believe that this epic masterpiece was a debut novel. However, it makes sense when you discover that Clarke has a history in the publishing world and most likely has had time to learn the ins and outs of the business and craft her work accordingly. The book had such a great reception that it was recently made into a 7 part BBC miniseries (I've started it and it's also amazing). The book focuses on two English magicians who are trying to bring practical magic back to England. The two men couldn't be more different. Where Strange is looking to test the boundaries of what magic can do, Norrell is trying to lay his hands on every magical book in existence (and keep himself cooped up in his library doing the same spells over and over). The book reads as a nonfiction historical piece with footnotes detailing the history of magic as if the reader should be aware of the general history but just in case here are the particulars. (I LOVE footnotes, guys.) The characters, the language, the settings, the magic. It's all SO GOOD. AND I've discovered she's written a collection of "fairy tales" from the land of Faerie itself titled The Ladies of Grace Adieu (and Jonathan Strange makes an appearance!). You know I'm adding that one to the TRL.