Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
I finally finished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell last night.
Verdict: alright, but way too long.
I mean, I enjoy a nice, detailed story. But 1,000+ pages was way, way too many for this book. I think 400 tops would have been more than enough to get the story across, and might have made it better. It meandered through so much stuff, with main characters not appearing for hundreds of pages at a time, that the story really lost focus at time. I'm not a big fan of footnotes on every page, many of them irrelevant and often stretching for pages. Also, I think the sense of humor in the book didn't quite meld well with my own. (To be fair, I don't think I appreciate humor in my sci-fi or fantasy books all that well. I blame Xanth for burning out that part of my brain as a child.)
I'd still recommend the book, especially if you can appreciate the very British style of writing more than I can.
I can certainly see why it was nominated for the Hugo (it was very creative and had a great story), but I don't see why it won.
Verdict: alright, but way too long.
I mean, I enjoy a nice, detailed story. But 1,000+ pages was way, way too many for this book. I think 400 tops would have been more than enough to get the story across, and might have made it better. It meandered through so much stuff, with main characters not appearing for hundreds of pages at a time, that the story really lost focus at time. I'm not a big fan of footnotes on every page, many of them irrelevant and often stretching for pages. Also, I think the sense of humor in the book didn't quite meld well with my own. (To be fair, I don't think I appreciate humor in my sci-fi or fantasy books all that well. I blame Xanth for burning out that part of my brain as a child.)
I'd still recommend the book, especially if you can appreciate the very British style of writing more than I can.
I can certainly see why it was nominated for the Hugo (it was very creative and had a great story), but I don't see why it won.