Finished!!

So I finally finished reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke this morning, that's the longest it's taken me to read a book ever! I suppose if I had actually sat down and read it and done nothing else it would have taken me a less time, but life has a funny way of intervening when you're trying to get some reading done.
In the end I really liked this book, long as it is. It's an interesting blend of historical fiction and fantasy, featuring real people like Lord Byron and the Duke of Wellington alongside Clarke's entirely fictional magicians. Bits of it were overlong and didn't feel necessary to the plot, it could maybe have been edited down a little and not suffer for it. It's well written and the plot is clever and explores all sorts of ideas drawn from the folklore of Great Britain and Ireland, woven into Clarke's own take on faerie (both the magical people and the land where they live).
The book's layout is interesting, each chapter is sprinkled with footnotes that make it seem more like a historical text than a work of fiction, making it a clever hybrid.
I recommend it to fantasy and history fans alike, and anyone who feels that 1006 pages is not a big deal!! Right, I'm off to read some more books!!

Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

I am currently wading my way through this 1006 page monster of a novel. This is not a book for commuting. It weighs a ton! It's a work of historical fiction, set in 1806, supposing that magic never died out in England and that the two titular magicians are reviving the form in order to help the country fight Napoleon.
I can't say much about it as I only started it this morning, and it's not going to be a quick read. Not only is it long, it's also full of footnotes, which I suppose are intended to make it feel more like a biography or a real historical fact as opposed to fantasy. When I've finished it, I'll blog about it and how much I enjoyed it (or not).
Don't forget to check out this weeks recommendations on the right.