So having read and raved about “Jonathan Strange and Mr.
Norrell” I thought that I’d check out her only other book, which is a
collection of short stories set in the same universe.
Boy is that universe a doozy, it’s very elaborate and
comical, a perfect setting for a bunch of short stories. What’s nice about this
collection is that it focuses more on female magicians, which is a nice change
from the male-centric “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”. Similarly, two of the
stories involve embroidery magic type occurrences, which I found pretty funny.
Overall it’s a bit more confusing than “Jonathan Strange and
Mr. Norrell” because there’s a bunch of different narrators with their own
style which can get irritating since as soon as you get used to one it changes.
One story is even set in the village of Wall from “Stardust”
by Neil Gaiman which was interesting. I liked it, the two universes work well
together, same sort of realistic fantasy. It doesn’t hurt that I love both of
them as well.
I hope she writes more, apparently she’s working on another
book, but it can’t come out soon enough for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment