description: English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory. But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative-the very opposite of Mr Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holdsdear.Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.
language: English
title: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
titlecomplete: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
characters: Gilbert Norrell, Dr. Lancelot Greysteel, John Childermass, Mrs Delgado, Vinculus, The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair, John Segundus, Louisa Greysteel, Christopher Drawlight, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Arabella Strange, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Flora Greysteel, Henry Woodhope, Mr. Honeyfoot, Jonathan Strange, Stephen Black, Henry Lascelles, Sir Walter Pole, Lady Emma Pole, John Uskglass (The Raven King)
genres: Magic, Historical, Fiction, Magical Realism, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook
ratings_count: 231465
places: Yorkshire, England, Venice, Italy, England, London, England, United Kingdom
series: Strange & Norrell
awards: awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Hugo Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Booker Prize
category: Longlist, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Nebula Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Locus Award
category: Best First Novel and Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Guardian First Book Award, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: World Fantasy Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
category: Adult Literature, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult Fiction, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: British Fantasy Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Cena Akademie SFFH
category: Kniha roku (Book of the Year)
publisher: Sound Library