***1/2 - good if you've got a lot of time on your hands, and the 19th century style doesn't drive you bonkers; beware the ending is weak, so lugging around this tome in hopes of a great end is unwise.
Slow, but not plodding, Clarke crafts an alternate history of Regency England when Mr. Norrell brings magic back from theoretical obscurity. Norrell is a reclusive magician, jealous of his status as the sole practitioner and determined to keep magical knowledge out of the hands of others, except for the pupil he reluctantly takes on - Jonathan Strange. Strange is altogether more adventurous and soon finds himself improvising magic to help Wellington in the war effort.
But eventually Strange and Norrell fall out because Norrell is determined to discredit the great legendary sorceror The Raven King and discourage consorting with or doing magic with fairies - the backbone of English magic. Thrown into the mix is an ancient prophecy that foretells the return of the Raven King...
The tone and pacing is very similar to 19th century novels, which is appropriate under the circumstances, but which also did not engage me to the point that I kept reaching for the book when I should be doing other things. Had I not been desperate for reading material at the time, I doubt I would have made it all the way through this tome.
Some of the 'in character' spelling variation was rather distracting to me. The footnotes conceit was entertaining; they served to imply extensive scholarship surrounding the tale, but occasionally they added very little to the actual story. Some should have been in the text, and some of the text would have been more effective as a footnote. But overall the footnotes worked well and did not yank me out of the narrative. Clever, but I could have done without them.
I very much disliked the characterization of fairies. Not that it was out of character with British folk-lore, but I disliked the way they were portrayed - not just inhuman, but cruel.
The main problems with the writing was the abrupt jumping between characters' points of view. Chapter breaks or some sort of softening transition would have helped immensely. Otherwise I believe Clarke accomplished exactly what she set out to do. My only further quibble was the anti-climactic end. After all the long build-up, I found the ending singularly unsatisfying. All in all, though, I enjoyed the book and may very well reread it in the future.
