It's a well-written, cleverly designed pastiche of an early 19th century novel, with a clear ascendancy in Jane Austen and a bit of Charles Dickens too, and sharing Austen's combination of ironic detachment and gentle empathy towards the characters. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is, however, an unquestionably impressive debut. That is possible, though it does seem extremely generous, even if by English we take 'coming from England' rather than 'written in the English language' and even if we use fairly narrow definition of 'the fantastic'. Neil Gaiman said, apparently, that Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last 70 years. But don't expect an epic sweep, a moral message or breathtaking action. Summary: If you have a free, lazy weekend and like atmospheric fantasy with humans of this world and fairies, read it: you might enjoy it and it might leave you with some memorable images.
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