Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell- spoiler free review

In Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell takes place in an England were magic has all but faded away.  Magicians no longer practice magic, but only study people that did.  Two men are prophesied to bring back English Magic. 

This book takes place in early 19th century England only that England has a rich heritage of magic that culminated in the rule of the Raven King in Northern England.  Clarke does an amazing job of populating the landscape with her magical history and varied, interesting characters.  The story creeps slowly forward like a snowball picking up momentum until you are hit with an avalanche.  I personally think that it starts picking up with the introduction of Jonathan Strange.  I guess you could call me a Strangite. 

The excellent characters drive the story.  This book is not so much about the revival of English magic as it is the relationship of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (excellent title there Susanna).  Seemingly secondary characters also play very large roles in the motivations of the main characters if not stepping up for their own share of the action. 

While the subject matter would put this book squarely in the fantasy genre, it is unlike any fantasy that I have read before.  It fits the fantasy genre in about the same way that The Prestige was science fiction.  It adopted the concepts, but told a different type of story that only loosely holds to genre norms. 

It was an excellent novel and I have found myself unable to recommend it to enough people.  It is a bit on the long side; coming in at just over 1,000 pages, but once you get into it the pages just seem to melt away.  Almost as if by magic.