Nick Ward

DNF at 60%

I went into this book on the back of reading Piranesi. Having had a great experience with Clarke's writing I could think of nothing better than getting into another thousand pages of amazing characters, beautiful description, and hilarious dialogue.

How mistaken I was.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is one of the blandest experiences I have been subjected to whilst reading. The plot progression is painfully slow and the interesting characters that were present in Piranesi are painfully absent. Although the events take place over a number of years, it never feels like you are moving forward.

After meandering through one too many uninteresting and tedious conversations between the books many tiresome characters, drifting off and dreaming that I was reading something else, anything else, I decided to put the book down.

Don't let the unending stream of 5-star reviews fool you. This book might have been worth the read at the same length as Piranesi, but being forced to endure unending pages of paint-drying boredom was something that I refused to continue.

Do not recommend.

Fantastic worldbuilding and storytelling with a twisty plot that made me eager to read each chapter.

This was my first time reading Sanderson and I will most certainly be continuing on with his other stories. I recommend this book for all ages as its written with a very simple and intuitive style, while still managing to provide wonderfully complex descriptions of the world, magic, and characters.

I hope he is working on the second book as I am very much looking forward to continuing with Joel on his journey through the isles, and hopefully beyond.