A friend of mine has Jonathan Strange on CD and listened to it while she was doing her long-ass commute. I asked, "how did they handle the footnotes?" She says, "just said, 'footnote,' and read them." I'm intrigued, and want to do the whole thing over again, this time in audio.

Who is reading it?

Simon Prebble

I want to do both.

Harry Potter for adults, my ass.

If I may say, what the fuck? The two universes couldn't be entirely more different!

In Mr. Norrell's world practical magic is extremely suppressed in any one other than, well, Mr. Norrell and Mr. Strange. And in Harry Potter, well, there are kids running around, casting spells with wands as their only conduit, and speaking in specific langueges, that all fit into the disturbingly wonderous canon of J.K. Rowling.

I mean, for the love of the Raven King! Dude, there's nothing compatable between him and Merlin! I see no similarity other than being powerful men!

They say that Ms. Clarke is working on a sequel but, since Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell took, when, 7, 8, 10 years to write (I know it was more than 6), we might not get to read it any time soon.

The spellcraft in the book strikes me as vibrantly similar to the spells in texts and in Romanian folklore. The intricate connections between the powers comanded by nature, and the powers men fool themselves into thinking they can control, astound me in the ease of believability that command.

The way the story is brilliantly written, (which oddly reminds me of a non-serial Dickens) allows one to accept the words as a well accepted piece of history. It feels entirely as if you are a white elephant in the room, not spoken of or to, but still acknowledged to be there with the characters and accepted. The information is given gradually and the characters prove themselves into a stunning series of climaxes!

Also, who else is in love with Stephen Black, AKA the Nameless King? I think he's one of the most fascinating characters of English literature I've stumbled accross. A man I would not immediatly notice on the street, until his presence demanded attention. A king among slaves, and a saint among beggars.

As much as I aadore the series, there ain't no Stephen in Harry Potter. And there's certainly no Nameless Fairy Gentlemen, like Lost Hopes ex-ruler, now is there?

I'm finally reading HHGttG. It's like the Buffistas wrote it. I can't stop laughing. That is all.

Digital watches are a neat idea.

See, I read JS and MN and was very "Eh" about it. I really didn't connect with any of the characters and the ending was very anticlimactic to me. All this build-up..for what?

And since I didn't really connect with any of the characters, what happened to them was not that interesting.

I loved the footnotes. I think I see the HP for grown-ups in the sense that HP a lot of the characters that you've mentioned might not so much float in children's lit, which is where HP definately started, even if it's headed elsewhere. The worldbuilding is different, but both are complete worlds, even if this one is based more on history than HP.

I should go look for Arabella-centric fic. I liked her.

I think people are misunderstanding the Potter-for-adults thing. It's not saying that they're similar verses, but that JS&MN would, pre-Potter, have been released as the YA novel it obviously is, and shelved next to Susan Cooper or Joan Aiken (Wolves of Willoughby Chase is the book it reminded me of most). But the whole Potter phenomenon - and particularly the (stupid) trope of wrapping kids books in adult covers so people won't be ashamed on the tube - was so successful that JS&MN skipped the kids release and went straight mainstream.

t JS&MN would, pre-Potter, have been released as the YA novel it obviously is,

I take it you haven't actually read the book.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but Clarke's said in interviews that she's planning more books in the same world but not a direct sequel. The ending we've got is ... well, the ending we've got. I liked it quite a lot, btw, but I'm told I'm odd.

If you want more Clarke, you might want to look for her short stories, which are all roughly in the same style--her first story, "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," is even referenced glancingly in JS&MN. I think most or all of them have ended up in the Datlow&Windling Year's Best Fantasy & Horror.

Yeah, I had a suspicion that that was all there was. I'm not altogether sure how I feel about that.