Among Others: A Novel

This is an absolutely lovely novel. It helps that it's ensconced in a few of my favorite genres: it's SF, it's a school story, it's a family story, it's about books, and it's about why life--with its incomparable luxuries of new books, inter-library loans, book clubs, and the occasional kiss--is worth living. Mori is a delight as a narrator (should Walton write sequels, particularly in this same voice, I'd snatch them up in an instant)--she's straightforward, enthusiastic about books, often confused about people, and she's wonderfully funny--sometimes intentionally, sometimes not (I'm partial to her depiction of her aunts, who are either evil or simply English, and Mori, very happily Welsh, can't tell the difference). I would think that any reader would recognize himself/herself instantly in Mori--any SF reader in particular, of course, but really, anyone who has ever sorted out their education or their love life by referring to their books rather than their friends ought to love Mori, who very practically appeals to Heinlein for a diversified education and to Delany for a freer sense of sexuality. I've seen reviews saying that nothing happens in this novel until the end, but that simply isn't true: those reviewers are just looking at the story of a book-obsessed girl in a boarding school as if it isn't one worth telling, as if it's just a lengthy prelude to something exciting that will happen with the fairies. I really disagree: there's story all throughout the book, it's just quieter, more domestic, and more like real life. Mori wants books and connections with other people, and there is suspense that builds through various scenes about how she will get these things, or respond to them, even down to the basic level of what she'll think about a particular book: I spent many pages anxiously waiting for her to read Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (a longtime favorite, and actually the book that Among Others reminds me of the most--I think if you like one, you'll like the other) and discover that it was not, in fact, historical fiction about sieges. (That's admittedly more of a personal pleasure on my part, but there are also the questions of how she can make friends, how much effect her magic has on the world, and how much power her aunts have over her father, for example.) I predict that I will reread this book until it falls apart, and I think everyone else should do the same.

It's an odd book - the writing style is in some respects reminiscent of Pamela Dean's <i>Tam Lin</i>, except in first person. Told completely in the voice and point of view of a 15 year old girl in Wales and Shropshire, during the late 1970s and early 1980s (circa 1979-1980). It's written in "diary" format, chapters are dated, and often not much longer than a sentence or two. And for a while it feels like nothing much is happening, since the story is more of an internalized or psychological narrative than an external action packed page turner. Fans of Harry Potter will most likely be bored. After a traumatic incident with her insane mother, Mori has run away from home to live with her estranged father and his three sisters, who she compares to Shakespeare's three hags in Macbeth. In reality they are middle class aristocrats, living on an estate in Shropshire, holding teas, watching telly, and ordering their somewhat bookish and rather wimpy brother about. They send Mori off to boarding school - a prestigious all girls academy. Feeling somewhat alienated and cut off from her land, Wales, and her magic, Mori who was crippled in the incident, struggles to fit in. Barely making friends. Until one day she spins a bit of magic - and a friendly librarian invites her to join his science fiction book club. Mori is convinced that the magic spell she spun to protect herself from her mother and attract "friends" resulted in this welcome turn of events. When in truth, it may well just be an ordinary chain of events - Mori devoring science fiction novels in the library, ordering more, until the librarians notice and feel the need to encourage her love in new ways. If you are a librarian or adore 1970s science fiction, this is your book. It is no surprise it won the Hugo and Nebula - the book is in some respects a homage to the sci-fi novels of that period. Mori discusses at length everything from Tolkien to Silverberg, Samueal Delany, Roger Zelzany, Marion Zimmer Bradely, Ursula Le Quinn, McCaffrey, CJ Cherryh (although less so), CS Lewis, Stephen R. Donaldson (which she does not like - mainly because the publisher had the audacity to compare it to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings), Robert Heinlein, Issac Asmiov, Harlan Ellison, Arthur C. Clark, and Philip K. Dick. If you are a sci-fi geek and adore these novels - you'll enjoy this novel. If you aren't, you may become a bit lost. I'm half tempted to state that this is a book that may only appeal to bibliophiles..and possibly science fiction librarians and academics. There's also some discussion of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato. Very little happens in the novel - it's not plotty. And the plot is rather simplestic - basically a young girl has to overcome the negative influences of various women in her life. It may turn off or offend feminists or not. The women are admittedly stronger, and the men portrayed as a bit weak. Also there's a bit of a gender flip, in that the women manipulate and use magic, are in some aspects aggressive, while the men are nurturing and supportive. It's a fascinating psychological study though - with all sorts of interesting coming of age metaphors. Also the author plays around with the concept of magic and fairies in an innovative and interesting manner - that I've seldom seen done. The fairies may or may not actually be fairies - it remains unclear. Mori calls them fairies for lack of a better name. They are various shapes and sizes, and often intangible. Also magic - tends to work indirectly...as a sort of causal chain of events. Difficult to explain, yet more realistic. A scientific take on magic as opposed to a fantastical one. Slow to start, but ultimately compelling and haunting. It sticks in your mind long after you read it. Mori wonders at various points if there is a downside of escaping completely into books. If she is shutting herself off? Yet it is through her books that she finds others like herself, and evolves. The act of reading - expands her consciousness and allows her to let go of her childhood, and past grievances. In some respects, the science fiction novels she devours ultimately heal her.

The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy) The Last Battle Among Others is a lovely valentine to classic science fiction and fantasy. It is not particularly plot driven; there is a story faintly reminiscent of Hamlet (an articulate teen's struggle to find her place in the world following an off-screen tragedy while sharing kinship with emotionally distant and possibly homicidal people) that drifts along in the background, and it is interesting in a modest way. But the novel seems more interested in serving as scrapbook for many, many heartfelt references and call-backs to earlier genre works. Perhaps because of that, the work suffers from loose threads. The novel regulalry holds interesting scraps of ideas up to the light--but just for a moment, before setting them aside. Many of the pieces cohese more or less, but most have unfinished edges, and several are never integrated at all. Some of the looseness can be explained as a trait of the narrator, but some of it reads instead as a little carelessness by the author. The prose is lively and charming. The narrator's voice captures the simultaneous over-and under-confidence of awkwardly coming of age, and the other-ness of self and place and people that attends being a certain kind of teen. In parts the language is consciously overwrought, but not too much so, and with a wry edge that may feel familiar to anyone who remembers feeling older than her peers at that age. It is an easy, fluid read in that respect. The setting is beautifully sketched, full of light and shadow. The work includes a few discussions of sexual activity and a few sexualized encounters; the material is entirely appropriate in context. I really appreciated the inclusion of the girl narrator's sexual perspective; it read as frank and genuine, age appropriate, and not overly sexualized. Which is to say, it felt real and reasonable in the work as a whole. One incident stood out as not carrying its weight; in one scene, the narrator's absentee father gets drunk and briefly attempts to initiate a sexual encounter with her. The narrator brushes it off, and the incident is unresolved and unaddressed in the rest of the novel. But overall, I was grateful that the author included a girl's perspective on teen sexuality, which generally is omitted entirely in genre novels. Or, worse, where the genre includes any indication of female sexual agency, it is to exclude the woman from magic. I'm looking at you, everything from unicorn legends to C.S. Lewis to Lev Grossman. Among Others is a subtle antidote to that brand of casual sexism. Like Hamlet, Among Others can be interpreted through at least two different ways: an unreliable narrator struggling with mental illness following a terrible off-screen tragedy, or a narrator beset by epic and mundane evils and a little bit of magic. This is a real strength of the novel, and a layer of depth that provides room for discussion and re-reading. I think the author intends us to land on the side of magic, but I fell slightly on the other side of the line. For some, that will be a criticism of the novel; for me, it's something of a credit to the author. Among Others contains people and places sufficiently solid, and invokes magic so subtly, that the magic resolves as the narrator's wishful thinking rather than a real force in the story. Ultimatley, the work is lovely, but a little disappointing in its drifting, unrealized potential. I found much of it beautiful and intriguing; I just wish those pieces, and their interactions, recieved fuller treatment. I recommend Among Others particularly for its heartfelt shout-outs to classic science fiction and fantasy; its dialogue with and subversion of the tropes of those works; its female narrator; its painterly prose; and its delicate balance between potential realities.

I first read the recent Just City and its sequel, and since I enjoyed those I was intrigued by this breakthrough Hugo/Nebula novel. I was not disappointed with the book at all, but reading so many critical comments really surprised me. Yes, the protagonist is a teenager, but to call this book a YA book does it a disservice. There are some very subtle concepts here that have had me scratching my head ever since I read the book. Anytime this happens I KNOW the book was worth reading! The approach to magic in this novel is very interesting: nothing flashy. Many other books with less weight just have someone chant a few phrase and, presto: Magic! I've always found that magic which requires difficulty or a high cost to be more satisfying. In Lev Grossman's Magicians Trilogy, magic is very painfully gained through extremely hard study (with math and twisted fingers! Morwenna would have never been able to do this). Here, the cost of magic is much more subtle and I think many of the commenters miss the whole point. Enough griping. I really enjoyed Morwenna's first person dialogue and found the story to be very engaging and not at all incomplete or having a pat ending. I felt very satisfied at the ending. One minor quibble: Morwenna repeatedly asserts she "doesn't have a maths brain", and this irritates me. Since most novels are written by people in the humanities we are given this view repeatedly and I get tired of it. There are rare cases where a person has some mental limitations in math, but 95% of it is attitude and poor teaching. I am especially saddened when women, sometimes with pride, assert they don't have math brains. Whatever, I think this is one of the best fiction books I have read in the past several years. I will continue to contemplate this very creative take on magic.

This is a quiet book. Detached is a good description. But it's more than that. Remember when we were taught that rainy days were bad. That you could not play until it stopped. And then the day you discovered that rainy days were just wet, but if you accepted the wet, then you were rewarded with so much quiet and magic. There is less interference of chattering people in rainy days. Among Others brings that magical mist of Wales landscape to life interwoven with the modern sober world of factories, work, school halls, buses, furniture. The mists hold the promise of possibilities. Morwenna traverses both worlds. She is quiet and so calmly herself. Confidence is too strong a word, but she is resolute without closing herself to possibilities. She finds strength and education from so many books. I love the first exchange between Wim and Mori at the pub: "You read all five books this week? You must have a lot of free time." "I do." "I'm sorry. I hate it when people imply that people only read because they have nothing better to do, and here I am doing it." "What could be better?" says Mori. So the story is a big thank you card to books, almost a guide to being free, with lots of references to sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories. That's the dry part, but those books mix with Morwenna's being to help shape her world view of possibilities. Those books help to reveal the inaneness of the world. Morwenna navigates the adults, small town, and school girls with the insight obtained from all those books and they give her the ability to sift the bits of stupidity from the bits worth sympathy. Spoiler Alert (sort of): As I am sure you've gleamed from other reviews, this is not a book of life-changing action plot. I kept waiting for the big confrontation with the mother/witch. It seemed to be building up to that. But when it finally happened, it seemed to be reduced to an 'of course'. But that's what happens when you take fear out of the equation. As Mori would say, I thought it was brill! The anti-climax actually provided the exhilaration of "Oh! They don't have power over me!" I love Jo Walton for that. I love that she was able to come out of a difficult situation, not only knowing it was whack, but that she was good and whole, even while carrying the pain. Just like Morwenna's leg was something she dealt with, and on some days it dealt with her, but she did not let the pain or burden define her. So, I love the story, comforting and affirming, like a rainy day.

Among Others is at heart about the protagonist, Morwenna, coming to grips with the death of her sister-friend--in this case a twin--and the physical and emotional scars left by the accident that killed her sister and crippled Morwenna (her leg was injured, she's in considerable pain, she must use a cane, and she can't participate in sports). She is 15, southern Welsh (coal mining country), and has a crazy mother and a mostly absent and ineffectual father. The sisters were raised by their grandparents. Morwenna, at least, is a prodigy and just a bit smug about it. If one reads, on one's own, and comprehends The Lord of the Rings at the age of 8, one is a prodigy. Several crucial scenes show Morwenna gradually recognizing her uniqueness rather than being half of a broken whole with her dead twin; Walton slips something by that I don't think is a typo about a third of the way through that shows Morwenna confusing herself (perhaps deliberately) with her twin (they have similar names). By the end of the book that would no longer happen. Among Others is not a fantasy, maybe; Morwenna sees and interacts with beings she calls fairies, which are ostensibly seen by only one other character, but her communications and interactions with them are always solitary. Her concept of magic is self-focused ("self-centered" would give the wrong impression) and is comparable philosophically to time-travel paradoxes (if I do this now, does that affect the past as well as the future?). I found Morwenna's puzzling over the consequences of magic one of the best parts of the novel because it's essentially a working out of cause and effect and individual responsibility--and not least, Morwenna's relationship to the world outside herself. Many pixels have been spent on the frequent references to science fiction and fantasy literature, which are Morwenna's entertainment, solace, and much of her education and the foundation for her friendships and her shaky relationship with her father. Readers unfamiliar with most of the works mentioned are likely to get irritated. And there's a great deal more than SF, by the way--Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Sayers, Plato, Shakespeare, and others are mentioned. Eclectic. But it isn't necessary, really, to know any of this literature in detail because no one work (aside from the Tolkien, maybe) plays an essential role in the book. Most of the references are glancing. Morwenna reveals enough about the ones that matter most to her that it's easy to follow her development--and her biases. I've read only about 30 percent of the works mentioned, though I'm familiar enough with the rest that I didn't feel lost. That being said, the literary references are not nearly as prevalent as some reviewers suggest. The novel is not there to be a checklist of Morwenna's favorite books. There's a good strong story here. Morwenna is a good strong character, very real, who grows and changes much in her 15th year. That year is spent mostly in an English public (private) boarding school--not co-ed. It has nothing in common with Hogwarts. It seems to me to be a little Dickensian--though Morwenna disparages Dickens--and it's merely institutional and pedestrian, not grim. Most students are there to advance (socially), not to learn. She longs for the freedom of university. Not a classic, perhaps, but thoughtful, memorable, and well done.

Meet Morwenna the 15 year old protagonist of this novel. When she is younger she and her twin sister, Morganna, look for fairies in the Welsh countryside among the ruins. They often find them and then play games with them and speak to them in a non-conventional way. They are daughters of a witch, an evil witch, named Liz who ends up killing Morganna and seriously injuring Morwenna. After this accident Morwenna runs away and is eventualy reunited with her long lost father, Daniel. Though they hardly know each other, Daniel took off when Morwenna was still a baby, they are very much alike in their love for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Daniel lives with his 3 sisters, who are weird to say the least and they ship Morwenna off to a posh boarding school in England. Morwenna does not fit into her boarding school ~ she is made fun of because she walks with a cane and has a strange accent, so she does what she has always done which is lose herself into books. The book is written in journal form and Morwenna gives us her thoughts on various Science Fiction and Fantasy books that she reads. Her favorite author appears to be Tolkien as she reads Lord of the Rings over and over again, but she also love Le Guin, Zelazny, H. Beam Piper, Heinlein, and many others. She is given one of my favorites as a present, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which she thinks she will not like but actually enjoys very much. Meanwhile she joins up a SF&F bookclub which meets every Tuesday night at the local library in town and is thrilled to find like minded people who she can actually converse with, unlike the girls at her boarding school, who all seem rather dim. Tuesdays soon become the highlight of her week as she looks forward to these meetings throughout the rest of the week. Everything in this book is examined by the light of the books she has read. It was an interesting point of view for the author to take and very enlightening. When Morwenna talks about the books she is reading or has read it brought back treasured memories for me. If you love books, want a little bit of magic tied in with it, and a warm and wonderful story of the recovery of a teenager from tragic events, then this is the book for you!

I'll start by saying I did enjoy this book. The parts that kept my interest were a mystery slowly unraveled, an interesting protagonist (Mor), and elements of fantasy. There really is no plot, as this is a story told through a diary. A mystery unfolds through out the protagonist, Mor's, entries into her diary. She, of course, knows what has happened, and as the book progresses, so do we. Having no plot detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. The pace is very slow; the story often boring. The fantasy elements are magic and fairies. I thought Walton's take on fairies was very interesting and original. They were like feral animals. At first glance the fairies seemed approachable and human like, but once you tried to talk to them their wild untameable nature shown. Walton's explanation of magic seems the most plausible that I have ever read. In Among Others magic is complex and not easily mastered. In fact, Mor's mother tries to master it and it does not work out as she planned. Mor is constantly wrestling with whether or not to use magic and how to use it if she does. Magic seems to be something you feel rather than something you can learn to do in a step by step process. I liked that. The biggest flaw is that 75% of the book is written referencing real life science fiction books. If you have not read pre 1980 science fiction you will be lost a lot, as I was. Mor's life revolves around science fiction novels. She interprets her life based on all of the books she's read. Often the story wanders off on lengthy musings of some science fiction book that, if you have not read, you will not understand. Among Others reads like a diary. I got a real sense that this is an authentic person. I would not be surprised if aspects of the story were autobiographical. Mor is likable and believable. She has flaws and is not particularly heroic. One of my favorite things about reading this book was that I was never quite sure until the end whether or not Mor was actually experiencing all of the things she wrote about, or if she was insane. The ending could easily have gone either way. And speaking of the ending, it was very abrupt. The story moves along at an even pace until about the last four or five pages. Then there is a brief bit of action and climax. It felt rushed and forced. I would have liked the story better if there had been more action and conflict throughout the story, and the ending were better developed. The last paragraph is dedicated to all of the ways Mor had grown and things she had learned about the world and herself. Prior to that last paragraph Mor had shown to be comfortable in her oddness and confident in her values and ideas. She went against the norm and statuesque. But that last paragraph tried to pigeonhole her into a simplified narrow character. I think it was an attempt by the author to tell you all of the things you should have figured out about Mor by reading the story. Although, I did enjoy reading Among Others and over all I feel positive about it, I would not recommend it to a friend. It is obviously not for everyone. Also, I think the main reason this book won science fiction awards is that it name-dropped so many award winning science fiction books and authors. If you were a science fiction reader, maybe the book would have a great deal more meaning and depth. But, for a fiction book to really earn an award I don't think the reader should have to be an aficionado on the book's theme. So, if you are an avid pre 1980 science fiction reader, drop everything and read this book. If your are not an avid science fiction reader, I'd pass on this one.

I could not finish this book. It was the most tedious thing I have ever attempted, filled with boring characters in a boring, slow-moving plot, executed by solid but mostly boring prose. With so much literary name-dropping the novel was overwhelmingly self-congratulatory on the author's behalf and of course, boring.

Description is misleading. It makes you think that something actually happens in the story. Good for gaining knowledge of books you can read instead of the one you just read.

Das Buch ist aus vielen Gründen lesenswert: Es geht um wachsen, um erwachsen werden, es geht um Bücher, um Science Fiktion, um Fantasy, um Familie, um das Leben im Internat, um Wales, um die britische Klassengesellschaft und vieles andere mehr. Für mich war das Buch vor allem die zauberhafteste Beschreibung der alltäglichen Magie, die uns im Leben begleitet. Es passt in viele Raster und ist doch einzigartig. Leider liest es sich zu gut, denn jetzt bedaure ich, dass ich es schon ausgelesen habe.

Ho acquistato Among Others in quanto vincitore dei premi Hugo e Nebula (assegnati al miglior libro di fantascienza dell'anno da fans e autori rispettivamente), di conseguenza mi aspettavo un romanzo di fantascienza o fantasy e questo è stato forse l'elemento che a fatto si che consideri questo romanzo una parziale delusione. Mi sono infatti trovato di fronte ad un racconto di formazione in cui i romanzi di fantascienza costituiscono una guida ed un elemento di riflessione per una giovane la cui vita è stata sconvolta da un tragico incidente. Non siamo di fronte in alcun modo ad un romanzo di fantascienza, e anche la componente fantasy è marginale e per tutto il romanzo ci si chiede quanto sia "reale". Sebbene questo non sia un elemento che possa far considerare questo romanzo brutto, può sicuramente influire negativamente sul giudizio ad esso relativo; per fare un paragone è un po' come andare prendere un gelato in un bel pomeriggio estivo e vedersi consegnare una pizza :) La narrazione avviene in forma di diario, Mor è una ragazza gallese di 15 anni che racconta come la sua vita si trasforma a seguito di un incidente causato dalla madre in cui sua sorella rimane uccisa e lei rimane menomata. Affidata al padre che non ha mai conosciuto dopo essere fuggita dalla madre, viene iscritta in una esclusiva scuola/collegio inglese. Questo momento di perdita totale costituisce il punto di partenza del romanzo da cui si evolve tutta la storia e la crescita di Mor che la porterà a dover scegliere come affrontare la scomparsa del mondo in cui è cresciuta e costruire il suo futuro. Mor è anche una ragazza speciale, sa che la magia è reale (e pericolosa), sa riconosce le fate e parlare con loro, ma è anche rimasta sola e sua madre (una strega malvagia) è la sua peggior nemica. Il romanzo nel complesso è un buon romanzo, ben scritto, nel narrare la vicenda l'autrice riesce a far capire come i libri, in particolare le storie di fantascienza con la loro capacità di guardare al futuro ed effettuare analisi speculative riescano ad aiutare a crescere ed evolversi, perché spesso il futuro ci riserva situazioni a noi completamente aliene. Probabilmente è questo l'elemento che ha fatto innamorare di questo libro gli appassionati di fantascienza che lo hanno considerato il miglior libro del 2012. Il libro lascia sicuramente dentro qualcosa, è destinato a chi ama riflettere su ciò che ha letto, personalmente sto apprezzando maggiormente il riflettere sul libro e i suoi significati, che la lettura stessa. Resta il fatto che se ci si aspetta di trovare un capolavoro di fantascienza quali Anathem ( Anathem. Il pellegrino , Anathem. Il nuovo cielo ) e The Windup girl o anche qualcosa di molto particolare, ma pur sempre fortemente di genere, quale lo splendido La città e la città di Mieville, si resterà probabilmente delusi. Ho insistito molto su questo concetto perché a mio parere è l'elemento fondamentale per decidere se leggere o meno questo libro; se cercate un buon libro di formazione, che esalta il ruolo dei libri, in particolare quelli di fantascienza, questo romanzo vi piacerà, se invece cercate il romanzo di fantascienza o fantasy, probabilmente rimarrete delusi. In entrambi i casi vi troverete comunque a riflettere su quanto i libri possono essere importati nella vita delle persone.

- Ce roman a reçu le prix Nebula en 2011 et, bien que ce ne soit certainement pas un livre qu'un large public puisse apprécier (surtout au sein du lectorat SF/Fantasy, hélas, car ce livre leur est en quelque sorte dédié), je comprends absolument pourquoi il a été ainsi récompensé : c'est tout simplement un VRAI roman. Une histoire simple, sobre, mais aussi puissante, très personnelle et qui a un parfum d'authenticité rarement rencontré. Le récit est écrit à la première personne du singulier, par le personnage central du livre, Morwenna. La jeune fille écrit son journal (à l'envers de façon à ce qu'il ne puisse pas être lu facilement !) et ce fait ne parait jamais comme un artifice pour faire passer émotions et informations. L'écrivain disparait complètement, seule Morwenna reste. Morwenna et le lecteur, qui comprend petit à petit ce qui a conduit à la situation présente. La qualité d'écriture de ce roman, intime et fluide, est exceptionnelle. J'ai parfois pensé à un autre livre, Sunshine (sans les digressions toutefois) ou aux livres de Victoria Clayton, qui aime semer ses romans de références littéraires avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme et sans aucune pédanterie. Dans un même genre, très intime, envoûtant et avec une part limitée de surnaturel - pas parce qu'on doute de son existence, mais plutôt parce qu'il est si bien intégré à l'histoire qu'il n'est pas le centre de l'intrigue, même s'il en est le moteur - la série de Septenaigue de Juliet Marillier est du même excellent tonneau ( Soeur des cygnes, Tome 1 : , Soeur des cygnes, Tome 2 : , Fils de l'ombre 1 , Fils de l'ombre 2 ). L'histoire se passe en Angleterre, dans les années 80. Ce choix n'a rien d'anodin, illustrant le souhait de l'auteur d'échapper à la tyrannie des récits actuels, où rien ne peut être envisagé sans internet et téléphones portables. De plus, le récit est un ode permanent à l’essor de la "ScienceFi" pendant cette époque et présente, peut-être avec une certaine malice, les difficultés d'alors à se procurer les livres ainsi qu'à partager sa passion avec d'autres lecteurs. Nul doute que bien des lecteurs de ma génération se reconnaîtront dans cette quête fébrile, à l'époque où rien n'était jamais acquis immédiatement. Mori a dû quitter le pays de Galles où elle a grandi, entouré de sa soeur jumelle, de ses grands-parents, de ses oncles et tantes, de ses amis, pour aller vivre chez son père, qu'elle ne connaît pas. Celui-ci vit chez ses trois soeurs, qui semblent le dominer entièrement, et Mori est envoyée sans délai dans la pension so british du coin où toute la famille paternelle féminine a défilé. Quelque chose de terrible s'est passé. On ne sait pas quoi exactement, si ce n'est qu'il y a, bizarrement (bizarrement car le récit est si pragmatique, et que Mori est une scientifique dans l'âme) une histoire de de "fées", une mère inquiétante (folle ? mauvaise ? sorcière ?), un accident qui a coûté la vie à la soeur jumelle et laissé Mori avec une patte folle et douloureuse, et enfin des services sociaux indifférents au fait que Mori n'ait pas été élevée par sa mère mais par tout le reste de sa famille : Mori n'a que quinze ans et doit être remise à la garde de son père. Mori devrait être terriblement malheureuse, mais elle semble faire contre mauvaise fortune bon coeur, malgré la situation qui n'a rien de réjouissant : elle souffre beaucoup de sa jambe et hanche accidentées, elle n'a plus personne d'aimant à ses côtés, l'école où elle atterrit la rebute complètement et, brusque et solitaire, elle n'a rien pour attirer la sympathie. On devine rapidement qu'elle se remet peu à peu d'un choc violent, aussi psychologique que physique, que l'accident qui a coûté la vie à sa soeur n'était pas un hasard, mais un risque encouru volontairement pour sauver le monde du mal et que Mori, malgré la situation si douloureuse, ne regrette rien. Mori est courageuse, stoïque même. Elle supporte la vie de la pension, se réfugiant dans ses livres, ayant au moins le confort d'être une excellente élève et de pouvoir échapper aux nombreuses activités sportives du fait de son état de santé. A la place elle lit. Elle lit aussi le matin, avant le réveil général du dortoir, durant la demi-heure du soir avant l'extinction des feux, elle lit pendant les cours ennuyeux, elle lit pendant les pauses, bref elle lit en permanence, enchaînant sans coup férir lecture sur lecture ! Les connaisseurs auront ainsi le plaisir de croiser des auteurs connus (ce n'a presque jamais été mon cas, mais je n'en ai pas été gênée). Mori adore Ursula le Guin, Delany, Zelazny and Heinlein (même si elle trouve sa fantasy nulle), découvre les premiers livres de Pern d'Anne McCaffrey. La vision de cette école très typée, avec son règlement non écrit qui régit subtilement le classement interne des élèves, le manque total d'intimité, les dons significatifs de gâteaux, les points donnés ou retirés par les préfets ou les professeurs, rappellera à bien des lecteurs français la vision donnée par la lecture des Harry Potter ! Plus qu'être une élève brillante, Mori est précoce, peut-être même sur-douée. Et le rendu d'une personne à la fois très jeune et très intelligente est exceptionnel. Mori n'est pas naïve, a l'esprit large, mais garde une certaine candeur très touchante malgré son ton, toujours ferme, pragmatique et passionné. On entend réellement penser une jeune fille brillante de quinze ans, sans jamais aucune fausse note, c'est incroyable d'authenticité. Le pan "magique" de l'histoire, quoique fondamental, est assez peu développé et ne peut pas constituer un élément d'appel pour le lecteur. L'idée de fond est pourtant très intéressante : la magie présentée ici (une magie non reconnue, jamais publique) est telle qu'il n'est jamais possible de savoir si l'acte magique a porté ses fruits au non ! J'ai trouvé cette idée excellente et bien mise en scène. Comme le dit si bien un commentateur du côté anglais d'Amazon, Federhirn : "It is a story featuring fairies and magic, but not in any way I've ever encountered them before. This book is set in our world, not any other, and you may soon find yourself wondering whether it is really a book about believing in fairies and magic, rather than a book about actual fairies and magic. Things are so subtly interwoven and so grounded that I was not sure of my narrator, which made the novel very interesting." Ce livre, qui part dans une ambiance très sombre, est pourtant très positif : c'est l'histoire d'un deuil, du deuil d'une soeur pour sa soeur jumelle, du deuil de l'enfance. L'aspect "magique" est plus un à-côté, un des paramètres de ce qu'est Mori. Le courage stoïque de cette jeune fille, qui refuse de se laisser submerger par le désespoir et qui arrive, par un moyen ou un autre, à supporter son nouveau cadre de vie, à se faire des amis qui partagent sa passion et qui réapprend à aimer la vie, à lui faire confiance, est remarquable. Il est bien difficile de mettre en valeur ce roman dont les qualités sont dans la sobriété, je vais donc rajouter quelques passages que j'ai trouvés frappants : "One of the things I've always liked about science fiction is the way it makes you think about things, and look at things from angles you'd never have thought before. From now on, I'm going to be positive about sexe" [à propos de sa mère] "I've seen her wear a wedding dress to go shopping, and a winter coat in July, and be barely covered in January. Her hair is long and black and even combed and tamed it looks like a nest of snakes. If she wore a burberry and a silk scarf it would like a disguise, a cloth dragged over an altar where something had been sacrified" [à propos de son grand-père paternel, qu'elle vient de rencontrer pour la première fois] "I like Sam. I was sorry to say goodbye. I wrote down his adress and gave him mine in school. I wanted to talk to him about being Jewish and what Sharon had said, and about my thought about being a rich Jew, but I didn't want to with my father there. He made it awkward. It's easier with Sam. For one thing I don't have to feel grateful to him, and for another, he doesn't have to feel guilty about me". [reportant l'une des frustrantes conversations avec l'une des "fées", Glorfindel] "'Half way', Glorfindel said, and he didn't mean I was half hald dead without her [sa soeur] or that she was halfway through or any of that, he meant that I was halfway throught 'Babel 17' and if I went on I would never find out how it came out. There may be stranger reasons for being alive. There are books. There's Auntie Teg and Grampar. Thre's Sam, and Gill. There's interlibrary loan. There are books you can fall into and pull up over your head. There's the distant hope of a karass sometime in the future. There's Glorgfindel who really cares about me as much as a fairy can care about anything". "I miss the mountains. I didn't miss them before, except in thinking how unattractively flat it was here. But now I have been home and had them around me for a while, I miss them actively, more than my living family, more than being able to shut the toilet door. It's not really flat here, it rolls, and I can see the mountains of North Wales in the distance when it's clear. But I miss having the hills tucked up around me". "It makes me melancoly to remember, but a little bit of the security and excitement commes through from the way I was feeling in the memory. Memories are like carpets, I keep them piled up in one big pile in my head and don't pay much attention to them separately, but if I want to, I can get back in and walk on them and remember". "(I do not miss my toys. I wouldn't play with them anyway. I am fifteen. I miss my childhood)". [à propos de magie, mais qui s’adapte très bien au contexte actuel de la “bagarre” livre numérique/livre papier] “And with books especially, books as objects are not what books are, it’s not what’s important about them”. [un passage amusant alors qu'elle est à l'hôpital pour une extension très douloureuse de sa jambe accidentée et qu'elle cogite sur l'état d'esprit et les compétences de son médecin, qui a forcément, se dit-elle, un certain niveau d'étude, non ?] "Only one more day in the rack. I'm starting to wonder if sadists could get three 'As' at A Level, but if Dr. Abdul was a sadist he'd come around and gloat more. It's clear he's entirely indifferent. He didn't look at my face at all, and barely even at my leg, it's just the x-rays that interrested him. I'm trying to see this as a good thing. Three 'As' at A Level is starting to seem like a very small thing to hold so much weight of trust". (Remarque : d'après Wiki, ce roman paraîtra en français en 2014, aux éditions Denoël, collection "Lunes d'encre").