Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

I really want to like this book. It's got a great core concept. Magic has disappeared from the world, and the last to English magicians work to bring it back. Magic with a backdrop of Napoleonic era British aristocracy is a great place to start, but it really doesn't do much beyond that basic concept. The characters are okay, but nothing to write home about. The writing style, which feels like an old Dickens novel, but this make the characters feel stiff and unlikable. The plot is incredibly non-descript and runs WAY too long. The last third is quite good, with the personalities of the two magicians colliding and dark forces working behind them, but it takes so long to get to that point that I really have difficulty giving this book a wholehearted recommendation.

In addition, this book has intentionally frayed edges, which docs it one star.