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Among Others

Jo Walton

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Aug 15, 2016 Rebecca (LirilAB) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This book was a sci fi/fantasy book lover's dream! It's written in the form of a diary or journal belonging to a 15 year old girl, Mori. Some odd things have happened with her family and she ends up at a girl's boarding school (a normal one, not anything like Harry Potter) where much of the book takes place. There is magic in this book, but it is very subtle and can easily be mistaken for coincidence. Mori can also see fairies, but doesn't know exactly what they really are. She just calls them f This book was a sci fi/fantasy book lover's dream! It's written in the form of a diary or journal belonging to a 15 year old girl, Mori. Some odd things have happened with her family and she ends up at a girl's boarding school (a normal one, not anything like Harry Potter) where much of the book takes place. There is magic in this book, but it is very subtle and can easily be mistaken for coincidence. Mori can also see fairies, but doesn't know exactly what they really are. She just calls them fairies.

In fact, I often wondered throughout the book if Mori may have had some sort of psychological problem and that many of the things that she saw and described as happening to her was going to all turn out to be in her head.

BUT!! One of the very best things about this book is that Mori LOVES BOOKS! Primarily science fiction and fantasy books, and her journal entries are all full of this love. She visits many libraries and talks about the books she is reading to the point where the author has compiled a bibliography of all the books mentioned in Among Others. (It's here... http://papersky.livejournal.com/50927... )

I remember reading many of these same books when I was Mori's age as well as at other times, but there are many, many books on the list that I have never gotten around to reading. I have a lot of reading left to do, even when it comes to more classic science fiction and fantasy!

Among Others is a book about Mori's internal life and her relationships with her family and friends and various acquaintances. It's not very plot-based though external events do occur, but Mori isn't the type of person to just describe what happens, but also how she feels about what happens and how she can connect those feelings with other people and things and of course, to the books she has read and is reading.

Naturally, she's something of a pariah in her school being that she's so bookish as well as being from Wales instead of England like all the other girls, so this book also deals with topics of isolation as well as disability issues.

Among Others has become one of my favorite books! ...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Christopher Mclean rated it really liked it

very adorable coming of age story filled with great sci find and fantasy references. fell a little short with its depth on a few issues but was a very enjoyable read and a good change of pace from typical fantasy stories

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