Status
Available
Call number
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. It doesn't matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.' Fifteen-year-old Morwenna lives in Wales with her twin sister and a mother who spins dark magic for ill. One day, Mori and her mother fight a powerful, magical battle that kills her sister and leaves Mori crippled. Devastated, Mori flees to her long-lost father in England. Adrift, outcast at boarding school, Mori retreats into the worlds she knows best: her magic and her books. She works a spell to meet kindred souls and continues to devour every fantasy and science fiction novel she can lay her hands on. But danger lurks... She knows her mother is looking for her and that when she finds her, there will be no escape.
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Publication
Tor Books (2012), 304 pages
Pages
304
Genres
Physical description
304 p.; 5.62 inches
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2012)
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novel — 2011)
Locus Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2012)
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (Winner — Fantasy Novel — 2011)
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — Adult Literature — 2012)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2012)
SF Site Reader's Choice (2011)
British Fantasy Award (Winner — Robert Holdstock Award — 2012)
Kurd Laßwitz Preis (Winner — 2014)
Copper Cylinder Award (Adult — 2012)
Locus Recommended Reading (2011)
Media reviews
As [Mori] tries to come to terms with her sister’s death through both books and fairy magic, the novel assumes true emotional resonance.
There are really two points where the success of the novel as what it is make it fail to connect with me. The first has to do with the books. It's written in the form of a diary, and the form and voice are spot-on. But part of getting the diary form right is that it doesn't provide much in the way
This is no big deal as long as you recognize the references to authors and titles. But if you don't-- and there are a lot of books mentioned that I know about but either haven't read or do not recall fondly-- a lot of significance is lost. The titles sort of flash by as blank spots in the narrative, a kind of "This Cultural Reference Intentionally Left Blank" effect that ends up being a little off-putting.
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of information about the many books that Mori reads in the course of the novel-- you wouldn't expect a teenager with a lot on her mind to do a detailed plot summary of everything she read, after all.This is no big deal as long as you recognize the references to authors and titles. But if you don't-- and there are a lot of books mentioned that I know about but either haven't read or do not recall fondly-- a lot of significance is lost. The titles sort of flash by as blank spots in the narrative, a kind of "This Cultural Reference Intentionally Left Blank" effect that ends up being a little off-putting.
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Among Others is many things – a fully realized boarding-school tale, a literary memoir, a touching yet unsentimental portrait of a troubled family – but there’s something particularly appealing about a fantasy which not only celebrates the joy of reading, but in which the heroine must face
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the forces of doom not in order to return yet another ring to some mountain, but to plan a trip to the 1980 Glasgow Eastercon. That’s the sort of book you can love. Show Less
But, just as the magic, it's a peculiar, unique book. I've read most of Walton's fiction. I like this best, but in some ways it's the least structurally certain of her works; I think the magic that's so subtle it's deniable at the start of the book fails to maintain that quirky quality at its
Regardless, there's a deep beauty to this book that feels so entirely real I'm grateful for its existence, for the fact that I could read it, and for the way it now graces my own internal library.
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end—and I understand why, but still found it jarring.Regardless, there's a deep beauty to this book that feels so entirely real I'm grateful for its existence, for the fact that I could read it, and for the way it now graces my own internal library.
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This isn't a traditional fantasy, by any means. But it's a smart, heartfelt novel, with a strong, likable narrator, and many touchstones in terms of other books that will resonate for us, depending on how we felt/feel about those books.
It has also jumped right into my short list of favorite books
It has also jumped right into my short list of favorite books
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ever, and it's one that I plan to reread more than once. Show Less
"This is a book that concerns itself far more with surviving trauma and finding a place in the world than with finding one's self."
Never deigning to transcend the genre to which it is clearly a love letter, this outstanding (and entirely teen-appropriate) tale draws its strength from a solid foundation of sense-of-wonder and what-if.
This is a book for anyone who has been an outsider, for anyone who has lost someone they loved, for anyone who loves books. Told through entries in Morwenna’s diary, the story makes readers privy to her innermost thoughts, hopes and fears while away at school during the aftermath of a terrible
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tragedy — it’s about how you go on living after you save the world, when the world doesn’t even know (or care) that it’s been saved. This is an utterly amazing and beautiful book. Show Less
LCC
PR6073.A448
Library's review
One of the most moving books about loss I've ever had the pleasure to read. It doesn't hurt that the protagonist is also a major sci-fi fan, even if she's more into the classics than I am. So many examples of literary references done right in this book, that don't detract from the world or
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narrative being built here, but add onto and strengthen it. Show Less
Language
ISBN
0765331721 / 9780765331724