Fantasy novels seem to be filled with the battle between cultured, sensible enlightenment and the wild, natural, instinctual senses. In Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell these two opposites represent the two sides that make up the nature of all things English. The book combines the content of magical fantasy and the civilised form of Austen’s social comedy. The two make an unlikely but fruitful marriage in this novel. The sharp wit and common sense of the form brings out the beauty and elusiveness of the fairytale elements and one is easily drawn into this alternative magical 18th century England, created with such intricate imagination that it seems as real as our own.

The story is long, winding and populated with detail. Norrell and Strange’s society resembles that of the Regency period, but their history is filled with magic and faery kingdoms. Studying magic is a gentleman’s pursuit, but actually to practise it would be dreadfully common; so practical magic has ceased to exist in England. When Mr Norrell emerges from reclusiveness, having taught himself through years of study to perform magic, he creates quite a stir. He proves his value to a rather hesitant English government by bringing the fiancee of a high-ranking politician back to life.

Set on retaining his monopoly of English magic, he buys up all books on magic in the country and constructs his own sanitised version of magic and what it should be used for. Reluctantly he eventually takes on a pupil - Jonathan Strange, a young gentleman whose natural gift for magic far exceeds the abilities of his teacher. While Norrell prefers to stay in his library, his pupil goes of to war to help Wellington in his battle against Napoleon.

Now actively practising what Norrell can only preach, Strange begins to rebel against his status as a mere apprentice. Spurred by his frustration at Norrell’s aversion to interact with faeries, the ancient sources of magic, he decides it is time to break with his teacher. While the conservative Norrell idly tries to keep magic contained in sensible rules of conduct, Strange begins a kafkaesque descend into the very bowels of the land of the faeries.

The story is peopled by an enormous cast of minor characters - a combination of fictional characters and historical figures like Byron. They remain however mostly caricatures ranging from ruthless social intriguants, arrogant yet useless aristocrats and intelligent but undervalued servants. The reason for this never-ending stream of new characters constantly to emerge, even near the end, is a mystery. Most of them seem to have no other function than to provide an ever richer tapestry of people distracting our attention from the main characters. The same goes for the footnotes that are scattered liberally throughout the book. The excessive succession of historical notes, references and explanations slackens the pace of the book. The whole book is both action-packed and incredibly slow in a curious way.

Instead of the style being used to explore and fully develop the characters, they seem to be created to fit it. Objectives are mostly straightforward, although many characters seem be curiously passive at crucial times. Both protagonists’ faults and strenghts are easily identified and drive the plot forward, yet they remain strangly bloodless beings. They never become human, they remain unable to move or truly touch us.

What the book exactly attempts to say about what it means to be English remains veiled in mystery as well. On the one hand it paints a society filled with a combination of shallow vanity, arrogance, provincialism and class prejudice, yet when Strange moves into the realms of natural wildness, we are shown little more then a savage world full of danger. Just quite how those two can come together to form quintessential Englishness is not quite clear. The ending seems to leave a lot of space for a sequel in which to explore this hinted-at symbioses.

Although the world created by Ms Clark is clever, witty and at places captivating, it meanders too much for the reader to care about the vitally important battle for the future of England and English magic, or the protagonists insued in the fight. Maybe the sheer vastness and complexity of Ms Clarke’s undertaking is enough to keep the attention of a seasoned fantasy audience, but this reader, though enchanted at first, was left wearied.