communistbookreader's review against another edition
5.0
highest recommendation possible... one of the best books i have ever read... i always look to see what books win Hugos and Nebulas and Bram Stokers and Tiptrees and stuff like that, because that many people agreeing on the greatness of a book are hardly ever too far off... for some reason i hadn't read this one, not sure why exactly, but i am sure glad i did... but sad now that i am finished... one part sums up the book and why i love it, and how it reminds me of my life, the one about Mor not getting to talk to other people about what matters to her... all that came before and all that follows, and that line is full of everything that makes life so difficult, but also holds promise when you meet the people who let you talk, and actually listen...
grillgrrrl's review against another edition
3.0
I was drawn along by the characters, I'm just not sure that anything actually happened. I'm not mad at the time I spent on it, but I don't know if I will rush out to get another Jo Walton book.
gelisvb's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars the story, but 5 stars for the protagonist and the reader of the audiobook.
This story is exactly about what the summary says it's about,but it's far from anything we have read before on the same subject.
First of all because despite having won the Nebula and the Hugo, it's not a SFF book. It's more magical realism and a love letter to SFF.
It's not a story about the chosen one, it's more about growing up and becoming your own person.
Mor become one of my all favourite characters with her whit and strenght.
I rarely felt as much emotional attachment to another character.
It's such a powerful novel in written a very unassuming way.
This story is exactly about what the summary says it's about,but it's far from anything we have read before on the same subject.
First of all because despite having won the Nebula and the Hugo, it's not a SFF book. It's more magical realism and a love letter to SFF.
It's not a story about the chosen one, it's more about growing up and becoming your own person.
Mor become one of my all favourite characters with her whit and strenght.
I rarely felt as much emotional attachment to another character.
It's such a powerful novel in written a very unassuming way.
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
Personally, I would probably rate this book 4 stars, but that fourth star would be due to my own nostalgia about growing up reading tons of SF/fantasy titles and my own feeling of belonging when I eventually found people with whom I could engage in lively discussions about science fiction and the ideas presented in those titles. I'm giving the book 3 stars because it reflects better a general rating for those people who might not identify so keenly with the main character, or necessarily have read enough of the authors/works to which Mori, the main character, refers frequently.
Among Others is a very quick read since the language is easily-digestible diary entries. I don't think that this, in any way, makes the novel juvenile, although I do think that it would be a good YA novel, especially since Mori is quite level-headed and mature, perhaps more so than most 15-year-old girls. I suspect that this is due to the fact that Among Others is semi-autobiographical and Jo Walton herself was mature for her age, but also because Walton wrote her 15-year-old (semi) self with some of the wisdom gained later in life. In many ways, I saw this as more of a coming-of-age novel than a sci-fi novel. So, despite the large paragraph below about the book's referential nature that might put people off, I think that Among Others is a novel that most people would appreciate, because the themes of defining who you are, finding a place to fit in, and family are universal themes.
Although it seems clear to me that the ability for sci-fi fans to identify with the main character contributed to Among Others winning the Hugo Award, since it's fan-based, I don't think think that that means that Among Others isn't a well-written novel that has much to offer. However, it was not what I was expecting from a Hugo and Nebula winning novel. For one thing, I would classify Among Others as fantasy, rather than science fiction, if even that. Some of the reviewers have referred to Among Others as magical realism, and I suppose that that designation might fit, although, when I think of magical realism, I usually think of Hispanic or Chicano literature such as Like Water for Chocolate or Bless Me, Ultima.
I think that the magic "system" in Among Others is interesting, because for most of the novel, it's easy to rationalize away the "magic" as one girl's coping mechanism to deal with her sister's death and mother's terrible parenting, as well as being uprooted from the family and environment which is all she's ever known to go to boarding school and attempt to build a relationship with her father, all while dealing with constant physical pain. The "magic" in the novel reminded me of playing make-believe as a child, and odd superstitions that kids sometimes seem to have. While I was reading the book, I could hear these skeptical thoughts in my head arise about the "magic" of Among Others, and I felt the melancholy when Mori writes about how her cousin could no longer see fairies, and I didn't want to be one of the adults who could no longer observe magic because I no longer believed, just like no one wants to believe that he/she wouldn't be able to hear Santa's sleigh bell ringing in The Polar Express. Maybe this is how Jo Walton intends us to feel, though, and her novel is one of our windows back into not only the time when we believed in magic, but also the good times in our adolescence, not just the awkward and/or painful ones, especially when we finally found our "karass" (Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle reference, for which I, like Mori, am finding it difficult to find a "normal" English word)
I've alluded it to it a couple of times already, but one of the things that makes this novel "work," but also threatens to make it not "work" for some readers, is that it is extremely referential. Although I've read a substantial amount of science fiction and fantasy, both older and newer works, I was a teenager about two decades after Walton, so many of the science fiction books to which she refers I haven't read for various reasons. Some of these may have been, or are, difficult to obtain due to the fact that they were or are out of print. Others may have merely faded away, especially if the ideas explored in them have become so ingrained in our society that reading speculative fiction about them seems silly. On the other hand, sometimes speculative fiction from an earlier time seems dated and lackluster, even if the books were ground-breaking at the time, because more recent authors who were directly or indirectly shaped by those ideas have addressed them in more depth. Whatever the reason, I feel that there is likely something lost if one is not as familiar with the authors and works referenced in Among Others, if only because the references that I did understand definitely enriched my reading experience. Among Others reminded me that reading is always an intensely personal experience, since the meaning is shaped not only by prior knowledge and experiences, but reflection and discussion (for example, Mori's Tuesday evening book club). Nevertheless, as I wrote earlier, I still that Among Others is a novel that's widely appealing.
Among Others is a very quick read since the language is easily-digestible diary entries. I don't think that this, in any way, makes the novel juvenile, although I do think that it would be a good YA novel, especially since Mori is quite level-headed and mature, perhaps more so than most 15-year-old girls. I suspect that this is due to the fact that Among Others is semi-autobiographical and Jo Walton herself was mature for her age, but also because Walton wrote her 15-year-old (semi) self with some of the wisdom gained later in life. In many ways, I saw this as more of a coming-of-age novel than a sci-fi novel. So, despite the large paragraph below about the book's referential nature that might put people off, I think that Among Others is a novel that most people would appreciate, because the themes of defining who you are, finding a place to fit in, and family are universal themes.
Although it seems clear to me that the ability for sci-fi fans to identify with the main character contributed to Among Others winning the Hugo Award, since it's fan-based, I don't think think that that means that Among Others isn't a well-written novel that has much to offer. However, it was not what I was expecting from a Hugo and Nebula winning novel. For one thing, I would classify Among Others as fantasy, rather than science fiction, if even that. Some of the reviewers have referred to Among Others as magical realism, and I suppose that that designation might fit, although, when I think of magical realism, I usually think of Hispanic or Chicano literature such as Like Water for Chocolate or Bless Me, Ultima.
I think that the magic "system" in Among Others is interesting, because for most of the novel, it's easy to rationalize away the "magic" as one girl's coping mechanism to deal with her sister's death and mother's terrible parenting, as well as being uprooted from the family and environment which is all she's ever known to go to boarding school and attempt to build a relationship with her father, all while dealing with constant physical pain. The "magic" in the novel reminded me of playing make-believe as a child, and odd superstitions that kids sometimes seem to have. While I was reading the book, I could hear these skeptical thoughts in my head arise about the "magic" of Among Others, and I felt the melancholy when Mori writes about how her cousin could no longer see fairies, and I didn't want to be one of the adults who could no longer observe magic because I no longer believed, just like no one wants to believe that he/she wouldn't be able to hear Santa's sleigh bell ringing in The Polar Express. Maybe this is how Jo Walton intends us to feel, though, and her novel is one of our windows back into not only the time when we believed in magic, but also the good times in our adolescence, not just the awkward and/or painful ones, especially when we finally found our "karass" (Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle reference, for which I, like Mori, am finding it difficult to find a "normal" English word)
I've alluded it to it a couple of times already, but one of the things that makes this novel "work," but also threatens to make it not "work" for some readers, is that it is extremely referential. Although I've read a substantial amount of science fiction and fantasy, both older and newer works, I was a teenager about two decades after Walton, so many of the science fiction books to which she refers I haven't read for various reasons. Some of these may have been, or are, difficult to obtain due to the fact that they were or are out of print. Others may have merely faded away, especially if the ideas explored in them have become so ingrained in our society that reading speculative fiction about them seems silly. On the other hand, sometimes speculative fiction from an earlier time seems dated and lackluster, even if the books were ground-breaking at the time, because more recent authors who were directly or indirectly shaped by those ideas have addressed them in more depth. Whatever the reason, I feel that there is likely something lost if one is not as familiar with the authors and works referenced in Among Others, if only because the references that I did understand definitely enriched my reading experience. Among Others reminded me that reading is always an intensely personal experience, since the meaning is shaped not only by prior knowledge and experiences, but reflection and discussion (for example, Mori's Tuesday evening book club). Nevertheless, as I wrote earlier, I still that Among Others is a novel that's widely appealing.
meenaaa's review against another edition
2.0
'Among Others' was a very boring read. This was the first book I picked up from my university library in the sci-fi/fantasy section. I felt embarrassed for no reason picking up a book to read for fun and I felt more embarrassed when the librarian asked me if there was anything specific I was looking for. So I felt I had to quickly grab something instead of taking my time and browsing and I grabbed this book because it said it won the Hugo on the cover.
I later learnt that 'Among Others' won the Hugo over ADWD by GRRM which is mind-boggling because this book is just okay. It feels like anyone could have written it. Whereas not anyone could have come up with the world and story in the ASOIAF series.
What's even more puzzling is that this book is neither sci-fi nor fantasy. It has elements of fantasy and by that I mean the main character can see fairies everywhere. But other than that, this book is just a boring YA book where nothing happens because there is literally no plot. The entire book is just the MC reading popular sci-fi books and raving about them.
At one point in the book, the MC makes fun of Judy Blume books and other YA type books which I thought was funny because this book is literally the type of book the MC was making fun of.
I later learnt that 'Among Others' won the Hugo over ADWD by GRRM which is mind-boggling because this book is just okay. It feels like anyone could have written it. Whereas not anyone could have come up with the world and story in the ASOIAF series.
What's even more puzzling is that this book is neither sci-fi nor fantasy. It has elements of fantasy and by that I mean the main character can see fairies everywhere. But other than that, this book is just a boring YA book where nothing happens because there is literally no plot. The entire book is just the MC reading popular sci-fi books and raving about them.
At one point in the book, the MC makes fun of Judy Blume books and other YA type books which I thought was funny because this book is literally the type of book the MC was making fun of.
gingabren's review against another edition
5.0
Great for bibliophiles
Really identified with the character of Mor. Bookish and frequently feeling left out. Plus, there are so many new books mentioned in the text to try out! I was sorry when it was over. Enjoyed entering this world.
Really identified with the character of Mor. Bookish and frequently feeling left out. Plus, there are so many new books mentioned in the text to try out! I was sorry when it was over. Enjoyed entering this world.
iggnaseous's review against another edition
4.0
Walton has written a love letter to Sci-Fi specifically and the power of books/fiction in general, as a form of escape, and as a basis for reflection and expanding the imagination. Among Others celebrates the capacity to get lost in the words, "to pull down inside a book and hide" (122) or soar. It's simultaneously a book about trauma, loss, and the process of grief. The exact detailing of the events that lead to the trauma come out slowly, in tickles and spurts, successfully building suspense like the phases of revelation of Gatsby's identity in Fitzgerald’s book.
Questions about magic, its nature, and ethical ramifications forms one of the more intriguing aspects of the book. Mor, the teenage protagonist, struggles to explain magic, and the tentative nature of her explanations "work” insofar as Mor is relatively inexperienced and enmeshed in stories. Mor's mind is so full of fantasy and fiction, it's unclear that the faeries, ghosts, and magic she sees and experiences has any more substance than the fiction she reads. She's an unreliable narrator, like Megan in Girl on a Train. Still, by referring to fiction written in the real world, our reality bleeds into hers, and the reader experiences some of Mor's disorientation at losing her twin, trying to adapt to her new life with her estranged father and strange aunts, and attending a boarding school where she's very much an outsider. Fiction grounds her, until she finds it isn't quite enough: she needs a "karass" (a term Walton borrows from Kurt Vonnegut), real human contact with like-minded people, so performs magic that may or may not have brought the Sci-Fi book club into being.
Given the power of magic to rewrite the past and influence human will, on what grounds is it appropriate to use magic at all ? Mor's agonizing over this sort of question forms the central moral conflict of the book. Her mother tried to use magic to gain power, and Mor and her twin sister were able to stop the witch, though they had to pay a price. Protecting others from harm, Mor's thinks, is the one good use of magic, though she had doubts even here. She's convinced that her action of putting a comb in a bog leads to the death of a man who moved away, and wonders if Wim likes her for herself or because of the magic she used on him. The moral dilemmas of magic are the basis for a running commentary in the novel.
Less satisfying elements of the book include the abrupt ending. The battle with the "big bad" at the end lasts all of two pages, and Mor seems to counter her mother's attacks easily. We don't get to see the fate of Mor's relationship with Wim, if her leg /pelvis heals properly, or whether she ever goes to a Con. All of this suggests that it isn't the point of the book. The real battle with the big bad, the one with lasting consequences, happened off stage, in between the first scene with her sister and the second when she's heading to school.
Among Others offers a meditative / reflective take on loss and grief. It's the story, in a sense, of Frodo after his return to the shire and before he travels to the undying lands. Mor’s books and fantasy about faeries and magic help her cope, and eventually lead her to a community, friends, and even a lover. Given the choice to join her twin as a ghost or faerie herself, she decides (or remembers) that she's a full person, not just half of one. Though her wounds will never truly heal, she'll continue to grow, learn, love, and live. Walton affirms that life’s worth living, because of all the good books and the people in the world with whom we can talk to about them, and invites us to do the same.
Questions about magic, its nature, and ethical ramifications forms one of the more intriguing aspects of the book. Mor, the teenage protagonist, struggles to explain magic, and the tentative nature of her explanations "work” insofar as Mor is relatively inexperienced and enmeshed in stories. Mor's mind is so full of fantasy and fiction, it's unclear that the faeries, ghosts, and magic she sees and experiences has any more substance than the fiction she reads. She's an unreliable narrator, like Megan in Girl on a Train. Still, by referring to fiction written in the real world, our reality bleeds into hers, and the reader experiences some of Mor's disorientation at losing her twin, trying to adapt to her new life with her estranged father and strange aunts, and attending a boarding school where she's very much an outsider. Fiction grounds her, until she finds it isn't quite enough: she needs a "karass" (a term Walton borrows from Kurt Vonnegut), real human contact with like-minded people, so performs magic that may or may not have brought the Sci-Fi book club into being.
Given the power of magic to rewrite the past and influence human will, on what grounds is it appropriate to use magic at all ? Mor's agonizing over this sort of question forms the central moral conflict of the book. Her mother tried to use magic to gain power, and Mor and her twin sister were able to stop the witch, though they had to pay a price. Protecting others from harm, Mor's thinks, is the one good use of magic, though she had doubts even here. She's convinced that her action of putting a comb in a bog leads to the death of a man who moved away, and wonders if Wim likes her for herself or because of the magic she used on him. The moral dilemmas of magic are the basis for a running commentary in the novel.
Less satisfying elements of the book include the abrupt ending. The battle with the "big bad" at the end lasts all of two pages, and Mor seems to counter her mother's attacks easily. We don't get to see the fate of Mor's relationship with Wim, if her leg /pelvis heals properly, or whether she ever goes to a Con. All of this suggests that it isn't the point of the book. The real battle with the big bad, the one with lasting consequences, happened off stage, in between the first scene with her sister and the second when she's heading to school.
Among Others offers a meditative / reflective take on loss and grief. It's the story, in a sense, of Frodo after his return to the shire and before he travels to the undying lands. Mor’s books and fantasy about faeries and magic help her cope, and eventually lead her to a community, friends, and even a lover. Given the choice to join her twin as a ghost or faerie herself, she decides (or remembers) that she's a full person, not just half of one. Though her wounds will never truly heal, she'll continue to grow, learn, love, and live. Walton affirms that life’s worth living, because of all the good books and the people in the world with whom we can talk to about them, and invites us to do the same.
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
3.0
A little slow to start but really fun if you're a SF fan. The story of Mori as she discovers herself after losing her twin and becoming disabled herself. She spends a lot of time reading in the library as she can no longer participate in the all important 'games' at her boarding school.
bry_oh_knee's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Have to say this was a very unusual read. Very slow pace until the last chapter where everything comes to a head before you realise it's the end...
Part diary part Science fiction reading list all a bit weird.
Its a very emotional look at a character dealing with grief and an unusual take of magic in the real world. I honestly could not describe it beyond that. Its definitely worth reading but its undeniably an odd book. (Audio book is okay if you have no idea what a Welsh accent should sound like)
Part diary part Science fiction reading list all a bit weird.
Its a very emotional look at a character dealing with grief and an unusual take of magic in the real world. I honestly could not describe it beyond that. Its definitely worth reading but its undeniably an odd book. (Audio book is okay if you have no idea what a Welsh accent should sound like)
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Domestic abuse
Doesn't go into detail about anything. One minor scene where an adult attempts to sleep with the main character but brief and almost clinical in its descriptionsortabadass's review against another edition
3.0
There were things that I enjoyed deeply about this novel: the narrator's voice, the description of her interactions with faeries, and the ambiguous nature of magic. But aspects of the book were also offputting -- unfortunately, for me, this also included much of the book litanies and descriptions. I am a reader (of course) but I am not as well read as Ms. Walton. While I've been getting into older science fiction, especially within the last few years, many of the writers and novels listed are simply things that I have no emotional or mental connection to.
"I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day."
"Magic isn't inherently evil. But it does seem to be terribly bad for people."
"Things will happen that I can't imagine. I'll change and grow into a future that will be unimaginably different from the past. I'll be alive. I'll be me."
Spoiler
"I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day."
"Magic isn't inherently evil. But it does seem to be terribly bad for people."
"Things will happen that I can't imagine. I'll change and grow into a future that will be unimaginably different from the past. I'll be alive. I'll be me."