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''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the highly acclaimed first novel by Susanna Clarke, published in 2004. The story describes, in historical fashion, magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
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''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the highly acclaimed first novel by Susanna Clarke, published in 2004. The story describes, in historical fashion, magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
era]]. Being [[DoorStopper over 1000 pages long]], the book is well-known (and well-loved) for skillfully combining political intrigue, elaborate academic footnotes and [[GenreBusting sweet charcoal illustrations]].
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By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr Gilbert Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. In his efforts to ingratiate himself to the London upper class, he secretly calls upon the aid of a fairy gentleman with thistle-down hair. Although their encounter is but a brief one, this gentleman soon takes renewed interest in England and comes to deeply love Stephen Black, the servant of Royal Treasurer Sir Walter Pole. Mr Norrell, oblivious to this particular development, convinces Sir Walter Pole that English Magic might restore the glory of the Kingdom and claim Britannia's victory against Napoleon Buonaparte. Aiding Norrell's political career are two socialite leeches, Mr Christopher Drawlight and Mr Henry Lascelles, who take it upon themselves to guide Norrell -- a SocialAwkwardHero at the best of times -- through the intricacies of political etiquette.
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. In his efforts to ingratiate himself to the London upper class, he secretly calls upon the aid of a fairy gentleman with thistle-down hair. Although their encounter is but a brief one, this gentleman soon takes renewed interest in England and comes to deeply love Stephen Black, the servant of Royal Treasurer Sir Walter Pole. Mr Norrell, oblivious to this particular development, convinces Sir Walter Pole that English Magic might restore the glory of the Kingdom and claim Britannia's victory against Napoleon Buonaparte. Aiding Norrell's political career are two socialite leeches, Mr Christopher Drawlight and Mr Henry Lascelles, who take it upon themselves to guide Norrell -- a SocialAwkwardHero at the best of times -- through the intricacies of political etiquette.
to:
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr Gilbert Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
magician. Norrell's life revolves about his deep love and reverence for academic books, and he feels that it is his duty to restore English Magic and to employ its power in the war effort against France.
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. In his efforts to ingratiate himself to the London upper class, he secretly calls upon the aid of afairy fairy: a gentleman with thistle-down hair. Although their encounter is but a brief one, this gentleman soon takes renewed interest in England and comes to deeply love Stephen Black, the servant of Royal Treasurer Sir Walter Pole. Mr Norrell, oblivious to this particular development, convinces Sir Walter Pole that English Magic might restore the glory of the Kingdom and claim Britannia's victory against Napoleon Buonaparte. Aiding Norrell's political career are two socialite leeches, Mr Christopher Drawlight and Mr Henry Lascelles, who take it upon themselves to guide Norrell -- a SocialAwkwardHero at the best of times -- through the intricacies of political etiquette.
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. In his efforts to ingratiate himself to the London upper class, he secretly calls upon the aid of a
* ArrangedMarriage: As comes with the time period, each marriage described in the novel is treated as a contract first, and as an expression of love only second (if at all). The relationship between Sir Walter Pole and Emma Wintertowne is based on the understanding that they each live their own life in any way they desire, although Sir Walter Pole is not entirely happy to find out to what extent Lady Pole envisions this. Similarly, Strange and Arabella love each other dearly, but fully understand that their marriage is one of convenience as well as love. In the end, Lady Pole [[spoiler: is in no way inclined to even think about her husband when released from her slavery]], and Arabella and Jonathan [[spoiler: are quite fine with the idea that they cannot be together in Jonathan's exile.]]
* {{Asexuality}}: Norrell's only love is for books, and he fails to understand the appeal of marriage, calling it a regrettable habit for magicians. The notions of romance and affection are completely alien to him.
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* ProphecyTwist
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially "distilled madness" out of the logic that since lunatics can see fairies, he needs to become insane to be able to see the gentleman with thistle-down hair (Strange's summoning spells worked, as the Gentleman himself admits to Stephen, but since the Gentleman did not wish to speak to Strange he remained invisible to him. The madness allowed Strange to see past the glamour).
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially "distilled madness" out of the logic that since lunatics can see fairies, he needs to become insane to be able to see the gentleman with thistle-down hair (Strange's summoning spells worked, as the Gentleman himself admits to Stephen, but since the Gentleman did not wish to speak to Strange he remained invisible to him. The madness allowed Strange to see past the glamour).
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* ProphecyTwist
ProphecyTwist: Doubly subverted. At first, it's quite clear that "the nameless slave" is [[spoiler: Stephen Black]], until Vinculus [[spoiler: flat-out tells Black that the line refers to the Raven King]]. But when Norrell and Strange attempt to use this moniker to [[spoiler: contact the Raven King]], the spell accidentally (or possibly ''not at all'' accidentally) [[spoiler: finds Stephen instead]].
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially [[spoiler: "distilledmadness" madness"]] out of the logic that since lunatics can see fairies, he needs to [[spoiler: become insane to be able to see the gentleman with thistle-down hair hair.]] (Strange's summoning spells worked, as the Gentleman gentleman himself admits to Stephen, but since the Gentleman gentleman did not wish to speak to Strange he remained invisible to him. [[spoiler: The madness allowed allows Strange to see past the glamour).glamour, the gentleman's great shock.]])
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially [[spoiler: "distilled
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* RavensAndCrows
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* RavensAndCrowsRavensAndCrows: The Raven King's motif.
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* ThoseTwoGuys: The fops Drawlight and Lascelles, at least at first. Honeyfoot and Segundus had a short run near the beginning.
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around Creator/LordByron.
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around Creator/LordByron.
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* ThoseTwoGuys: ThoseTwoBadGuys: The fops Drawlight and Lascelles, at least at first. Lascelles.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Honeyfoot andSegundus had a short run near the beginning.
Segundus.
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with theGentleman's gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around Creator/LordByron.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Honeyfoot and
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the
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''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is Susanna Clarke's highly acclaimed 2004 novel about magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom, becoming known as "The Raven King." Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr. Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner Jonathan Strange discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
The activities of the two magicians, and the revival of interest in magic spurred by them, causes one fairy, the gentleman with thistle-down hair, to take a renewed interest in England. In particular, he becomes convinced that Jonathan Strange is his worst enemy ...
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom, becoming known as "The Raven King." Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr. Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner Jonathan Strange discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
The activities of the two magicians, and the revival of interest in magic spurred by them, causes one fairy, the gentleman with thistle-down hair, to take a renewed interest in England. In particular, he becomes convinced that Jonathan Strange is his worst enemy ...
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''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is Susanna Clarke's the highly acclaimed 2004 first novel about by Susanna Clarke, published in 2004. The story describes, in historical fashion, magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England.John Uskglass, The Raven King, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom, becoming known as "The kingdom. The Raven King." Uskglass himself King was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the England -- the union of fairy power and human organization.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusiveMr. Mr Gilbert Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events.The In his efforts to ingratiate himself to the London upper class, he secretly calls upon the aid of a fairy gentleman with thistle-down hair. Although their encounter is but a brief one, this gentleman soon takes renewed interest in England and comes to deeply love Stephen Black, the servant of Royal Treasurer Sir Walter Pole. Mr Norrell, oblivious to this particular development, convinces Sir Walter Pole that English Magic might restore the glory of the Kingdom and claim Britannia's victory against Napoleon Buonaparte. Aiding Norrell's political career are two socialite leeches, Mr Christopher Drawlight and Mr Henry Lascelles, who take it upon themselves to guide Norrell -- a SocialAwkwardHero at the best of times -- through the intricacies of political etiquette.
Meanwhile, a younglandowner [[IdleRich landowner]] named Jonathan Strange discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Mr Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
The activities ofsomething must give. And as the two magicians, and the revival of interest in magic spurred by them, causes one fairy, war effort progresses, the gentleman with the thistle-down hair, to take a renewed interest in England. In particular, he hair becomes convinced that Jonathan Strange is his worst enemy ...
enemy.
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive
When Mr Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events.
Meanwhile, a young
The activities of
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* AmbiguouslyGay: Oh, Mr. Drawlight...
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* AmbiguouslyGay: Oh, Mr. Drawlight...Mr Drawlight...
** It's also never specified to what extent the gentleman with the thistle-down hair loves Stephen Black. Certainly their interaction never goes beyond the platonic, but the gentleman's behaviour is solidly that of a StalkerWithACrush.
** It's also never specified to what extent the gentleman with the thistle-down hair loves Stephen Black. Certainly their interaction never goes beyond the platonic, but the gentleman's behaviour is solidly that of a StalkerWithACrush.
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* BloodMagic: As Mr. Norrell has hoarded all of the magical texts in existence, Jonathan is forced to resort to this, in addition to many other strange tactics, in his attempt to summon the fairy king.
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* BloodMagic: As Mr. Mr Norrell has hoarded all of the magical texts in existence, Jonathan is forced to resort to this, in addition to many other strange tactics, in his attempt to summon the fairy king.
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* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits, is [[DeadpanSnarker constantly sarcastic, of a condescendingly, backhanded sort]] and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and Creator/LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and Creator/LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
to:
* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits, is [[DeadpanSnarker constantly sarcastic, of a condescendingly, backhanded sort]] and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, Britain. First by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
* ByronicHero: After a while, Strange becomesone, then gets over it. Since Strange and Creator/LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. so Byronic that his dear friend Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.''starts taking notes''. [[spoiler: He gets over it by the novel's conclusion.]]
* ByronicHero: After a while, Strange becomes
* CompleteMonster: Lascelles.
* CouldntFindAPen: Briefly discussed, when Childermass attempts to carve [[spoiler: the prophecy]] into his own skin in order to preserve it. He decides against it.
* CouldntFindAPen: Briefly discussed, when Childermass attempts to carve [[spoiler: the prophecy]] into his own skin in order to preserve it. He decides against it.
* GiftedlyDisabled: The mad can see and talk to fairies even without the use of magic. When Strange realises the full implications of this, he [[spoiler: willingly destroys his own sanity]].
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* IKnowYourTrueName: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] [[spoiler: The end of the book is the result of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell thinking that they have figured out the Raven King's true name but being wrong.]]
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* IKnowYourTrueName: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] [[spoiler: The end of the book is the result of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Mr Norrell thinking that they have figured out the Raven King's true name but being wrong.]]
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** Mr. Norrell's treatment of Arabella at the book auction. Even in-story people thought that was pretty harsh.
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** Mr. Mr Norrell's treatment of Arabella at the book auction. Even in-story people thought that was pretty harsh.
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* RedOniBlueOni: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
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* RedOniBlueOni: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Mr Norrell.
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* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. All of them get bonus points for having long hair and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
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* StalkerWithACrush: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair, to Stephen Black. It's unknown if his love is romantic in a conventional sense or simply beyond human unterstanding.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. (His face is described as bent, like a branch that grew the wrong way.) All of them get bonus points for having long hair and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. (His face is described as bent, like a branch that grew the wrong way.) All of them get bonus points for having long hair and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
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* WhamEpisode: The final chapter of book two: "Arabella".
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* WhamEpisode: The short final chapter of book two: "Arabella".
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* TheCaligula: The gentleman with thistle-down hair.
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* TheCaligula: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.hair.
* CantArgueWithElves: In all his actions, the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is absolutely convinced that his beloved humans enjoy his games as much as he does. The idea that they are consistently horrified by their slavery on his account is so far removed from his own frame of reference that they just can't convey the notion to him.
* CantArgueWithElves: In all his actions, the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is absolutely convinced that his beloved humans enjoy his games as much as he does. The idea that they are consistently horrified by their slavery on his account is so far removed from his own frame of reference that they just can't convey the notion to him.
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* XMeetsY: The book has been described as "J.R.R. Tolkien meets JaneAusten", "HarryPotter for Adults", or "Harry Potter for History Buffs".
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* XMeetsY: The book has been described as "J.R.R. Tolkien meets JaneAusten", "HarryPotter "Literature/HarryPotter for Adults", or "Harry Potter for History Buffs".
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* PoisonousFriend: The Gentleman's relationship toward Stephen Black.
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* PoisonousFriend: The Gentleman's relationship toward Stephen Black. Drawlight and Lascelles to Norrell at times as well.
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** There are however significant hints as to how magic really works; and the Gentleman With Thistledown Hair even says so outright in a blink and you'll miss it moment. [[spoiler:Magic all comes down to making requests of genius loci (everything is a genius loci). The Gentleman With Thistledown Hair and some Aureate magicians cultivate friendships with genius loci; most English magicians make use of the Raven Kings treaties and alliances instead.]]
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** There are however significant hints as to how magic really works; and the Gentleman With Thistledown Hair even says so outright in a blink and you'll miss it moment. [[spoiler:Magic all comes down to making requests of genius loci (everything is a genius loci). The Gentleman With Thistledown Hair and some Aureate magicians cultivate friendships with genius loci; most English magicians make use of the Raven Kings King's treaties and alliances instead.]]
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* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. All of them get bonus points for having [[BadassLongHair long hair]] and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
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* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. All of them get bonus points for having [[BadassLongHair long hair]] hair and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
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* MeaningfulName: Stephen Black. [[spoiler: Stephen means crown, a motif associated with the character.]]
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* TeleportationSickness: Childermass experiences this [[spoiler: when Lady Pole is around, causing him (or his perceptions) to travel between this world and Faerie.]]
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* WhiteHairBlackHeart: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
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Entry discusses legal implications, rather than Karmic; Destroying [magic] books in this universe is a capital crime but one that\'s never really enforced. The book names one instance in the last several hundred years and it was more for destroying the last remaining copy of a powerful artifact; delaying a publication is less severe.
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* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Lascelles, though his was more of a Karmic FateWorseThanDeath]] and Lawrence Strange.
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].
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* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Lascelles, though his was more of a Karmic FateWorseThanDeath]] FateWorseThanDeath]], [[spoiler: The Gentleman with thistledownhair whose death ultimately ends up making Stephan into a King as he promised]] and Lawrence Strange.
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].Strange.
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].
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** [[WordOfGod The author has stated]] that her intention was for the Raven King to have NoNameGiven, but in the end this was ''inverted'' as [[IHaveManyNames he has many names]].
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** [[WordOfGod The author has stated]] that her intention was for the Raven King to have NoNameGiven, but in the end this was ''inverted'' as [[IHaveManyNames he has many names]].names]], though arguably, none are his "true name" but rather universally nicknames or titles.
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* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler: Lascelles eventually follows a fairy bridge and ends up in Faerie, where he kills the Champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart hoping for a great reward but instead is forced to take up the knight's place until someone kills him.]]
to:
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler: Lascelles eventually follows a fairy bridge and ends up in Faerie, where he kills the Champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart hoping for a great reward to prove he is braver than Childermass but instead is forced to take up the knight's place until someone kills him.]]
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* IHaveManyNames: The Raven King, aka John Uskglass, aka the Black King of the North, aka "the nameless slave" (ironically), etc. This actually figures into the plot when [[spoiler: Strange and Norrell try to magically locate the Raven King but can't figure out which name to use in the spell. Norrell speculates that The Raven King did this on purpose, because names are such an important part of magic. Without his true name, it gets difficult to do anything related to the person you're trying to target.]]
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* IHaveManyNames: The Raven King, aka John Uskglass, aka the Black King of the North, aka "the the nameless slave" (ironically), slave (from his changeling childhood, though rarely used), etc. This actually figures into the plot when [[spoiler: Strange and Norrell try to magically locate the Raven King but can't figure out which name to use in the spell. Norrell speculates that The Raven King did this on purpose, because names are such an important part of magic. Without his true name, it gets difficult to do anything related to the person you're trying to target.]]
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**[[spoiler: Alternatively, it's an implied deconstruction of BloodKnight mixed in with FridgeHorror; it's implied that the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart's champion begins by murdering the previous one and continues on with nothing to do but to kill or be killed until they've forgotten their own name.]]
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** Beings from Christian theology also show up in this universe; the Raven King is said to have been on good terms with most angels and demons, but quarreled with Zadkiel and Alrinach. Also in a footnote, Merlin is described as being 'half-demon', but whether this is meant to be taken literally is never elaborated upon.
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** Beings from Christian theology also show up in this universe; the Raven King is said to have been on good terms with most angels and demons, but quarreled with Zadkiel and Alrinach. Also in a footnote, Merlin is described as being 'half-demon', but whether this half-demon.
***Hermes (Trismegistus, specifically) also has a passing mention near the end as the "God of all magicians" implying that while Christian theology ismeant to focused on, there may be taken literally is never elaborated upon.other realms which Christians are unaware of, ignore or simply lump in with Faerie.
***Hermes (Trismegistus, specifically) also has a passing mention near the end as the "God of all magicians" implying that while Christian theology is
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When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner, Jonathan Strange, discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
to:
When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner, landowner Jonathan Strange, Strange discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
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Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom. Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
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Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom. kingdom, becoming known as "The Raven King." Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and Creator/LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife.
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Creator/LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and Creator/LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife.
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* You Kill It, You Bought It: [[spoiler: Lascelles eventually follows a fairy bridge and ends up in Faerie, where he kills the Champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart hoping for a great reward but instead is forced to take up the knight's place until someone kills him.]]
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* You Kill It, You Bought It: YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler: Lascelles eventually follows a fairy bridge and ends up in Faerie, where he kills the Champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart hoping for a great reward but instead is forced to take up the knight's place until someone kills him.]]
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* You Kill It, You Bought It: [[spoiler: Lascelles eventually follows a fairy bridge and ends up in Faerie, where he kills the Champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart hoping for a great reward but instead is forced to take up the knight's place until someone kills him.]]
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** Beings from Christian theology also show up in this universe; the Raven King is said to have been on good terms with most angels and demons, but quarreled with Zadkiel and Alrinach. Also in a footnote, Merlin is described as being 'half-demon', but whether this is meant to be taken literally is never elaborated upon.
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Susanna Clarke's highly acclaimed novel about magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
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''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is Susanna Clarke's highly acclaimed 2004 novel about magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
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Sliding Scale Of Antiheroes was redirected. Deleting wicks to it, Anti Hero Zero Context Examples and \"Type X\" junk
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* AntiHero: Strange ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type III/IV)]]'', Norrell ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type I)]]'', '''and''' Childermass ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type II/III)]]'' qualify, in slightly different ways.
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* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
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* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits traits, is [[DeadpanSnarker constantly sarcastic, of a condescendingly, backhanded sort]] and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
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* DeadpanSnarker: Lascelles and Childermass.
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* DeadpanSnarker: Lascelles and Childermass. Most of Norrell's dialogue is this, as well.
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Wales is actually mentioned in the book several times.
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and Creator/LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and Creator/LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
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[[http://tbivision.com/news/2012/11/bbc-one-orders-raft-of-new-dramas-comedies-formats/20170/ Now on track to being a BBC One drama]].
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
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* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and LordByron Creator/LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
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* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around LordByron.
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* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around LordByron.Creator/LordByron.
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* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
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* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and LordByron Creator/LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
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* OneSteveLimit: Averted with John Segundus, John Childermass, Jonathan Strange and John Uskglass.
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Just correcting a tiny typo— depper to deeper
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* OrderVersusChaos: The conservative Norrell represents order, with the more likable Strange being more allied with chaos, given his interest in fairies and willingness to move parts of Spain and Belgium while helping the British in the Napoleonic wars. However despite his personality Norrell's viewpoint is shown to have merit: magic is dangerous and should be handled with care. There is also a theme of reason versus madness. Strange deliberately goes mad for a while to gain depper insight.
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* OrderVersusChaos: The conservative Norrell represents order, with the more likable Strange being more allied with chaos, given his interest in fairies and willingness to move parts of Spain and Belgium while helping the British in the Napoleonic wars. However despite his personality Norrell's viewpoint is shown to have merit: magic is dangerous and should be handled with care. There is also a theme of reason versus madness. Strange deliberately goes mad for a while to gain depper deeper insight.
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* FootnoteFever: And how! Some pages are actually more footnote than novel.
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* FootnoteFever: And how! Some pages are actually more footnote than novel. The grand champion footnote takes up 3/4 each of ''three successive pages.''
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** TheFairFolk also consider Christianity to be this - a footnote mentions that centuries ago, someone left a pair of boots in a fairy's castle, and they were regarded as objects of dread for fear that in some inscrutable way, Christian morality might hold the fairies responsible for their theft.
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->''"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange.\\
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."''
Susanna Clarke's highly acclaimed novel about magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom. Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr. Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner, Jonathan Strange, discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
The activities of the two magicians, and the revival of interest in magic spurred by them, causes one fairy, the gentleman with thistle-down hair, to take a renewed interest in England. In particular, he becomes convinced that Jonathan Strange is his worst enemy ...
----
!!Contains examples of:
* AllMythsAreTrue: An interesting variation - only some myths are true, Merlin was explicitly stated to be true while magic mirrors are false (any mirror will do). The characters themselves aren't sure what myths are true.
* AntiHero: Strange ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type III/IV)]]'', Norrell ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type I)]]'', '''and''' Childermass ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type II/III)]]'' qualify, in slightly different ways.
* AsYouKnow: Many of the footnotes reference facts "everyone" knows about the history of British magic.
* AxCrazy: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair. Though being a fairy his moods shift wildly and he can sometimes be talked out of murder. Sometimes. Do not count on this.
* BadassBookworm: Jonathan Strange.
* TheBeautifulElite: The fairies.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The Gentleman states this is the case to explain part of his regard for Stephen.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Played straight when Norrell deals with the gentleman with thistle-down hair but when he tries to invoke this against Strange it goes horribly wrong.
* BlackMagic: Strange practices some during the Napoleonic Wars, using it to raise slain bandits from the dead as horrible, sapient zombies in order to get information from them. They are then burned "alive" after the living soldiers are too creeped out to be around them. As a rather dark HistoricalInJoke, this act is suggested to have inspired the artist Goya's production of hellish paintings of war and witchcraft.
* BloodKnight: [[spoiler:It can be inferred that the new champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart will be more enthusiastic about his duties than the previous one, seeing as Lascelles murdered Drawlight and the old Champion quite willingly.]]
* BloodMagic: As Mr. Norrell has hoarded all of the magical texts in existence, Jonathan is forced to resort to this, in addition to many other strange tactics, in his attempt to summon the fairy king.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The gentleman with the thistledown hair seems entirely unable to comprehend regular human morality or ethics, and seems to lack any kind of empathy. He's casually sadistic, yet also cannot comprehend racism.
* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
* TheCaligula: The gentleman with thistle-down hair.
* CassandraTruth: Vinculus, who alternates between giving true prophesies and being a charlatan. [[spoiler:He also happens to be ''a walking prophecy nobody can read''.]]
* ChangelingFantasy: The Raven King is a straight example, but somewhat subverted in the bittersweet story of Stephen Black.
* TheChessmaster: John Uskglass aka the Raven King.
* TheChosenOne: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, as prophesied by Vinculus.
* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: While in his death throes the gentleman with the thistle-down hair starts taking on what we are to assume is a terrifying true form. Given that all the rocks, trees, earth, water, and shadows in England are working together to kill him it doesn't make a difference.]]
* CrazyCatLady: Mrs Delgado.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Childermass manages to avoid most of the idiot balls being juggled by being the only one to act as if he's ever read a classic fairy story/ChangelingFantasy.
* DeadpanSnarker: Lascelles and Childermass.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Lost-hope, and most of Faerie by extension.
* DealWithTheDevil: Norrell makes a deal with the Gentleman to bring Lady Pole back from the dead in exchange for half the remaining years of her restored life. What he doesn't realize, is that [[LiteralGenie the Gentleman will take that time at present by imprisoning her in his Kingdom during the night rather than off the end of her life as Norrell assumes.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The French army and eventually [[spoiler: Norrell]] for Jonathan Strange.
* DoorStopper: Don't drop the hardcover version of this book on your foot.
* EncyclopediaExposita: Done a lot, with characters often debating the relative merits of the various books.
* EnigmaticMinion: Norrell's "Man of Business" Childermass is loyal but shows a surprising degree of autonomy and his motives aren't quite clear.
* TheFairFolk: They're so self centered that if it wasn't for their powerful magic they'd quickly end up extinct. It's debatable whether the Gentleman even understood the concept that other people might have different opinions. It's stated that Julius Caesar once served as judge of the Fairies, because at the time ''every Faerie alive'' stood accused of some crime or had close ties to an accused, so none were fit to stand in judgment.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The gentleman with thistle-down hair.
* FictionalColour: The gentleman with thistle-down hair puts Lady Pole's little finger in a box that is the 'color of heartache'
* FisherKing: [[spoiler:After Stephen Black kills the Gentleman and takes his place, he restores beauty and order to the Gentleman's kingdom of Lost-hope.]]
* FootnoteFever: And how! Some pages are actually more footnote than novel.
* FundamentallyFunnyFruit: The Jaywalking part of the ArsonMurderAndJaywalking of Strange's visions in Venice. Some of them are truly horrifying, of people with hollow faces and candles inside them. And then Strange starts to see pineapples everywhere to the point of this becoming a RunningGag.
* GeniusLoci: Absolutely everything! Every single tree, river, stone and even odder things like the dawn or various winds. All magic comes from making deals and alliances with various GeniusLoci either directly or, in the case of most English magicians, indirectly thanks to deals made by the Raven King. The fact most humans don't realise these things are intelligent and thus don't learn how to talk with them is a serious impediment to their magical ability.
* GentlemanWizard: The titular characters, as well as the magic societies, if you consider them wizards despite not actually doing any magic. Magic is considered the realm of the idle gentry, and Mr Norrel is not pleased to learn that Strange intends to teach a Jew.
* TheGhost: The Raven King is only seen in flashbacks [[spoiler:until he finally has a short but impressive cameo in the third to last chapter, where he talks to Childermass (who is made to forget right away) and brings Vinculus back to life. Strange and Norrell, who try to summon him, only get to see a [[FacelessEye giant raven eye]] instead.]]
* HereThereWereDragons: At the novel's opening, magic has faded from Britain (it's still studied, but not practiced) and great magicians and fairy servants are only a memory.
* IHaveManyNames: The Raven King, aka John Uskglass, aka the Black King of the North, aka "the nameless slave" (ironically), etc. This actually figures into the plot when [[spoiler: Strange and Norrell try to magically locate the Raven King but can't figure out which name to use in the spell. Norrell speculates that The Raven King did this on purpose, because names are such an important part of magic. Without his true name, it gets difficult to do anything related to the person you're trying to target.]]
* IKnowYourTrueName: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] [[spoiler: The end of the book is the result of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell thinking that they have figured out the Raven King's true name but being wrong.]]
* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
* InsubstantialIngredients
* ItsAllAboutMe: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Lascelles, though his was more of a Karmic FateWorseThanDeath]] and Lawrence Strange.
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].
* KickTheDog:
** Drawlight once threw a cat out a third-floor window.
** Mr. Norrell's treatment of Arabella at the book auction. Even in-story people thought that was pretty harsh.
* KlingonPromotion: The reason the gentleman with the thistle-down hair wants Stephen to kill the King of England. Stephen tries to explain it doesn't work this way. [[spoiler:But in the fairy world it does, so when Stephen kills the Gentleman, he gets his kingdom.]]
* LemonyNarrator
* TheMagicComesBack: The main point of the book.
* MysteriousPast:
** The Raven King, who was abducted by fairies as a child and ''somehow'' managed to become both their king and a magician bordering on PhysicalGod.
** Also Childermass. We don't even know why he puts up with being Norrell's servant. See EnigmaticMinion.
* NoNameGiven:
** The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
** [[WordOfGod The author has stated]] that her intention was for the Raven King to have NoNameGiven, but in the end this was ''inverted'' as [[IHaveManyNames he has many names]].
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Vinculus after the hanging.]] He even makes a point of telling [[spoiler: the gentleman with the thistle-down hair]] that he's pretty hard to kill, but of course the fairy doesn't listen.
* ObliviouslyEvil: The Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair has no idea that what he's doing to his human "friends" is anything but kind and generous.
* OopNorth: The Raven King formerly ruled Northern England as a separate kingdom from his capital at Newcastle. It's also stated that as a result of this the North of England is intrinsically more magical than the South. Both Norrell and Childermass are Northerners.
* OrderVersusChaos: The conservative Norrell represents order, with the more likable Strange being more allied with chaos, given his interest in fairies and willingness to move parts of Spain and Belgium while helping the British in the Napoleonic wars. However despite his personality Norrell's viewpoint is shown to have merit: magic is dangerous and should be handled with care. There is also a theme of reason versus madness. Strange deliberately goes mad for a while to gain depper insight.
* PetTheDog: It's hard to dislike Jonathan Strange after he is kind to a mother cat during one of the battles with the French.
* PoisonousFriend: The Gentleman's relationship toward Stephen Black.
* PossessionImpliesMastery: Subverted. Strange only has access to books ''about'' magic while Norrell owns all the books ''of'' magic, yet Strange proves himself to be Norrell's equal (if not his superior) in magical power. Also, both men are portrayed as having an inflated perception of their magical prowess which is minimal compared to earlier English magicians.
* PowerBornOfMadness: Insanity has several advantages to a magician, however there are other methods that don't require actual madness.
* ProphecyTwist
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially "distilled madness" out of the logic that since lunatics can see fairies, he needs to become insane to be able to see the gentleman with thistle-down hair (Strange's summoning spells worked, as the Gentleman himself admits to Stephen, but since the Gentleman did not wish to speak to Strange he remained invisible to him. The madness allowed Strange to see past the glamour).
* PullingHimselfTogether: Attempted by [[spoiler:the gentleman with the thistle-down hair]] after being defeated, but prevented by the magic of the land.
* RavensAndCrows
* RedOniBlueOni: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
* [[ShownTheirWork Shewn Their Work]]+PaintingTheMedium: The book is written in a faux 19th century style and uses historical persons and events. In universe, the text is annotated in order to give context to artifacts or persons mentioned in passing. The style is a first-rate emulation of JaneAusten's at many points, down to the variant spellings ("shew", "surprize", "chuse", and so on).
* SmugSnake: Lascelles, very much so.
* SpellBook: Many, both books ''about'' magic and books ''of'' magic. Norrell is hoarding the latter.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Magic is treated both as a mysterious force and an unusual field of study. The actual nuts and bolts of the magic are largely glossed over, since the story is character-driven, but we learn enough to know that it is really complicated.
** There are however significant hints as to how magic really works; and the Gentleman With Thistledown Hair even says so outright in a blink and you'll miss it moment. [[spoiler:Magic all comes down to making requests of genius loci (everything is a genius loci). The Gentleman With Thistledown Hair and some Aureate magicians cultivate friendships with genius loci; most English magicians make use of the Raven Kings treaties and alliances instead.]]
* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. All of them get bonus points for having [[BadassLongHair long hair]] and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
** It should be noted that magicians are expected to be TallDarkAndSnarky.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Norrell makes it his special project to make sure no one practices magic except him. Even the theoretical magicians who meet in York are apparently too much of a threat.
* ThoseTwoGuys: The fops Drawlight and Lascelles, at least at first. Honeyfoot and Segundus had a short run near the beginning.
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around LordByron.
* WhamEpisode: The final chapter of book two: "Arabella".
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: At the end of the novel, [[spoiler:Strange destroys his house before journeying into Faerie with Norrell. Technically, both Strange's and Norrell's houses become "lost", not destroyed. Sometimes people claim they can see Norrell's house from afar, while Strange's cat still finds Strange's house, slipping between the neighboring houses into another realm where humans can not follow]].
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: It's noted how fairies who have the most powerful magic often have the same level of sanity as humans in madhouses. On the other hand, Norrell and Strange weren't insane when they performed their greatest feats of magic, and neither were the Aureate magicians of the time of the Raven King.
* XMeetsY: The book has been described as "J.R.R. Tolkien meets JaneAusten", "HarryPotter for Adults", or "Harry Potter for History Buffs".
* XanatosRoulette: The Raven King, and how! [[spoiler: According to Vinculus, the events of the entire book were orchestrated by him]], he's able to run three countries at the same time, and he has enough magical power to rival Satan himself explicitly including spells to foretell the future.
* AYearAndADay: The Raven King vanished for that long, once.
----
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."''
Susanna Clarke's highly acclaimed novel about magicians and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] in [[AlternateHistory alternate]] [[GaslampFantasy Britain]] of the [[RegencyEngland Regency era]].
Centuries ago, magic thrived in England. John Uskglass, a human who had been raised in {{Faerie}}, waged war against England and took the northern half for his kingdom. Uskglass himself was the greatest magician to ever live, and his 300-year reign was the golden age of magic in both halves of England--the union of fairy power and human organization.
By 1806, England has been reunited, and magic is primarily the domain of scholars and theorists. The Learned Society of York Magicians sets out to discover ''why'' magic is no longer practiced in England, and finds that there is one practicing magician: the reclusive Mr. Norrell, who has very particular views on what is and is not proper for an English magician.
When Norrell goes public, this sets in motion a chain of events. The young landowner, Jonathan Strange, discovers that he has a natural talent for magic, and begins practicing as an amateur. He becomes Mr. Norrell's first and only student, but as Strange begins to rival Norrell in ability, their differences in opinion intensify until they become bitter rivals.
The activities of the two magicians, and the revival of interest in magic spurred by them, causes one fairy, the gentleman with thistle-down hair, to take a renewed interest in England. In particular, he becomes convinced that Jonathan Strange is his worst enemy ...
----
!!Contains examples of:
* AllMythsAreTrue: An interesting variation - only some myths are true, Merlin was explicitly stated to be true while magic mirrors are false (any mirror will do). The characters themselves aren't sure what myths are true.
* AntiHero: Strange ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type III/IV)]]'', Norrell ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type I)]]'', '''and''' Childermass ''[[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes (type II/III)]]'' qualify, in slightly different ways.
* AsYouKnow: Many of the footnotes reference facts "everyone" knows about the history of British magic.
* AxCrazy: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair. Though being a fairy his moods shift wildly and he can sometimes be talked out of murder. Sometimes. Do not count on this.
* BadassBookworm: Jonathan Strange.
* TheBeautifulElite: The fairies.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The Gentleman states this is the case to explain part of his regard for Stephen.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Played straight when Norrell deals with the gentleman with thistle-down hair but when he tries to invoke this against Strange it goes horribly wrong.
* BlackMagic: Strange practices some during the Napoleonic Wars, using it to raise slain bandits from the dead as horrible, sapient zombies in order to get information from them. They are then burned "alive" after the living soldiers are too creeped out to be around them. As a rather dark HistoricalInJoke, this act is suggested to have inspired the artist Goya's production of hellish paintings of war and witchcraft.
* BloodKnight: [[spoiler:It can be inferred that the new champion of the Castle of the Plucked Eye and Heart will be more enthusiastic about his duties than the previous one, seeing as Lascelles murdered Drawlight and the old Champion quite willingly.]]
* BloodMagic: As Mr. Norrell has hoarded all of the magical texts in existence, Jonathan is forced to resort to this, in addition to many other strange tactics, in his attempt to summon the fairy king.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The gentleman with the thistledown hair seems entirely unable to comprehend regular human morality or ethics, and seems to lack any kind of empathy. He's casually sadistic, yet also cannot comprehend racism.
* BrokenPedestal: Norrell means well, but it doesn't change that he's a secretive, mousy, banal and selfish man who is pretty much lacking in sympathetic traits and spends his time making sure he is the ''only'' magician in Britain, by first using his connections to the people in power to have other magicians (even theoretical scholars) outlawed, as well as using his magic to destroy all copies of the book about the Raven King that Strange has published after his estrangement with his former mentor.
* ByronicHero: Strange becomes one, then gets over it. Since Strange and LordByron are friends some nice [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In Jokes]] come from this. Strange explains the phase as something he picked up from Byron. Lord Byron himself actually isn't one because he's a secondary character.
* TheCaligula: The gentleman with thistle-down hair.
* CassandraTruth: Vinculus, who alternates between giving true prophesies and being a charlatan. [[spoiler:He also happens to be ''a walking prophecy nobody can read''.]]
* ChangelingFantasy: The Raven King is a straight example, but somewhat subverted in the bittersweet story of Stephen Black.
* TheChessmaster: John Uskglass aka the Raven King.
* TheChosenOne: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, as prophesied by Vinculus.
* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: While in his death throes the gentleman with the thistle-down hair starts taking on what we are to assume is a terrifying true form. Given that all the rocks, trees, earth, water, and shadows in England are working together to kill him it doesn't make a difference.]]
* CrazyCatLady: Mrs Delgado.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Childermass manages to avoid most of the idiot balls being juggled by being the only one to act as if he's ever read a classic fairy story/ChangelingFantasy.
* DeadpanSnarker: Lascelles and Childermass.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Lost-hope, and most of Faerie by extension.
* DealWithTheDevil: Norrell makes a deal with the Gentleman to bring Lady Pole back from the dead in exchange for half the remaining years of her restored life. What he doesn't realize, is that [[LiteralGenie the Gentleman will take that time at present by imprisoning her in his Kingdom during the night rather than off the end of her life as Norrell assumes.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The French army and eventually [[spoiler: Norrell]] for Jonathan Strange.
* DoorStopper: Don't drop the hardcover version of this book on your foot.
* EncyclopediaExposita: Done a lot, with characters often debating the relative merits of the various books.
* EnigmaticMinion: Norrell's "Man of Business" Childermass is loyal but shows a surprising degree of autonomy and his motives aren't quite clear.
* TheFairFolk: They're so self centered that if it wasn't for their powerful magic they'd quickly end up extinct. It's debatable whether the Gentleman even understood the concept that other people might have different opinions. It's stated that Julius Caesar once served as judge of the Fairies, because at the time ''every Faerie alive'' stood accused of some crime or had close ties to an accused, so none were fit to stand in judgment.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The gentleman with thistle-down hair.
* FictionalColour: The gentleman with thistle-down hair puts Lady Pole's little finger in a box that is the 'color of heartache'
* FisherKing: [[spoiler:After Stephen Black kills the Gentleman and takes his place, he restores beauty and order to the Gentleman's kingdom of Lost-hope.]]
* FootnoteFever: And how! Some pages are actually more footnote than novel.
* FundamentallyFunnyFruit: The Jaywalking part of the ArsonMurderAndJaywalking of Strange's visions in Venice. Some of them are truly horrifying, of people with hollow faces and candles inside them. And then Strange starts to see pineapples everywhere to the point of this becoming a RunningGag.
* GeniusLoci: Absolutely everything! Every single tree, river, stone and even odder things like the dawn or various winds. All magic comes from making deals and alliances with various GeniusLoci either directly or, in the case of most English magicians, indirectly thanks to deals made by the Raven King. The fact most humans don't realise these things are intelligent and thus don't learn how to talk with them is a serious impediment to their magical ability.
* GentlemanWizard: The titular characters, as well as the magic societies, if you consider them wizards despite not actually doing any magic. Magic is considered the realm of the idle gentry, and Mr Norrel is not pleased to learn that Strange intends to teach a Jew.
* TheGhost: The Raven King is only seen in flashbacks [[spoiler:until he finally has a short but impressive cameo in the third to last chapter, where he talks to Childermass (who is made to forget right away) and brings Vinculus back to life. Strange and Norrell, who try to summon him, only get to see a [[FacelessEye giant raven eye]] instead.]]
* HereThereWereDragons: At the novel's opening, magic has faded from Britain (it's still studied, but not practiced) and great magicians and fairy servants are only a memory.
* IHaveManyNames: The Raven King, aka John Uskglass, aka the Black King of the North, aka "the nameless slave" (ironically), etc. This actually figures into the plot when [[spoiler: Strange and Norrell try to magically locate the Raven King but can't figure out which name to use in the spell. Norrell speculates that The Raven King did this on purpose, because names are such an important part of magic. Without his true name, it gets difficult to do anything related to the person you're trying to target.]]
* IKnowYourTrueName: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] [[spoiler: The end of the book is the result of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell thinking that they have figured out the Raven King's true name but being wrong.]]
* InSpiteOfANail: In spite of the fact that Northern England was formerly a separate country, ruled by a magician-king for 300 years, England and Europe at the time of the novel are almost exactly as they were in history. Sir Creator/WalterScott, LewisCarroll, Francisco Goya, and LordByron all show up, and are shown or implied to be just as they were in RealLife. However, Wales does not seem to exist.
* InsubstantialIngredients
* ItsAllAboutMe: The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Lascelles, though his was more of a Karmic FateWorseThanDeath]] and Lawrence Strange.
* KarmaHoudini: Norrell. His usual JerkAss tendencies aside, he [[spoiler: magically destroyed all the copies of Strange's book. Earlier, it was mentioned that a man was hanged for book-murder. Norrell has seemingly committed many, many counts of a capital crime, but despite ticking off enough of Strange's friend to the point where they're considering a ''duel'', Norrell is never prosecuted for anything more serious than common theft or fraud]].
* KickTheDog:
** Drawlight once threw a cat out a third-floor window.
** Mr. Norrell's treatment of Arabella at the book auction. Even in-story people thought that was pretty harsh.
* KlingonPromotion: The reason the gentleman with the thistle-down hair wants Stephen to kill the King of England. Stephen tries to explain it doesn't work this way. [[spoiler:But in the fairy world it does, so when Stephen kills the Gentleman, he gets his kingdom.]]
* LemonyNarrator
* TheMagicComesBack: The main point of the book.
* MysteriousPast:
** The Raven King, who was abducted by fairies as a child and ''somehow'' managed to become both their king and a magician bordering on PhysicalGod.
** Also Childermass. We don't even know why he puts up with being Norrell's servant. See EnigmaticMinion.
* NoNameGiven:
** The gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
** [[WordOfGod The author has stated]] that her intention was for the Raven King to have NoNameGiven, but in the end this was ''inverted'' as [[IHaveManyNames he has many names]].
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Vinculus after the hanging.]] He even makes a point of telling [[spoiler: the gentleman with the thistle-down hair]] that he's pretty hard to kill, but of course the fairy doesn't listen.
* ObliviouslyEvil: The Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair has no idea that what he's doing to his human "friends" is anything but kind and generous.
* OopNorth: The Raven King formerly ruled Northern England as a separate kingdom from his capital at Newcastle. It's also stated that as a result of this the North of England is intrinsically more magical than the South. Both Norrell and Childermass are Northerners.
* OrderVersusChaos: The conservative Norrell represents order, with the more likable Strange being more allied with chaos, given his interest in fairies and willingness to move parts of Spain and Belgium while helping the British in the Napoleonic wars. However despite his personality Norrell's viewpoint is shown to have merit: magic is dangerous and should be handled with care. There is also a theme of reason versus madness. Strange deliberately goes mad for a while to gain depper insight.
* PetTheDog: It's hard to dislike Jonathan Strange after he is kind to a mother cat during one of the battles with the French.
* PoisonousFriend: The Gentleman's relationship toward Stephen Black.
* PossessionImpliesMastery: Subverted. Strange only has access to books ''about'' magic while Norrell owns all the books ''of'' magic, yet Strange proves himself to be Norrell's equal (if not his superior) in magical power. Also, both men are portrayed as having an inflated perception of their magical prowess which is minimal compared to earlier English magicians.
* PowerBornOfMadness: Insanity has several advantages to a magician, however there are other methods that don't require actual madness.
* ProphecyTwist
* PsychoSerum: Strange deliberately drinks essentially "distilled madness" out of the logic that since lunatics can see fairies, he needs to become insane to be able to see the gentleman with thistle-down hair (Strange's summoning spells worked, as the Gentleman himself admits to Stephen, but since the Gentleman did not wish to speak to Strange he remained invisible to him. The madness allowed Strange to see past the glamour).
* PullingHimselfTogether: Attempted by [[spoiler:the gentleman with the thistle-down hair]] after being defeated, but prevented by the magic of the land.
* RavensAndCrows
* RedOniBlueOni: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
* [[ShownTheirWork Shewn Their Work]]+PaintingTheMedium: The book is written in a faux 19th century style and uses historical persons and events. In universe, the text is annotated in order to give context to artifacts or persons mentioned in passing. The style is a first-rate emulation of JaneAusten's at many points, down to the variant spellings ("shew", "surprize", "chuse", and so on).
* SmugSnake: Lascelles, very much so.
* SpellBook: Many, both books ''about'' magic and books ''of'' magic. Norrell is hoarding the latter.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Magic is treated both as a mysterious force and an unusual field of study. The actual nuts and bolts of the magic are largely glossed over, since the story is character-driven, but we learn enough to know that it is really complicated.
** There are however significant hints as to how magic really works; and the Gentleman With Thistledown Hair even says so outright in a blink and you'll miss it moment. [[spoiler:Magic all comes down to making requests of genius loci (everything is a genius loci). The Gentleman With Thistledown Hair and some Aureate magicians cultivate friendships with genius loci; most English magicians make use of the Raven Kings treaties and alliances instead.]]
* TallDarkAndHandsome: The Raven King, and many of his fairy warriors. Childermass is also tall and dark but [[TallDarkAndSnarky snarky]] rather than good-looking. All of them get bonus points for having [[BadassLongHair long hair]] and wearing [[BadassLongcoat long black coats]].
** It should be noted that magicians are expected to be TallDarkAndSnarky.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Norrell makes it his special project to make sure no one practices magic except him. Even the theoretical magicians who meet in York are apparently too much of a threat.
* ThoseTwoGuys: The fops Drawlight and Lascelles, at least at first. Honeyfoot and Segundus had a short run near the beginning.
* TookALevelInBadass: The heartbreak of [[spoiler: his wife's death]] coupled with the Gentleman's attempts to drive him crazy allow Strange to turn from a nice [[LordPeterWimsey Peter Wimsey]]ish guy into a powerful and frightening Byronic BadAss. This is kind of lampshaded, as after [[spoiler:rescuing his wife from Fairyland]], he becomes a bit more like himself and attributes his earlier behavior to spending too much time around LordByron.
* WhamEpisode: The final chapter of book two: "Arabella".
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: At the end of the novel, [[spoiler:Strange destroys his house before journeying into Faerie with Norrell. Technically, both Strange's and Norrell's houses become "lost", not destroyed. Sometimes people claim they can see Norrell's house from afar, while Strange's cat still finds Strange's house, slipping between the neighboring houses into another realm where humans can not follow]].
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: It's noted how fairies who have the most powerful magic often have the same level of sanity as humans in madhouses. On the other hand, Norrell and Strange weren't insane when they performed their greatest feats of magic, and neither were the Aureate magicians of the time of the Raven King.
* XMeetsY: The book has been described as "J.R.R. Tolkien meets JaneAusten", "HarryPotter for Adults", or "Harry Potter for History Buffs".
* XanatosRoulette: The Raven King, and how! [[spoiler: According to Vinculus, the events of the entire book were orchestrated by him]], he's able to run three countries at the same time, and he has enough magical power to rival Satan himself explicitly including spells to foretell the future.
* AYearAndADay: The Raven King vanished for that long, once.
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