I’ve just finished reading Jo Walton’s Among Others—and it was “brill.”

As you may recall from my “about to read” post, Among Others is about Mori (Morwenna) Phelps, who sees fairies and was lamed in a battle against her witch mother that also killed her twin sister, Mor (Morganna.) As a result of these events, Mori is first sent to live with her father, and then to boarding school in England, where she takes solace in reading SFF.

The Among Others story comprises several interwoven strands. There is the backstory of Mor, Mori, their mother, and the relationship with the fairies—which also continues into the present of the story as Mori has to both come to terms with the loss of Mor and finally deal with her mother’s influence. Among Others is also a YA story of belonging and coming-of-age, in which Mori must forge a new life with her father and his family, as well as within the boarding school environment, while continuing to sustain her Welsh ties and magical heritage. Last, but by no means least, the novel is a “praise song” to Science Fiction-Fantasy literature and SFF fandom—the aspect of the story which seems most autobiographical given Jo Walton’s background and not least that, like Mori, she is lame and uses a cane.

The accompishment of the story is the magical way in which Walton weaves these threads of story together into a moving and enagaging read. I particularly like the way in which the backstory is so powerful and integral to the story, but defies the expectation that it may be retold as a flashback or rehashed at all, in fact—and this works. The 1979 milieu of school, Mori’s relationships with her respective families, and refuge in reading are also brought together into a seamless whole. And I particularly like Walton’s take on the fairies and the way in which they and their magic interact with the everyday world.

Hence my conclusion that, like Mori’s opinion of so many of the books she reads, Among Others is “brill.”

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Additional Information:

I read the US Trade paperback edition, 302 pp, of Among Others, published by TOR, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.