Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell

This highly regarded novel is something magical: the story of two magician friends -- both who want to restart English magic after a magic-less dormancy of several hundred years -- who are pushed to conflict by circumstance. It's a conflict that may destroy each magician, England, and the very world itself.The time and setting is unique: an alternate Napoleonic period with the setting taking place in the English countryside among the country estates of the upperclass. It's a fantasy version of a Jane Austen novel, with all the eloquence of language and manners. Quite simply, there is nothing really out there that's like it, either before or since the book was released.BBC recently created a well-received TV mini series based on the book. I quite liked it myself and was impressed with how well the book was made into TV. Still, there is a lot in the book that is left out (it is a book full of pedantic, yet fascinating details that a movie or TV series could not possible hope to capture). The audiobook performance by British narrator Simon Prebble with his upper class English accent and magnificent rendering of the source material is outstanding. Prebble imitates the upper-class British manners perfectly in his voicing, capturing Jonathan Strange's rash impetuosity and Mr. Norrell's neurotic tendencies all the while maintaining the posh courtly manner of a upper class gentleman. Perhaps this is no surprise since Prebble has narrated many of the classics of literature such as Dickens, Vern, and HG Wells.Listen to a sample of Simon Prebble's voice