The Future is a Trilogy; The Past is a Series

Among Others. Jo Walton December 5, 2011

This book is a fantasy, but only barely. It is really more of a coming-of-age story of a young woman who has been through some serious trauma before the story starts, and who is trying to find her way in the world.

The story is written as entries in a journal. Fifteen-year-old Mori has recently been uprooted from her extended family in Wales and has been sent to live with the father she’s never met. He, in turn, has sent her off to an English boarding school. The story behind all of that is revealed very slowly through the book. All we know at the start is that there was some sort of serious accident that left Mori with a damaged leg. And that she uses books, particularly science fiction and fantasy, as a way of coping and escaping. And we know that magic is somehow a part of her life, magic and fairies.

The story is very moving. Although I hadn’t read many of the books that Mori mentions in her journal I could very much relate to the role that they play in her life. I suspect that anyone who has read the same books would relate even more, and would pick up on some references that I’m sure I missed. Mori has been through a lot of trauma and possibly abuse, and she is also an outsider at the school she is attending. Through most of the book it would be very easy to interpret her belief in magic and fairies as just another thing she is using to escape from her life.  I liked that aspect of the fantasy elements in the book.  A lot of what moves the story forward is the slow revelation of both the real and the fantastic, until they come together into a climax at the end.

This is not a book full of action and excitement, or of Harry Potter type magic. But it’s a lovely read for anyone who has lived a life that was shaped by books.