Among Others

Jo Walton writes science fiction and fantasy novels and reads a lot and eats great food. It worries her slightly that this is so exactly what she always wanted to do when she grew up. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montreal.

Among Others is a wonder and a joy. Jeff Vandermeer, New York Times If you love SF and fantasy, if reading it formed your teen years, if you do remember the magic you used to do, if you remember the absolute joy of first discovering those books, then read this. -- Robin Hobb Funny, acute, and impassioned -- Ursula K. Le Guin A hymnal for the clever and odd - an inspiration and a lifeline to anyone who has ever felt in the world, but not of it. Cory Doctorow Most fantasies evade opportunities to make the impossible plausible, to give magic accountability in a realistic setting and moral and emotional weight in a modern novel. Jo Walton accepts the double challenge and meets it with courage and skill ... Among Others is a funny, thoughtful, acute and absorbing story all the way through, but in the magic parts it is more than that. -- Ursula K. Le Guin Guardian Possibly earning itself the Book of the Year title is Jo Walton's thought provoking Among Others, which stays with you for a long time after reading. It is the story of a young girl from a magical family who is sent to a mundane boarding school and, through her discovery of classic SF novels, has her mind and world expanded. Independent on Sunday A lovely story, unlike anything I've ever read before: funny, touching, and gently magical. -- Patrick Rothfuss There are the books you want to give all your friends, and there are the books you wish you could go back and give your younger self. And then there's the rare book, like Jo Walton's Among Others, that's both. io9.com Among Others is about a young girl brought up in a magical family who is sent to a mundane, non-magical school; a captivatingly told mirror image of Harry Potter. The Guardian I don't believe I've seen, either in fiction or in memoir, as brilliant and tone-perfect an account of what discovering SF and fantasy can mean to its young readers... Remarkable. -- Gary K. Wolfe Locus Beautifully crafted... Among Others calls to those who desire a wild, magical world in place of the one they have but eventually learn that their own lives are the greatest story of all. Bloomsbury Review Compelling... Never deigning to transcend the genre to which it is clearly a love letter, this outstanding (and entirely teen-appropriate) tale draws its strength from a solid foundation of sense-of-wonder and what-if. Publishers Weekly, starred review