What non-Tolkien 📔book is like Lord of the Rings, and should be read?

[Keva]

Recently I found and read a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel. I don't know if it's been suggested on here before now, I just saw your original post. But, as a lover of Middle-earth and an extensive reader, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

My copy is 1006 pages long. Set between the years of 1806-1817 AD in England, the book explores themes of magic, English identity, and the communion between the Englishman and the land of his birth. It contains strange and wonderful magic, amoral fairies, and intelligent characters. One never feels let down by the story, nor does anything feel contrived. It is a tale spun by an author who took great pains to get the language and setting just right, who loved her native land and wove that love through every scene, creating vivid descriptions and enthralling personalities. Not a scene is wasted. No filler is to be found here, every moment takes another step towards the final climax of the book.

I have already read this book three times, and will continue reading it again and again and again. I hope it will appeal to you as well. I hope it appeals to many, many people.

Driven by your words I tried Gunslinger
It was awful...

 

[WatcherWraith]

Driven by your words I tried Gunslinger
It was awful...

Gunslinger??? What is that?

 

[Radaghast]

Gunslinger??? What is that?

A book by Stephen King. The first in his The Dark Tower series.

 

[WatcherWraith]

A book by Stephen King. The first in his The Dark Tower series.

Thank you. I've never read Stephen King. I guess Keva must have clicked on my comment by mistake.

 

[Deimos]

Recently I found and read a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel. I don't know if it's been suggested on here before now, I just saw your original post. But, as a lover of Middle-earth and an extensive reader, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

My copy is 1006 pages long. Set between the years of 1806-1817 AD in England, the book explores themes of magic, English identity, and the communion between the Englishman and the land of his birth. It contains strange and wonderful magic, amoral fairies, and intelligent characters. One never feels let down by the story, nor does anything feel contrived. It is a tale spun by an author who took great pains to get the language and setting just right, who loved her native land and wove that love through every scene, creating vivid descriptions and enthralling personalities. Not a scene is wasted. No filler is to be found here, every moment takes another step towards the final climax of the book.

I have already read this book three times, and will continue reading it again and again and again. I hope it will appeal to you as well. I hope it appeals to many, many people.

That definitely rings a bell.
I also can't recall if I read about it here but I know I made a note of it and put it...somewhere.

 

[Ithilethiel]

Recently I found and read a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel. I don't know if it's been suggested on here before now, I just saw your original post. But, as a lover of Middle-earth and an extensive reader, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

My copy is 1006 pages long. Set between the years of 1806-1817 AD in England, the book explores themes of magic, English identity, and the communion between the Englishman and the land of his birth. It contains strange and wonderful magic, amoral fairies, and intelligent characters. One never feels let down by the story, nor does anything feel contrived. It is a tale spun by an author who took great pains to get the language and setting just right, who loved her native land and wove that love through every scene, creating vivid descriptions and enthralling personalities. Not a scene is wasted. No filler is to be found here, every moment takes another step towards the final climax of the book.

I have already read this book three times, and will continue reading it again and again and again. I hope it will appeal to you as well. I hope it appeals to many, many people.

I’m glad you enjoyed that book but I could not get through it. I tried. I truly wanted to like the book but I finally gave up on it, something I rarely ever do but life is just too short. My problem with Clarke’s writing is that she abandons her reader and the agency of her characters. The book starts out with so much promise that I couldn’t wait to pick it back up. But then suddenly when Mr. Norrell moves to London everything changes. The character, once a dynamic master of magic as she presents him in the first chapters, suddenly becomes petulant and petty to the point where I could have cared less what became of him or the magic. Clarke then proceeds to write in so many characters and endless plot lines whose story arcs also go nowhere I began skimming, skipping ahead. I kept waiting for something, anything of interest to happen but it never really does. It's like trying to swim in a vat of molasses. The story just drones on and on. I could never find the thread that connected it all together. I finally just gave up and deleted the book from my Kindle. Maybe she pulls it all together in the last 100 pages but that’s asking a lot from a reader, to wade through 900+ droll pages for a payoff. No criticism to your taste. Clarke is just not for me.

 

[WatcherWraith]

I’m glad you enjoyed that book but I could not get through it. I tried. I truly wanted to like the book but I finally gave up on it, something I rarely ever do but life is just too short. My problem with Clarke’s writing is that she abandons her reader and the agency of her characters. The book starts out with so much promise that I couldn’t wait to pick it back up. But then suddenly when Mr. Norrell moves to London everything changes. The character, once a dynamic master of magic as she presents him in the first chapters, suddenly becomes petulant and petty to the point where I could have cared less what became of him or the magic. Clarke then proceeds to write in so many characters and endless plot lines whose story arcs also go nowhere I began skimming, skipping ahead. I kept waiting for something, anything of interest to happen but it never really does. It's like trying to swim in a vat of molasses. The story just drones on and on. I could never find the thread that connected it all together. I finally just gave up and deleted the book from my Kindle. Maybe she pulls it all together in the last 100 pages but that’s asking a lot from a reader, to wade through 900+ droll pages for a payoff. No criticism to your taste. Clarke is just not for me.

If it wasn't to your taste, I won't try to convince you otherwise.