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Among Others cover art

Among Others

By: Jo Walton
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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Summary

Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.

Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science-fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled - and her twin sister dead.

Fleeing to her father, whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England - a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off.

Combining elements of autobiography with flights of imagination in the manner of novels like Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude, this is potentially a breakout book for an author whose genius has already been hailed by peers like Kelly Link, Sarah Weinman, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

©2010 Jo Walton (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

  • Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2012
  • Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2011

“Walton succeeds admirably. Her novel is a wonder and a joy.” (The New York Times)

"Katherine Kellgren’s Welsh accent, with its lyrical cadences, suggests that audio may be the most authentic way to experience this 2011 winner of the Nebula Award." ( Audiofile)

What listeners say about Among Others

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A spectacular ode to science fiction

This book was one of my favorites to listen to since I started my audible subscription. The narrator is wonderful, and the welsh accent makes such a difference (an accent I know I wouldn't have been able to keep in my head if I'd read the book instead of listened to it). The story is complicated to explain, but not complicated to listen to, and the book is addictive in the best way.



And for a fan of science fiction, it was like a hot bath and a comforting meal - even though the main character Mori read few of the same authors as I did, the feeling was the same, and it reminded me of how much love I felt for reading when I was a teenager, the way I devoured books and how much they impacted my life and my imagination.



Just a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Jo
  • 02-12-13

Loved it

I wanted a nice gentle read with a bit of fantasy thrown in and thats what I got. I so loved this book and will listen to it again and again. I loved the accent, which was wonderful and left me wishing for more. It takes you through some of the issues faced by young girls as they enter womanhood especially those that are a bit different.

It entwines the real bland and everyday reality with that of magic mysticism and escapism. It questions if one creates the other and is it reasonable or even advisable to try and control these – after all who wants to live with puppets or to become one.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Listen is good but reading may be better

I can't decide what to make of it. I liked the book talk - the SF hints, bits and pieces. I also liked Mori. I did not like the story though. In fact, I don't think it really is a story. It could have been one but never gets to it. When ( at last ) something finally happen, it somehow belongs to another story, not this one.

I really loved the narrator. She is excellent. Her welsh accent is wonderful.

I think maybe I would like to read the book because then I'll have all the titles, quotes and nice literary stuff to go back to.


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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Listen is good but reading may be better

I can't decide what to make of it. I liked the book talk - the SF hints, bits and pieces. I also liked Mori. I did not like the story though. In fact, I don't think it really is a story. It could have been one but never gets to it. When ( at last ) something finally happen, it somehow belongs to another story, not this one.

I really loved the narrator. She is excellent. Her welsh accent is wonderful.

I think maybe I would like to read the book because then I'll have all the titles, quotes and nice literary stuff to go back to.


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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant narration for a beautiful story

I don't normally write reviews but I wanted to congratulate both the writer and the narrator.

The story is a wonderfully gentle story that unfolds in a way that fits so well with the characters. There is a lot of sci-fi geekery in the story as well and in many ways this adds a wonderful colour to the underlying world that we only ever really see in glimpses.

The narration really makes it stand out. The Welsh accent and the changes that occur over the book to the main characters voice because of circumstance are so well done. I imagine many might find it difficult but the overall narration brought the characters to life in a way many audiobooks really lack. A proper standout performance.

I know I will come back to this as a comfort audiobook. It is a gem.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator's Welsh accent was learned in Jamaica!

So in Googling to verify that 'yes, this narrator is not native to any part of Wales' I discovered she's recently passed.
In the spirit of of not speaking ill of the dead, I shall simply say that if you're from the UK/Ireland and have actually heard a real Welsh accent then you will possibly struggle to listen to this. I winced. Quite a lot.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

this book is utterly amazing and I love it. not sure I can particularly describe what it's about and there's a lot of triggery stuff with boarding school and family and mothers in particular but I just related so much to so many bits. if you're at all a person who sees magic in the world I think you will love it too

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

Corwin's voice? Mor voice is so simple and clear, I would not want to get in her way.. :) and Walton here express better than I ever realized my love and passion to books. So precise!
Kellgren Welsh accent is a perfect fit , the audio book could not have been complete without it

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A well written mundane and pointless story

The story really could have been a short story, but is stretched out in this novel.
It is well written, but unless you enjoy a slice of life (despite a few fairies) it seems really pointless.

The narrator speaks in a quite thick dialect, but with clear pronunciation. It is very fitting for the setting of the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I had not expected this to be so compelling

If you could sum up Among Others in three words, what would they be?

For SF addicts

What was one of the most memorable moments of Among Others?

The realisation of the heroine that her local library runs a weekly book club for SF enthusiasts; or perhaps when she finds out about inter-library loans.

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

I was initially put off by her Welsh intonation but after a few minutes this became quite addictive and I think she has added a whole new human dimension to what was already a very compelling read (as is often the case with first-class narrators).

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It's a slow-burn read, as the heroine is not one given to laying all her cards on the table. The impact of the book cannot be laid at the door of any one episode; it's the entirety of the book that is moving.

Any additional comments?

The more SF and fantasy you have read, the more you will get out of this book. One quibble: in a book set in 1979-80 with a heroine whose head is full of Tolkien, Niven, Heinlein, Le Guin, Delany and Zelazy (among others), even if she is cooped up in a girls' boarding school, how come she doesn't seem to have heard of Alien?

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