--- product_id: 5283893 title: "Among Others: A Novel" price: "12852 Ft" currency: HUF in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.hu/products/5283893-among-others-a-novel store_origin: HU region: Hungary --- # Among Others: A Novel **Price:** 12852 Ft **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Among Others: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** 12852 Ft with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hu](https://www.desertcart.hu/products/5283893-among-others-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Winner of the 2011 Nebula Award for Best Novel Winner of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel 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. One of School Library Journal 's Best Adult Books 4 Teens titles of 2011 One of io9's best Science Fiction & Fantasy books of the year 2011 Review: "If you love books enough, book will love you back." - This is an absolutely lovely novel. It helps that it's ensconced in a few of my favorite genres: it's SF, it's a school story, it's a family story, it's about books, and it's about why life--with its incomparable luxuries of new books, inter-library loans, book clubs, and the occasional kiss--is worth living. Mori is a delight as a narrator (should Walton write sequels, particularly in this same voice, I'd snatch them up in an instant)--she's straightforward, enthusiastic about books, often confused about people, and she's wonderfully funny--sometimes intentionally, sometimes not (I'm partial to her depiction of her aunts, who are either evil or simply English, and Mori, very happily Welsh, can't tell the difference). I would think that any reader would recognize himself/herself instantly in Mori--any SF reader in particular, of course, but really, anyone who has ever sorted out their education or their love life by referring to their books rather than their friends ought to love Mori, who very practically appeals to Heinlein for a diversified education and to Delany for a freer sense of sexuality. I've seen reviews saying that nothing happens in this novel until the end, but that simply isn't true: those reviewers are just looking at the story of a book-obsessed girl in a boarding school as if it isn't one worth telling, as if it's just a lengthy prelude to something exciting that will happen with the fairies. I really disagree: there's story all throughout the book, it's just quieter, more domestic, and more like real life. Mori wants books and connections with other people, and there is suspense that builds through various scenes about how she will get these things, or respond to them, even down to the basic level of what she'll think about a particular book: I spent many pages anxiously waiting for her to read Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (a longtime favorite, and actually the book that Among Others reminds me of the most--I think if you like one, you'll like the other) and discover that it was not, in fact, historical fiction about sieges. (That's admittedly more of a personal pleasure on my part, but there are also the questions of how she can make friends, how much effect her magic has on the world, and how much power her aunts have over her father, for example.) I predict that I will reread this book until it falls apart, and I think everyone else should do the same. Review: Fascinating psychological study and coming of age tale utilizing 1970s sci-fi novels - It's an odd book - the writing style is in some respects reminiscent of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, except in first person. Told completely in the voice and point of view of a 15 year old girl in Wales and Shropshire, during the late 1970s and early 1980s (circa 1979-1980). It's written in "diary" format, chapters are dated, and often not much longer than a sentence or two. And for a while it feels like nothing much is happening, since the story is more of an internalized or psychological narrative than an external action packed page turner. Fans of Harry Potter will most likely be bored. After a traumatic incident with her insane mother, Mori has run away from home to live with her estranged father and his three sisters, who she compares to Shakespeare's three hags in Macbeth. In reality they are middle class aristocrats, living on an estate in Shropshire, holding teas, watching telly, and ordering their somewhat bookish and rather wimpy brother about. They send Mori off to boarding school - a prestigious all girls academy. Feeling somewhat alienated and cut off from her land, Wales, and her magic, Mori who was crippled in the incident, struggles to fit in. Barely making friends. Until one day she spins a bit of magic - and a friendly librarian invites her to join his science fiction book club. Mori is convinced that the magic spell she spun to protect herself from her mother and attract "friends" resulted in this welcome turn of events. When in truth, it may well just be an ordinary chain of events - Mori devoring science fiction novels in the library, ordering more, until the librarians notice and feel the need to encourage her love in new ways. If you are a librarian or adore 1970s science fiction, this is your book. It is no surprise it won the Hugo and Nebula - the book is in some respects a homage to the sci-fi novels of that period. Mori discusses at length everything from Tolkien to Silverberg, Samueal Delany, Roger Zelzany, Marion Zimmer Bradely, Ursula Le Quinn, McCaffrey, CJ Cherryh (although less so), CS Lewis, Stephen R. Donaldson (which she does not like - mainly because the publisher had the audacity to compare it to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings), Robert Heinlein, Issac Asmiov, Harlan Ellison, Arthur C. Clark, and Philip K. Dick. If you are a sci-fi geek and adore these novels - you'll enjoy this novel. If you aren't, you may become a bit lost. I'm half tempted to state that this is a book that may only appeal to bibliophiles..and possibly science fiction librarians and academics. There's also some discussion of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato. Very little happens in the novel - it's not plotty. And the plot is rather simplestic - basically a young girl has to overcome the negative influences of various women in her life. It may turn off or offend feminists or not. The women are admittedly stronger, and the men portrayed as a bit weak. Also there's a bit of a gender flip, in that the women manipulate and use magic, are in some aspects aggressive, while the men are nurturing and supportive. It's a fascinating psychological study though - with all sorts of interesting coming of age metaphors. Also the author plays around with the concept of magic and fairies in an innovative and interesting manner - that I've seldom seen done. The fairies may or may not actually be fairies - it remains unclear. Mori calls them fairies for lack of a better name. They are various shapes and sizes, and often intangible. Also magic - tends to work indirectly...as a sort of causal chain of events. Difficult to explain, yet more realistic. A scientific take on magic as opposed to a fantastical one. Slow to start, but ultimately compelling and haunting. It sticks in your mind long after you read it. Mori wonders at various points if there is a downside of escaping completely into books. If she is shutting herself off? Yet it is through her books that she finds others like herself, and evolves. The act of reading - expands her consciousness and allows her to let go of her childhood, and past grievances. In some respects, the science fiction novels she devours ultimately heal her. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #2,292,399 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #237 in Magical Realism #525 in Contemporary Fantasy (Books) #4,129 in Coming of Age Fantasy (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,180 Reviews | ## Images ![Among Others: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71j7TVYtGgL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "If you love books enough, book will love you back." *by L***N on March 7, 2011* This is an absolutely lovely novel. It helps that it's ensconced in a few of my favorite genres: it's SF, it's a school story, it's a family story, it's about books, and it's about why life--with its incomparable luxuries of new books, inter-library loans, book clubs, and the occasional kiss--is worth living. Mori is a delight as a narrator (should Walton write sequels, particularly in this same voice, I'd snatch them up in an instant)--she's straightforward, enthusiastic about books, often confused about people, and she's wonderfully funny--sometimes intentionally, sometimes not (I'm partial to her depiction of her aunts, who are either evil or simply English, and Mori, very happily Welsh, can't tell the difference). I would think that any reader would recognize himself/herself instantly in Mori--any SF reader in particular, of course, but really, anyone who has ever sorted out their education or their love life by referring to their books rather than their friends ought to love Mori, who very practically appeals to Heinlein for a diversified education and to Delany for a freer sense of sexuality. I've seen reviews saying that nothing happens in this novel until the end, but that simply isn't true: those reviewers are just looking at the story of a book-obsessed girl in a boarding school as if it isn't one worth telling, as if it's just a lengthy prelude to something exciting that will happen with the fairies. I really disagree: there's story all throughout the book, it's just quieter, more domestic, and more like real life. Mori wants books and connections with other people, and there is suspense that builds through various scenes about how she will get these things, or respond to them, even down to the basic level of what she'll think about a particular book: I spent many pages anxiously waiting for her to read Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (a longtime favorite, and actually the book that Among Others reminds me of the most--I think if you like one, you'll like the other) and discover that it was not, in fact, historical fiction about sieges. (That's admittedly more of a personal pleasure on my part, but there are also the questions of how she can make friends, how much effect her magic has on the world, and how much power her aunts have over her father, for example.) I predict that I will reread this book until it falls apart, and I think everyone else should do the same. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating psychological study and coming of age tale utilizing 1970s sci-fi novels *by C***D on March 2, 2015* It's an odd book - the writing style is in some respects reminiscent of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, except in first person. Told completely in the voice and point of view of a 15 year old girl in Wales and Shropshire, during the late 1970s and early 1980s (circa 1979-1980). It's written in "diary" format, chapters are dated, and often not much longer than a sentence or two. And for a while it feels like nothing much is happening, since the story is more of an internalized or psychological narrative than an external action packed page turner. Fans of Harry Potter will most likely be bored. After a traumatic incident with her insane mother, Mori has run away from home to live with her estranged father and his three sisters, who she compares to Shakespeare's three hags in Macbeth. In reality they are middle class aristocrats, living on an estate in Shropshire, holding teas, watching telly, and ordering their somewhat bookish and rather wimpy brother about. They send Mori off to boarding school - a prestigious all girls academy. Feeling somewhat alienated and cut off from her land, Wales, and her magic, Mori who was crippled in the incident, struggles to fit in. Barely making friends. Until one day she spins a bit of magic - and a friendly librarian invites her to join his science fiction book club. Mori is convinced that the magic spell she spun to protect herself from her mother and attract "friends" resulted in this welcome turn of events. When in truth, it may well just be an ordinary chain of events - Mori devoring science fiction novels in the library, ordering more, until the librarians notice and feel the need to encourage her love in new ways. If you are a librarian or adore 1970s science fiction, this is your book. It is no surprise it won the Hugo and Nebula - the book is in some respects a homage to the sci-fi novels of that period. Mori discusses at length everything from Tolkien to Silverberg, Samueal Delany, Roger Zelzany, Marion Zimmer Bradely, Ursula Le Quinn, McCaffrey, CJ Cherryh (although less so), CS Lewis, Stephen R. Donaldson (which she does not like - mainly because the publisher had the audacity to compare it to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings), Robert Heinlein, Issac Asmiov, Harlan Ellison, Arthur C. Clark, and Philip K. Dick. If you are a sci-fi geek and adore these novels - you'll enjoy this novel. If you aren't, you may become a bit lost. I'm half tempted to state that this is a book that may only appeal to bibliophiles..and possibly science fiction librarians and academics. There's also some discussion of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato. Very little happens in the novel - it's not plotty. And the plot is rather simplestic - basically a young girl has to overcome the negative influences of various women in her life. It may turn off or offend feminists or not. The women are admittedly stronger, and the men portrayed as a bit weak. Also there's a bit of a gender flip, in that the women manipulate and use magic, are in some aspects aggressive, while the men are nurturing and supportive. It's a fascinating psychological study though - with all sorts of interesting coming of age metaphors. Also the author plays around with the concept of magic and fairies in an innovative and interesting manner - that I've seldom seen done. The fairies may or may not actually be fairies - it remains unclear. Mori calls them fairies for lack of a better name. They are various shapes and sizes, and often intangible. Also magic - tends to work indirectly...as a sort of causal chain of events. Difficult to explain, yet more realistic. A scientific take on magic as opposed to a fantastical one. Slow to start, but ultimately compelling and haunting. It sticks in your mind long after you read it. Mori wonders at various points if there is a downside of escaping completely into books. If she is shutting herself off? Yet it is through her books that she finds others like herself, and evolves. The act of reading - expands her consciousness and allows her to let go of her childhood, and past grievances. In some respects, the science fiction novels she devours ultimately heal her. ### ⭐⭐⭐ A heartfelt if slightly unpolished valentine to classic science fiction and fantasy *by J***G on August 10, 2015* The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy) The Last Battle Among Others is a lovely valentine to classic science fiction and fantasy. It is not particularly plot driven; there is a story faintly reminiscent of Hamlet (an articulate teen's struggle to find her place in the world following an off-screen tragedy while sharing kinship with emotionally distant and possibly homicidal people) that drifts along in the background, and it is interesting in a modest way. But the novel seems more interested in serving as scrapbook for many, many heartfelt references and call-backs to earlier genre works. Perhaps because of that, the work suffers from loose threads. The novel regulalry holds interesting scraps of ideas up to the light--but just for a moment, before setting them aside. Many of the pieces cohese more or less, but most have unfinished edges, and several are never integrated at all. Some of the looseness can be explained as a trait of the narrator, but some of it reads instead as a little carelessness by the author. The prose is lively and charming. The narrator's voice captures the simultaneous over-and under-confidence of awkwardly coming of age, and the other-ness of self and place and people that attends being a certain kind of teen. In parts the language is consciously overwrought, but not too much so, and with a wry edge that may feel familiar to anyone who remembers feeling older than her peers at that age. It is an easy, fluid read in that respect. The setting is beautifully sketched, full of light and shadow. The work includes a few discussions of sexual activity and a few sexualized encounters; the material is entirely appropriate in context. I really appreciated the inclusion of the girl narrator's sexual perspective; it read as frank and genuine, age appropriate, and not overly sexualized. Which is to say, it felt real and reasonable in the work as a whole. One incident stood out as not carrying its weight; in one scene, the narrator's absentee father gets drunk and briefly attempts to initiate a sexual encounter with her. The narrator brushes it off, and the incident is unresolved and unaddressed in the rest of the novel. But overall, I was grateful that the author included a girl's perspective on teen sexuality, which generally is omitted entirely in genre novels. Or, worse, where the genre includes any indication of female sexual agency, it is to exclude the woman from magic. I'm looking at you, everything from unicorn legends to C.S. Lewis to Lev Grossman. Among Others is a subtle antidote to that brand of casual sexism. Like Hamlet, Among Others can be interpreted through at least two different ways: an unreliable narrator struggling with mental illness following a terrible off-screen tragedy, or a narrator beset by epic and mundane evils and a little bit of magic. This is a real strength of the novel, and a layer of depth that provides room for discussion and re-reading. I think the author intends us to land on the side of magic, but I fell slightly on the other side of the line. For some, that will be a criticism of the novel; for me, it's something of a credit to the author. Among Others contains people and places sufficiently solid, and invokes magic so subtly, that the magic resolves as the narrator's wishful thinking rather than a real force in the story. Ultimatley, the work is lovely, but a little disappointing in its drifting, unrealized potential. I found much of it beautiful and intriguing; I just wish those pieces, and their interactions, recieved fuller treatment. I recommend Among Others particularly for its heartfelt shout-outs to classic science fiction and fantasy; its dialogue with and subversion of the tropes of those works; its female narrator; its painterly prose; and its delicate balance between potential realities. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.hu/products/5283893-among-others-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.hu/products/5283893-among-others-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Hungary* *Store origin: HU* *Last updated: 2026-05-15*