{4.5\/5} “It’s like if you snapped your fingers and produced a rose but it was because someone on an aeroplane had dropped a rose at just the right time for it to land in your hand. There was a real person and a real aeroplane and a real rose, but that doesn’t mean the reason you have the rose in your hand isn’t because you did the magic.”<\/p>\n
Among Others<\/strong> by Jo Walton, published in 2011<\/p>\n Morwenna is sent to a boarding school in 1979. Her twin sister has died, she’s run away from her mother, and her father has sent her off to school. She has a limp, and she likes science fiction. And she can see fairies.<\/p>\n This story takes place basically in the real world, with just a bit of magic.<\/p>\n It’s about the joy of reading science fiction, and finding your “karass” (Vonnegut’s word for a group of people who are linked together). The science fiction references are wonderful, such as: “It would be like living on Anarres.”<\/p>\n It’s a very specific story — it seems like it might be autobiographical. But it’s also universal, at least universal enough to include me. Even though I never went to boarding school or met any fairies.<\/p>\n The writing is smooth and the characters are delightful — you might have trouble putting it down.<\/p>\n