Among Others

Plot

The novel is presented as the diary of Morwenna, a 15-year-old Welsh science fiction and fantasy fan, in 1979 and 1980. She and her twin sister Morgana have magically stopped their mother from taking control of the fairies, but their mother then caused an accident in which her sister was killed and Mori's leg was injured. She knows she and Morgana literally saved the world, but no one knows or cares. In fact, she is aware that no one cares about her as a person, and her surviving family's behavior reinforces this view. Bereft of her sister, her joy in running, and her beloved Welsh countryside, Mori must reconcile to her new life as a crippled, friendless outsider. She feels that she can do this as long as she has books to read.

As her mother is insane, she is sent to western England to live with her father and his three half-sisters, none of whom she has ever seen. They send her to a nearby girls' boarding school, which she finds unmagical and very uncongenial, losing all but one of the few friends she makes. She has considerable free time because she can do her schoolwork quickly and because her injury prevents her from participating in sports. She spends most of her time reading books provided by her father (also an SF fan), the school library, and the local public library. Throughout her diary she records her and other characters' reactions to these books with as much interest as any other events of her life. The interlibrary loan system becomes extremely important to her. At one point she casts a spell to locate other like-minded SF/fantasy fans, and then is told that a SF/fantasy readers' club is starting at the library. She makes a few connections there and a boyfriend of sorts.

Mori's mother begins sending her letters and family photographs in which Mori's image is burned out. Her aunts attempt to give her a makeover and convert her into their version of a proper young lady, but she resists, especially having her ears pierced for earrings, as she knows this will cause her to lose her powers. Eventually Mori locates fairies in the park near the school, and finds that her boyfriend can see them, but this seems to make matters worse, not better. She confronts her mother in a final magical conflict, and feels that she has more fully accepted her new life and whatever the future might hold.

Reception

Ursula K. Le Guin, in her review for The Guardian, called the book "a funny, thoughtful, acute and absorbing story all the way through". Similarly, Elizabeth Bear, in her review for tor.com, stated that "The voice is sublime; the characters nuanced.… In any case, I think this is Walton's best book to date."

Conversely, in her review for The Washington Post, Elizabeth Hand wrote that "More than anything else, Among Others is a love letter to the literature of the fantastic and to SF fandom. This is problematic as well as charming, because nothing much happens in the novel."