Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN-10: 0765331721
ISBN-13: 978-0765331724
Format: hardback, paperback, Kindle & audio editions
Paperback: 304 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Coming of Age
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
Distorting Time with Words
Have
you ever noticed that when you’re young time oozes like syrup, but as you get
older it runs like water? Psychologist Jeremy Dean confirms this observation in his
article “10 Ways Our Mind Warp Time.” He says there are studies which
show “people in their 20s
are pretty accurate at guessing [time] … but people in their 60s systematically
overestimate it, suggesting time is passing about 20% more quickly for them.”
So how does an author create this illusion in a novel? Jo Walton seems to have
found just how to capture it in her fantasy novel for young adults, Among Others.
Walton
first captures our attention by opening with a pivotal moment in the young
heroine’s life. Written as a journal entry for May 1st 1975, we
watch as 11-year-old Morganna, and her identical twin, Morwenna, approach the
Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi. Their goal is to destroy the factory with
fairy magic because it “looked like something from the depths of hell, black
and looming with chimneys of flame, reflected in a dark pool that killed any
bird or animal that drank from it. The smell was beyond description.” Our
heroines are challenged by the looming presence around the factory, which has “no
vegetation here, not even dead trees. Cinders crunched underfoot, and clinker
and slag threatened to turn our ankles.” And there is a sign warning about
dangerous watch dogs. Though Morwenna is terrified of dogs, the brave sisters
throw the magic flower they’ve brought into the black pool and the next day the
factory announces its closing. Magic is real, though not the way we imagine it.
A post script from the journal’s author says she write this first because “it’s
compact and concise and it makes sense, and a lot of the rest of this isn’t
that simple.” This statement entices us to read further.
Slowing Time with Daily Details
The story then jumps ahead four years to September 5th
1979 and we learn that Morwenna died in a car accident and a seriously injured
Morganna has been sent to live with her estranged father after running away
from her insane mother. Using details about the mundane aspects of daily life
and numerous references to science fiction and fantasy novels, the remaining scenes
unfold slowly with only hints of magic, its unpredictable nature and the dangers
of using it for self-interest. Morganna choses to be called Mor, connecting
herself to her dead twin, yet in the first part of the story, she distances
herself from her father by just calling him “he.” We meet “the aunts”, Anthea,
Dorothy and Frederica, who control “him” by having him manage their estate. The
aunts “get rid” of Mor by rushing her off to the boarding school, Arlinghurst. Walton
sets the contrast between Mor’s life with her mother’s family and life at the
aunts’ house, enhancing the distance from her poor side of the family and her
father’s rich side. Mor’s only connection to her father is books. They share an
interest in science fiction/fantasy which Mor reads with an OCD consumption.
Since she is in constant pain from her injured leg and has nothing else to do,
we can sympathize with Mor and understand her reading compulsion. However,
continuing references to titles and authors slows the pacing and makes it a
challenge to continued reading even in the face of the subtle threat of her
mother’s magic.
We are almost half-way through the novel before the
pacing speeds up with the introduction of Wim, a boy Mor meets at a
SciFi/Fantasy book club. Like a lot of things in life, the joy of being in
Wim’s presence carries Mor through the daily rituals of boarding school until
the next time with meeting him. Wim adds flavor to the plot with his questionable
reputation and his curiosity about magic until the final scene where Mor must
confront her mother.
In order to improve my own writing, I read “Among
Others” because it won the 2011 Nebula Award. Through the first half of the
book, I kept asking why it won such a prestigious award when other novels held
so much more interest. But after finishing the book, it makes sense, and so
does the slow pacing of the first half. My kudos go to Jo Walton for using the
technique of slowing time with Mor childhood and then speeding it up as she
matures and for winning the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel. If you haven’t read
this novel, be as patient as you would with any teenager, knowing the maturity
at the end is worth it.