Jo Walton's Among Others tells the story of Mori Phelps, a Welsh 15-year-old who has survived a traumatic experience caused by magic. The story is presented in journal form, beginning after the traumatic event, as Mori is headed to boarding school, paid for by her father, Daniel, whom she has not met until now. This narrative structure allows the events of the past to unfold as Mori attempts to move forward with her life.
What we know about the past is that Mori's twin was killed, Mori herself was injured enough that she now walks with a cane, Mori's mother Liz was responsible, and Mori had to involve social services in order to escape. In the present, Mori deals with bullying in boarding school and adjusting to her paternal family, which includes three aunts and a grandfather, Sam. She still has contact with members of her large maternal family, with whom she would rather reside but cannot, due to laws governing guardianship of minors.
The story is slow-moving, more cerebral and emotional as Mori reflects on her memories and experiences. I enjoyed the slow build to the action in the ending, but I'm not sure I would have read the whole book if it weren't for Mori's references to her fantasy and SF readings. Many of the texts were familiar to me, but an equal number were not--I wanted to jot them all down so I could go back and reread or go pick up some used copies (as the story is set mostly in 1979, many of the texts are now "classic" fantasy and SF). Luckily, Molly Templeton has created a book list using Pinterest:
Thanks, Molly! Summer reading, here I come!
Works Cited
Among Others Book Cover. amazon.com. n.d. Web. 8 April 2014. http://www.amazon.com/Among-Others-Jo-Walton/dp/0765331721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396984910&sr=8-1&keywords=Jo+Walton+Among+Others
Walton, Jo. Among Others. New York: Tor, 2010. Print.
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