What a wonderful little book. Equal parts compelling and eerie, this dabbles in the occult in the same way that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell does without that extra 500 pages. I loved watching Piranesi unravel the mysteries of his past. A strange and beautiful read.

Piranesi is not for those expecting another Jonathan Strange. We are reading the journals of Piranesi as he describes the House, the only other inhabitant The Other, and the search for the Great and Secret Knowledge. The book starts with a lot of scene setting, but really takes off after that. Wonderfully weird, but beautifully written.

Piranesi is a strange book, experimental in character, world, and structure. Piranesi is the first-person narrator of the book, who wanders a world of oceans, birds, and vast halls filled with statues. He occasionally meets with The Other, a condescending older man in search of forbidden knowledge.

There is a mystery here, hints of a third person in this world, who Piranesi wants to find. So much of this book is spent following Piranesi and his internal monologue as he wanders this world. Sometimes he's on a mission from The Other, sometimes under his own volition, but rarely does he interact with another living thing. And yet with all this deep, contemplative time in Piranesi's head, he comes upon sudden revelations that feel unearned.

This all makes Piranesi a VERY slow burn. So slow that the payoff near the end of the book isn't worth it. A disappointing follow-up for Clarke.

Every once in a while, a book comes along that is inventive, entertaining and appealing to a wide variety of readers. When that happens, it is a cause for celebration. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a book to celebrate. The author has used a unique structure to subtly build a fully realized world and well-fleshed out characters. We are only allowed a single point of view, but through the journals of Piranesi we are taken on quite an entertaining ride. Most plot details would spoil the experience for future readers, so let's just say this is a book for fans of Ms. Clarke, Erin Morgenstern, David Mitchell and Seanan McGuire - plenty of story within the story.

I don't know how to talk about or explain this book. And I don't want to say much about it because, truly, one of the best parts about this book was just going along for the ride and being surprised at where it took me. Instead, I'll just give you a little glimpse into my headspace whilst reading:

-Oooh, this is a cool little world. Who can think this stuff up? (Delight and whimsy)
- Seriously! Who can think this up?! (Still delight and whimsy)
-Um, I have a few questions. (Curiosity has been stirred)
-Whaaaaaaa?
-Well, that turned sinister. (Yay!)

Guys, I love it when an author can completely surprise me.

It is hard to describe this book without giving too much away. The story is told by one person through his journal entries. The beginning of the book is disorienting. I felt like Alice wandering Wonderland without a clue to what was happening. As the book progresses pieces of the puzzle slowly drop into place. I found myself stopping mid chapter to re-examine previous passages.

Recommended to anyone who likes the feeling of being lost and curious through a good chunk of the book.

Ok, great. So I got an early chance to read this amazing, messy, beautiful piece of literary speculative fiction, and now I have to write coherently about it.

Ok. Great.

So, I'll admit that I found the path into this story to be a hard one to find, like the narrative thread leading me, the reader, through the labyrinth of the story's worldbuilding was barely a cobweb. I think for the first quarter I powered through on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell nostalgia alone.

And then something happened.

We took a sharp left turn and the story just...rooted.

I kept thinking to myself, "wow, this is like if Jasper Fforde wrote The Maze Runner," and then I thought, "no, this is like if Jeff Vandermeer laid off the espresso while he wrote Annihilation."

But in the end, it's as if Susanna Clarke wrote a book entirely its own, and I loved it.

And now I'm tearing up; thank you, good night.

Piranesi (not his real name, though he's not sure what else to call himself) loves his labyrinth. He knows its tides and its stars. Its innumerable statues are his friends. He has memorized its endless galleries for kilometers in every direction. The only other human in the world is the Other, Piranesi's partner in unlocking the secrets of the labyrinth. Then, the Other warns Piranesi that another human may have found their sanctuary. A very dangerous human. Just like that, his world tilts on its axis and nothing will ever be the same. The strange and exquisite world roots this disorienting tale.

I can see why many reviewers thus far are compelled to state how different Piranesi is from Clarke's masterful Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. They are, in form, very different. The themes, however, are very similar, though to keep from spoiling anything I won't say specifically why this is. Piranesi is much more surreal and much less concerned with plot than its predecessor—not to mention much, much smaller in both narrative scale and literal size. Do I love this book as much as Strange & Norrell? No, but it's not because it is an inferior book; it's simply based in my personal love for huge, historical narratives versus smaller, more contemporary stories, so take that for what it's worth. The overall story can feel a little slow at first, as it relies heavily on the quiet, personal experiences of a single character, yet the book itself is not a slog. Overall, this is a worthy follow up to Clarke's earlier novel and well worth the wait.

I struggled to read this book and found it incredibly difficult to follow. I would not recommend it.

Lyrical speculative fiction that creates a world and characters I did not want to let go of when the book was over. I will be recommending this title to lovers of unusual, adventurous fiction that takes them on an imaginative journey. Authors I was reminded of while reading: Madeline Miller, Robin Sloane, Marisha Pessl, Erin Morgenstern.

A lot of reviewers have said that Piranesi is totally different from Susanna Clarke's previous book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. I agree with them to an extent but there is one important way in which the two books are strikingly similar. Unfortunately, I can't say what that way is without spoilers. Read the books and you'll see what I mean.

Completely different than Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but in a similar way, totally singular and itself. The atmosphere is both claustrophobic and expansive. I went in knowing almost nothing, and I think it is the best way to experience this book and let it unfold. A gorgeous and engrossing book, and maybe even perfect, book.

While nothing like Jonathan Strange, it has echoes of the similar dissonance and a requirement of a lot of focus on the reader’s part. And just like Jonathan Strange readers are rewarded!

I did not know what to expect from Piranesi, and at first hesitated to start it, for fear of being disappointed, before opening it at lunch, and finding it unexpectedly both tranquil and compelling. The setting: a seemingly endless progression of large open halls, full of statues, prone sometimes to flooding, made me think of stepping suddenly into an Alma-Tadema painting, and such escapism is only more appealing as one reaches the fourth month of lockdown.

It is better to read Piranesi without knowing too much about what is being set up: the narrator, who is called Piranesi, though he knows that that is not his actual name, believes himself to be a "beloved child of the house;" and the novel is about the world he inhabits, and his coming to understand it.

I started it on my lunchbreak. I made myself read it slowly in the evening, both wanting to savor it, and a bit fearful that it would disappoint, or fail to stick the landing, but it was entirely satisfying, and I can already tell that it is likely to become a comfort read. This is not to say that it does not deal with harrowing subject matter -- it does -- but Clarke manages to play with known and familiar traditions in a way that renders them fresh and original. The setting is emphatically distinct from Clarke's first book; no one will suggest that this is Strange & Norrell all over again; but I am delighted to report that the voice and style are consistently Clarke; spare and elegant in turn. Recommended especially for anyone who has ever felt transfixed by the silent but unmistakable energy that is present in museum statue galleries.

I would give this 6 stars, if I possibly could.

Piranesi was not the book I was expecting AT. ALL. and I loved it. It's weird, and strange and so so wonderful. I will caution readers that the world building begins quickly and can take a few pages to get used to. The descriptions are detailed and wondrous, the world of the House is amazing. It's complicated to say any more without giving away the end, so I will say this, unreliable narrators make for the most interesting stories....

I tried to get into this book because the description was so intriguing. However, I had a hard time with it. I think that Susanna Clarke is a good author and her books are well-written. They just aren't for me.

It's nothing at all like JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL. I liked the difference! It's a brilliant title by a talented author. I can't wait to read more books from Clarke.

An interested and curious tale. I kept reading because I had to know what the heck was going on. Was not disappointed in the climax.

A quiet riff on the effects that Knowledge leaves on the world, how those who grasp hardest at it miss what's before their eyes, how those who come to it with learning eyes find it in every facet of the universe, and how it shapes our mind while at the same time, our mind shapes our response to and interpretation of that knowledge.

Touches on Ritual Magic, ceremony, truth, and divinity and leaves the reader thinking carefully on what's been said and what's been ignored.