Susanna Clarke Books in Order: Complete Reading Guide
Both Susanna Clarke novels in order — Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Piranesi. Reading guide for two of the most remarkable fantasy novels of this century.
Susanna Clarke has published two novels in twenty years. They are entirely different in length, tone, and style — but both represent some of the most original fantasy writing of this century.
Susanna Clarke Books in Publication Order
1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell — 2004
The major undertaking. In an alternate 19th-century England where magic has been theorised for centuries but not practised, two magicians — the reclusive Mr Norrell and his brilliant, reckless pupil Jonathan Strange — attempt to restore English magic, with increasingly devastating consequences. At 800 pages with extensive footnotes about an entirely constructed magical history, it is one of the most complete fictional worlds ever built. Won the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award.
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2. Piranesi — 2020
The best starting point for most readers. A man lives in a House whose halls contain statues and whose lower floors flood with tides. He has no memory of any other existence. He keeps meticulous journals. Something is wrong, and understanding what it is forms the novel’s plot. At 272 pages, one of the most precisely constructed and surprising novels of recent years.
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Where to Start with Susanna Clarke
For most readers: Begin with Piranesi — it is shorter, more immediately gripping, and the kind of novel that makes you want to start reading Jonathan Strange immediately after you finish it.
For committed fantasy readers: Begin with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell — commit to the full 800-page immersion in Clarke’s alternate England. It rewards patience more than almost any other novel of its decade.
What Makes Clarke Distinctive
Both novels are works of deep imagination that build their worlds from the inside: Clarke does not explain her world to readers, she deposits them inside it and lets them find their bearings. The footnotes in Jonathan Strange are not supplementary material but an essential part of the worldbuilding — they create the impression that this magical history predates the novel and will continue after it. In Piranesi, the world-building is the mystery itself.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read Jonathan Strange before Piranesi?
No. Piranesi and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell are entirely separate — different characters, different settings, different tone. Piranesi is shorter and more accessible; Jonathan Strange is a major 800-page undertaking. Most readers can begin with either.
Are Piranesi and Jonathan Strange set in the same world?
There is a possible connection — certain elements of Piranesi's magical system echo concepts in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell — but the two novels function completely independently and Clarke has not confirmed a shared world.
Why did it take Susanna Clarke ten years to write Piranesi after Jonathan Strange?
Clarke suffered from a chronic illness (later identified as long COVID-adjacent) that significantly limited her capacity to write for a decade. Piranesi, at 272 pages versus Norrell's 800, reflects in part what she could accomplish within that constraint.
