Rating: 
Summary: If there is a god...
Review: The anonymous young Smoky Barnable leaves the City to marry into a very strange family occupying the very strange manor at Edgewood, where a war, or a merging of worlds, or something like it, may or may not be happening.Little, Big is a huge, gorgeous piece of work populated with some of the most endearing characters and touching episodes I've read in a long while. Each of Crowley's characters is affected - sometimes quietly, but always deeply - by the mysterious Something happening at Edgewood. There is a definite force at work, but whether it's good, evil, or indifferent is all part of the mystery. Crowley does have a tendency to be verbose; with a bit of snipping the book could have been 100 pages more to the point. Though the ending wasn't as illuminating as I would have liked, the tale itself was highly satisfying, with many smaller beginnings and endings along the way, and enough triumph and sorrow for all four generations of Edgewood. I didn't think of it until just now, but Little, Big is similar to Mervyn Peak's Titus Groan. Think of Edgewood as a contemporary Gormenghast driven by otherworldly forces rather than ancient tradition.
Rating:
Summary: One of those books you remember forever
Review: This book is so successful on so many levels that it is difficult to know where to begin. Other reviewers have discussed the plot, so I won't go into that. I will just say that I am one of the folks who read every edition printed "under the sign of the unicorn" in the now legendary series published by Ballantine in the '60s and '70s. I have enjoyed fantasy from Machen to MacDonald to contemporaries like Powers, Blaylock, and Melville. But this book is so good that it enters into the pantheon of those few greats that actually seem to be numenous in themselves. This book is unforgettable. This story of worlds within worlds and the imprint of architypes is a must read for anyone who loves fantasy, or just really good books!
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