…and those Magicians are Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke.

(Surely there are author-magicians, just as Clarke tells us there are gentleman-magicians?) I nearly jumped out of my seat to see that they would be getting together to discuss Clarke’s new novel, Piranesi, on September 2, via 5X15’s online platform, and you can register here.

Having recently finished Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass on The Art of Storytelling, and being a huge fan of his writing and his exquisite audio narrations, I can’t think of a better duo to discuss the wild, almost heartbreakingly beautiful, melancholy magic that is Piranesi.

Gaiman and Clarke are the inheritors to Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings if anyone in this world or any other could be called so. Gaiman called Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell “the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years.”

From what I’ve observed, Clarke doesn’t often engage in these kinds of public discussions, nor is she as active and visible on social media, so this is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who follows her to hear two phenomenal authors discussing one of the most beautiful books of our time. (I wrote some initial reflections on Piranesi here, though they might be better as post-reading discussion prompts.) She is one of the very few authors for whom, if a midnight new-book party occurred like the midnight showing of a new Star Wars film, I would stand in line the whole day; have multiple copies of her books on and hand them out like the Good News; reread each like my life and sanity depend on it. Perhaps they do.