Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, 2004. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, among others.

I started reading it last night and I'm about half way into the 800 pg novel. Magic is back! Well, sort of, this novel is set in the early 19th century. Norrell, a bookish, socially inept, nervous, fussy character, is the older magician. He has two goals: destroy all other magicians, and work for the British government, i.e. military. In his attempt have Sir Walter Pole aid him in his latter cause, Norrell summons a faerie (more a demon creature) to resurrect Pole's recently deceased fiancee, and makes a pact with the faerie which gives away half of the young woman's life. She is later enchanted, forced to dance all night for years at the faerie's balls, unable to tell anyone; at one point, she says death would be better than her predicament.

Strange is Norell's pupil and has more natural magical abilities, though I wouldn't describe him as highly practical or intelligent. He is happy-go-lucky, stumbles on and agrees to things that later somehow benefit him.