Magic exists, but is not very common. Fairies are also a separate race that can cause all sorts of problems. Other than that, things are pretty much as we would expect in Victorian England. That is the scenario for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The book centers around the two named magician who learn the art of magic and try to document the history. Magic is used to help win wars. However, fairy magic has also lead to plenty of bad historical events.
The book contains a number of "stories" that are related. I found some of them to be quite good. However, I had trouble keeping interested at the end. It is a long book that may have been better if shortened.
Piranesi is a weird book. It centers around a character that is living in a labyrinth. He has very little understanding of the world around, but a great deal of empathy for people. There are numerous "current events" that happen in our recent past as well as books and bits of history. At one point, I had thought I slipped into a historical "how this book came about" section. (Nope - it was just part of the book.) Characters are often given a numerical label or called something like "old one". It is an interesting story of a different mind.
