MatrixMatrix
What it's about
Cast out of Eleanor of Aquitaine's court as too coarse for marriage, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to lead an impoverished abbey whose nuns are starving and sick.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.
You'll love it if you liked
Florida
The Vaster Wilds
Wolf HallGood to know
It's historical fiction set in medieval England.
By the numbers
- Readers6 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics30 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller33 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz19 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #449 of the 504 fantasy books we rank
- #447 of the 485 new books we rank
- #2825 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
More by Lauren Groff
If you like this, read next
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Babel
Angel Down
The Devils
A Master of Djinn
The Song of AchillesExplore the best-of lists
All 47 best-of lists →
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
New booksTop 25 · 485 rankedBooks of the 2020sTop 25 · 562 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 333 rankedQuick answers
Is Matrix worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. It ranks #2,825 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 56.4 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Matrix about?
Cast out of Eleanor of Aquitaine's court as too coarse for marriage, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to lead an impoverished abbey whose nuns are starving and sick.
How long does it take to read Matrix?
About 7 hours (272 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Matrix?
If you liked it, try Florida by Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff or Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.