Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)
Released: 2001 (copyrighted 1990)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Howl's moving castle is back, in an adventure involving many people from far and diverse lands. Abdullah is the son of a carpet merchant who spends all his free time daydreaming. When a stranger sells him a magic carpet that takes him into his daydreams at night, things start getting very complicated. The princess that Abdullah dreamed of is real, and they fall in love - but she is suddenly snatched away by a djinn just as Abdullah is about to take her away to marry her. Abdullah sets out to rescue Flower-in-the-Night, and meets up with many strange characters along the way, who help him get to the Castle where all the princesses that the djinn stole are held.
I love how all the characters in the book are really just big kids, all throwing temper tantrums at one point or another. The total irreverence about all things magical carries over from Howl's Moving Castle, with traditional magic challenged and accepted ideas about magic made fun of - nicely, of course. The whole book is just one big romp of lots of fun. And getting to meet up with Howl and Sophie, Lettie and Suliman again was just great!
This is another of those books that I read again and again. It's fast, it's fun, and it makes me smile!
Showing posts with label diana wynne jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diana wynne jones. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Howl's Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: 1986
Genre: YA Fantasy
Every time I read this book, it gets better and better!
Sophie Hatter is the eldest,and therefore expects to live a dreary, boring life. But when the Witch of the Waste comes into her hat shop and puts a curse on her, turning her into an old woman, Sophie gets more adventure than she could ever have dreamed of. Taking refuge in Wizard Howl's moving castle involves her in all his affairs, including a contract with a fire demon and running away from the king, as well as avoiding a curse the Witch of the Waste put on him. But many characters are really involved in all this, and the plot gets more and more tangled as each one shows up.
Knowing how a story ends (after having read the book before, of course!) lets you see a whole lot of things that you may have missed when you first read it. Diana Wynne Jones drops lots of little clues throughout the book that make re-reading it more fantastic than reading it the first time around! Knowing what Sophie doesn't, and some bits of what Howl doesn't, makes certain details that seemed insignificant before just pop off the page.
Besides, the second (or third, or fifth...) time around, you can savor the language more and appreciate little bits of Jones' fascinating style. For example, here's one that caught my eye this time, that I had to re-read a few times: "Or had Howl slithered out so hard that he had come out right behind himself and turned out what most people would call honest?" That sentence is just so amazing - it didn't make sense to me when I first read it, but after re-reading it a few times, I sort of get what it means. But the idea of it - slithering out and coming out behind himself! - is so vivid that it doesn't really matter if I fully grasp what it means.
I'm sure this is not the last time I'll be reading this book. It's the mark of a really good book - that you can re-read it so many times and still want to read it again as soon as you finish it!
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: 1986
Genre: YA Fantasy
Every time I read this book, it gets better and better!
Sophie Hatter is the eldest,and therefore expects to live a dreary, boring life. But when the Witch of the Waste comes into her hat shop and puts a curse on her, turning her into an old woman, Sophie gets more adventure than she could ever have dreamed of. Taking refuge in Wizard Howl's moving castle involves her in all his affairs, including a contract with a fire demon and running away from the king, as well as avoiding a curse the Witch of the Waste put on him. But many characters are really involved in all this, and the plot gets more and more tangled as each one shows up.
Knowing how a story ends (after having read the book before, of course!) lets you see a whole lot of things that you may have missed when you first read it. Diana Wynne Jones drops lots of little clues throughout the book that make re-reading it more fantastic than reading it the first time around! Knowing what Sophie doesn't, and some bits of what Howl doesn't, makes certain details that seemed insignificant before just pop off the page.
Besides, the second (or third, or fifth...) time around, you can savor the language more and appreciate little bits of Jones' fascinating style. For example, here's one that caught my eye this time, that I had to re-read a few times: "Or had Howl slithered out so hard that he had come out right behind himself and turned out what most people would call honest?" That sentence is just so amazing - it didn't make sense to me when I first read it, but after re-reading it a few times, I sort of get what it means. But the idea of it - slithering out and coming out behind himself! - is so vivid that it doesn't really matter if I fully grasp what it means.
I'm sure this is not the last time I'll be reading this book. It's the mark of a really good book - that you can re-read it so many times and still want to read it again as soon as you finish it!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Diana Wynne Jones Week!!
Thanks to Misty's Book Mess, I found Jenny's Books' exciting challenge: a week of reading and reviewing Diana Wynne Jones books! My problem, I think, will be finding a book of hers that I haven't read yet. But I'm up for the challenge and hope to participate.
Here's the original post from Jenny's Books:
Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors in all the land. In her long career as a writer, she has written around forty books (novels and short stories), mainly for children and young adults, and each one is new and weird and wonderful in its own particular way. She has been compared to J.K. Rowling, in that her books are set in fantasy worlds and are full of humor and charm; she has inspired many writers over the years, including two of my favorites, Neil Gaiman and Megan Whalen Turner. If you’ve been reading here for a while you’ll know that I love Diana Wynne Jones, and once I get started shrieking about how great she is, it’s difficult to make me stop. I want everyone to read her books, which have given me so much joy over the (something like) ten years that I’ve been reading her books.
To that end, I will be hosting a Diana Wynne Jones week from 1 – 7 August. To participate, just read one of her books and post a review during that week! I will be collecting links and writing my own reviews and remarks about her too (failing some sort of alarming computer failure, which (knock wood) I don’t anticipate). If you haven’t read anything by Diana Wynne Jones before, I will be only too happy to recommend a good book to start your Diana Wynne Jones fandom. There are many to choose from.
The button for this event uses a particularly beautiful illustration of Howl’s Moving Castle, one of my favorite Jones books, in three pleasing sizes. I’m using it here by kind permission of the artist, Finnish illustrator Sami Saramäki – feel free to add it to your sidebar!
You can get the button for the challenge from Jenny's site, linked at the beginning of this post. Happy reading! And happy blogging!
Here's the original post from Jenny's Books:
Diana Wynne Jones Week: 1 August – 7 August 2010
To that end, I will be hosting a Diana Wynne Jones week from 1 – 7 August. To participate, just read one of her books and post a review during that week! I will be collecting links and writing my own reviews and remarks about her too (failing some sort of alarming computer failure, which (knock wood) I don’t anticipate). If you haven’t read anything by Diana Wynne Jones before, I will be only too happy to recommend a good book to start your Diana Wynne Jones fandom. There are many to choose from.
The button for this event uses a particularly beautiful illustration of Howl’s Moving Castle, one of my favorite Jones books, in three pleasing sizes. I’m using it here by kind permission of the artist, Finnish illustrator Sami Saramäki – feel free to add it to your sidebar!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Enchanted Glass
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Copyright: 2010
Genre: YA Fantasy
Another great Diana Wynne Jones book!
Aidan Cain comes to Melstone House after Stalkers start stalking him after his grandmother's death. Andrew, who inherited Melstone House when his grandfather died, takes Aidan in while they try to figure out what's going on. But strange things abound and since Andrew doesn't remember what his grandfather told him about keeping magic in check, chaos ensues until Aidan and Andrew can harness their magics and restore order and boundaries.
As usual with Diana Wynne Jones, the style of the book is witty and engaging. The language is clear and the magic rules are easy to follow as they're introduced, even without full explanations. I love the wry undertone to the whole story, and the running jokes like the cauliflower cheese and vegetables and the confusion over Aidan's name that keep popping up throughout the book.
The book is intelligent, funny, and magical - what more could you ask for?
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Copyright: 2010
Genre: YA Fantasy
Another great Diana Wynne Jones book!
Aidan Cain comes to Melstone House after Stalkers start stalking him after his grandmother's death. Andrew, who inherited Melstone House when his grandfather died, takes Aidan in while they try to figure out what's going on. But strange things abound and since Andrew doesn't remember what his grandfather told him about keeping magic in check, chaos ensues until Aidan and Andrew can harness their magics and restore order and boundaries.
As usual with Diana Wynne Jones, the style of the book is witty and engaging. The language is clear and the magic rules are easy to follow as they're introduced, even without full explanations. I love the wry undertone to the whole story, and the running jokes like the cauliflower cheese and vegetables and the confusion over Aidan's name that keep popping up throughout the book.
The book is intelligent, funny, and magical - what more could you ask for?
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