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Posted:
Jan 15, 2010
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Castle In The Air

Castle In The AirAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1990
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Series: Castle series #2
285 pages (paperback)

Synopsis: Abdullah is a carpet merchant from the southern country of Zanzib, and since he has a rather dull life, being harassed by his relations to get a few wives, Abdullah spends a lot of time daydreaming about himself being a prince that was kidnapped when he was younger and falling in love with a beautiful princess. One day, a mysterious stranger sells him a magic flying carpet, and after buying it, Abdullah falls asleep on the carpet, only to wake up in the garden of the wealthy sultan. He meets the royal princess, Flower-In-The-Night and falls in love with her, and she with him. The two decide to elope, but before they can, an evil Djinn appears and kidnaps her! Worse still, the Sultan thinks Abdullah is the actual kidnapper. And to top it all off, somehow, all of Abdullah’s wildest daydreams are literally coming true!

My Thoughts: Again, this book is part of a series that can be read in any order since the books do well as stand-alone novels too, but you definitely get a better experience if you read them in order. Anyway, I personally really enjoyed this book, another funny and magical adventure! It’s reminiscent of the story of Aladdin, with the magic flying carpet and genies in a bottle. And geez, the way everyone talks in Zanzib is so ridiculously polite, it’s hilarious! I know some people may not find the romance between Flower-In-The-Night and Abdullah realistic (they just BAM! suddenly fell in love at first sight), but keep in mind this is a book aiming for a fairy tale style, targeted to children. I think it’s allowed to do things like that ;)

There were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way though. When Abdullah ends up in the castle in the sky, his role in the story was suddenly minimized too, and that kind of bothered me. He’s supposed to be the main character, but once Sophie entered the picture, she took over. Not that I wasn’t happy to see Sophie (and Howl and Calcifer, for that matter) but Abdullah is supposed to be the main character! Lastly, the ending tied up everything too neatly for my liking. I’m not fond of endings where everything just so coincidentally and conveniently falls into place, but like I mentioned before, it’s a children’s book that’s sort of fairy-tale-ish, so I can understand that.

Ah, but don’t be put off by my complaints, they are not big deals, and this really is a fun book to read if you’re into fantasy aimed for the 9-12 year olds (which, obviously, I am!) I was super happy to reunite with Sophie, Howl and Calcifer. They were in the whole novel, but you don’t see/find them until near the very end, which in turn, gives this re-reading value because now when you re-read it, you know a lot more and might pay attention more to the finer details ;)

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Posted:
Dec 9, 2009
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House Of Many Ways

House of Many WaysAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Published: 2008
Series: Castle series #3
328 pages (paperback)

Summary: Charmaine Baker is a young girl raised to be a prim and proper, “perfectly respectable” kind of lady. Unfortunately, this has made Charmaine rather spoiled, as she does not know how to do anything on her own (boiling water, cleaning laundry, etc.). The only thing she does is read books all day. So you can imagine what a shock it was it was when she was handed the responsibility of watching over her Great Uncle William’s house (who is a wizard) while he went with the elves to seek treatment for his illness. Charmaine doesn’t really want to watch over the house though, and since William’s “apprentice” Peter shows up to help her with her job, she applies for a job at the Royal Palace, and is accepted. She meets “Twinkle”, Sophie, Morgan and Calcifer at the palace, who get Charmaine to assist them in trying to figure out why the kingdom was losing money and searching for a mysterious thing called the “Elfgift”.

My Thoughts: I desperately wanted to be reunited with Howl, Sophie and Calcifer in some way and picked up this sequel. While I’ll always think Howl’s Moving Castle is better, House of Many Ways does not disappoint in the least. It is a fun, magical story that even adults can appreciate ;). I liked the main character, Charmaine very much (even though for half of the novel, I misread her name and was wondering why on earth Jones named her ‘Chairman’). Even though I couldn’t help but shake my head at her spoiled-ness, she’s got a spunky personality and she loves books! She, along with Waif and Peter, make an adorable trio of characters. I think the bickering Charmaine and Peter have is too cute, like real children.

I must admit, I found the first bit of novel where Charmaine is alone in the house and Peter has not arrived yet was a bit dull, but it picks up quickly. I was just as curious as Charmaine, I wanted to know the secrets to Great Uncle William’s house too and that’s what kept me going, there are so many lovely magical things in and around the house. When Sophie, “Twinkle” and Morgan were introduced (or rather, re-introduced?), that’s when the book got a firmer hold on me and I blazed through the rest of the story. I just love how the book manages to be funny without going over the top, and really, it truly is a magical story.

I do not think of this as a real “sequel” to Howl’s Moving Castle, however. You can read this book without having to read the first, given that Sophie and Howl’s role in the story is so much smaller, and it is set in a slightly different place, with many new characters. I admit, it was a bit disappointing for a sequel since hardly anything from the first book was mentioned, but as a stand-alone novel, it’s a very nice read.

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Posted:
Dec 7, 2009
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Howl’s Moving Castle

Howl's Moving CastleAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1986
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Series: Castle series #1
302 pages (paperback)

Summary: Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three daughters, and as the eldest, she has resigned to the idea that she is going to end up with a boring, average life, probably working in her father’s hat shop for the rest of her life. She spends most of her time talking to the hats she makes more than she talks to real people. Unfortunately, her life plan is derailed when she crosses paths with the vain and wicked Witch of the Waste, who casts a spell on Sophie, turning her into a frail 90 year old woman! Sophie is shocked and, after deciding she can’t stay looking like this (what would everyone think if they found out she’s suddenly aged sixty-plus years?!) she leaves town. Sophie hesitantly ends up as the cleaning lady in Wizard Howl’s moving castle, despite the stories that Wizard Howl eats young girl’s hearts — and it turns out Wizard Howl’s next female target is one of Sophie’s younger sisters.

My Thoughts: I decided to pick up the book because I enjoyed Studio Ghibli’s movie version of this story so much. After reading only about halfway, I already knew this book is going down on my list of favourite books of all time. I enjoyed the movie, but the book is so much better, and I discovered there’s so much more to the story and the world of Ingary, where magic is commonplace, than the movie revealed. As I was reading, I kept wishing I could live in Ingary myself! Needless to say, I was completely entranced by the world in the book (much more so than the movie). There is always something happening in the novel, something to hold onto your interest.

Very rarely do I find a female protagonist that I like (I have high standards for female characters, I guess …?), and I adored Sophie, she’s so funny and cute as an old woman. Of course, then there’s Howl, who’s my favourite character in the novel and, I suspect, the favourite character of most other readers of this novel. He may be arrogant and vain beyond belief, but how can anyone not succumb to his charms?! Sophie and Howl’s relationship is one of my favourite book relationships. It starts off as barely acquaintances, and as it develops, it is never explicitly stated that they are having feelings for one another, yet you just know they do from the little things they do for one another. !!!Spoiler alert!!! My favourite part is when Calcifer tells Sophie that the only way he’d believe Howl is in love (with someone else, and not himself as he usually is) is the day he doesn’t spend hours in the bathroom fixing himself up. Then near the end, Howl shows up unshaved and messy looking to save Sophie … ah, I could have died, it was perfect and my heart just swooned. !!!End Spoiler!!! The intricate web of relationships all the characters have can seem a bit confusing and overwhelming at times, especially since there’s some identity switching as well, but the little bit of required mental organization of characters is worth it for the fun, laughs and thrills this book offers.

All in all, this is a book I’d recommend everyone read, especially if you enjoy fairy tale-esque tales. Though the targeted audience is children, this is the kind of story anyone of any age can enjoy!

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