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Diana Wynne Jones

S

Safia

New Member
Has any one read this author? I first picked opne of her books up when I was about 10 years old.

I've read the following books by her:

Dogsbody

The Dalemark Quartet -
Card and Cwidder,
Drowned Ammet,
Spellcoats
The Crown of Dalemark

I first picked up The Crown of Dalemark in my school library when I was about 12/13, sadly it was the last in the series! I only got to read the complete series last year, six years later!!! I bought them all of Amazon including Dogsbody because I was feeling nostalgic. They were all written I think in the 70's into the early 90's.

Has anyone else read any of those books by DWJ and what did you think? Also, are there any childrens books you read as a child that you read a lot later. Were they as good? I think these were even better, I would reccomend them.
 
*spoilers*

I read Dogsbody as an adult so am unable to make that comparison but I admire her mix of fantasy, mythology, science fiction, talking animal story and realism. She was able to pull many unlikely elements together to make an interesting story.

Her depiction of the cruelty, indifference and anger of the adults is truthful without being too scary; the friendship of the dog and girl is cute but not corny; the serious storyline has enough humor to keep it from being depressing; the personification of the stars and planets is unusual.

I have only read this one book by her. Is there a sequel or continuation of these characters in her other books?
 
No I think Dogsbody was a one off. I'd like to read some more books by her as I think she's a fantastic children's author. I'd reccomend you the Dalemark series as I was totally enthralled when I read them.
 
I've read the first one of the Chrestomanci series, but I haven't yet read any more. I quite liked it, but it wasn't one of my faves. The character of Chrestomanci was rather intriguing.
 
I've pretty much read all of her fiction for older kids. I haven't read Power of Three, the last two of the Dalemark Quartet, or The Year of the Griffin. A good many of her books seem to be out of print at the moment, so it would be easiest to find them second-hand on Amazon.

I first read Dogsbody and The Eight Days of Luke over 30 years ago, and I still enjoy these, but I would say she excels in some way in every book she writes. I have particularly enjoyed the Chrestomanci books (Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Mixed Magics, Witch Week, The Magicians of Caprona, Conrad's Fate... there is another soon-to-be-published: The Pinhoe Egg next Sept).

Also I would recommend Hexwood (although it is probably the most difficult of her books and shouldn't be attempted under the age of 13), and Archer's Goon, and even an oldie like The Ogre Downstairs, which is old-fashioned and for slightly younger children but good fun. The Merlin Conspiracy and Deep Secret are a good duo - probably Deep Secret is the better of the two.

My personal favourites are Fire and Hemlock, Howl's Moving Castle (which Hayao Miyazaki has made into a film - out on DVD in March - although he changed the story rather) and the Chrestomanci series.
 
A must-have book by her (though not a novel) is 'The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land'. A genius spoof of every fantasy cliche you've ever come across, done as an A-Z guide for tourists. In the same vein as the humour in Terry Pratchett's earlier Discworld books, but with more emphasis on tearing a chunk off lazy writers of pulp fantasy who steal from Tolkien et al.

Of her novels, I remember 'The Ogre Downstairs' with particular fondness, as it involved magical chemistry sets that contained flying powder, amongst other things. 'Witch Week' is another favourite, and 'Charmed Life'. I really must find all her other ones - she's done so much...
 
I have read Fire and Hemlock by her and I really enjoyed how she weaved in fairy tales. It was an enjoyable read. I have yet to read anything else by her, but one of these days.
 
Howl's moving castle is just wonderful. I love that book and I want to see the movie.
It's a really cute book ^^
 
Howl's Moving Castle is a great read! I haven't seen the film yet but it looks promising!:D

Apart from that one I have only read Charmed Life of the Chrestomanci series and I liked that one as well. There are three more of her books in my TBR-heap, so I really recommend her!:p
 
I really want to read Howl's Moving Castle. I read the first chapter while in Borders and had to put it back because of my empty wallet. But if I can find it in the library...
I saw the film and was very dissapointed. It was nothing compared to Spirited Away, done by the same director. And it made very little sense not having read the book.
((But the one thing that kept me watching it was that Howl was amazingly cute for an animated character :rolleyes: ))
 
I've read Castle in the Air and Howl's Moving Castle. I liked them. I haven't yet seen the film. I was slightly annoyed with the books until I realized they were written for children (which I hadn't expected since it was an adult friend who told me to read them)...but I decided I liked them in the end.
 
Howl's Moving Castle is a fantastic read at any age, and can take any amount of re-reading too. Of course the film is not quite like but it is sufficiently close to the spirit of DWJ's book that both can be enjoyed separately. Where it lacks particular coherence in the film, is at the end but a careful watching reveals that the whole war issue stems from the mysterious disappearance of Prince Justin (whose kidnap is attributed to the neighbouring country): as soon as he turns up safe and it is clear no-one kidnapped him, there is little malice to be sustained between the two countries and Madame Suliman cannot abuse her power over the situation.

It is one of my children's (and my) favourite Miyazaki films anyway, and the book is one of our top young people's reads. Both can be enjoyed, and DWJ certainly seemed to approve of Miyazaki's interpretation of her work.
 
I've read the first two Chrestomanci books (and am planning on reading the rest) Howls Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, the first two of the Dalemark Quartet and Fire and Hemlock. I liked all of them, and am planning on reading more by her. Fire and Hemlock I found a bit confusing however, and it wasn't until I'd read the actual ballads of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer, and re-read(skimmed) the book that I actually enjoyed it. Still, I would definitely recommend her!
 
DWJ's

I didn't read any of Diana Wynne Jones' novels until I was an adult. I have read her first three Crestomanci novels and enjoyed them. I also enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle. My two favorites are The Year of the Griffin and The Dark Lord of Derkholm.

I have the Dalemark Quartet, but have yet to read it. I actually have about 8 of her books that are in my TBR pile. I bought quite a few books to read and then I began my first year of teaching this past August. I've not have a lot of extra reading time. Now that I'm teaching a reading class, in addition to my four life science classes, I have reason to read children's books (recommendations for them and books that I might want to read aloud to them).

I really want to read Charmed Life, but have been unable to find it at the bookstore. Perhaps I will order it online (and cause my TBR pile to grow larger).
 
I really like DWJ's works. I've read the Chrestomanci books, Howl, and quite a few others. One that hasn't been mentioned here yet is A Tale of Time City. It's been a while since I've read that one, but I seem to remember enjoying it a lot.
 
I read the Chrestomanci series when I was a little girl. My sister's name is Guenevere, so I spent the entire length of Charmed Life hoping things would end okay for Gwendolyn, who seemed like a pretty spiff girl, all in all. Just a bit ambitious. The rest of the books in that series were good, too. I really liked Howl's moving castle, and the Japanese animated movie was pretty nifty, in my opinion. Not incredibly close to the actual book, but it was a good take on it.
 
must confess that I didn't like her writing at all...maybe its just me but I just couldn't get into it. :p As for books that I read as a kid...hmm...I read Alice in Wonderland when I was little and LOVED it...then I bought it a couple years ago and its still wonderful! Same goes for a lot of other books...hmm...I just can't remember them!
 
Deep Secret is probably my favourite of DWJ's books, Rupert is so winderfully stuffy and the science fiction convention is hilarious.
 
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