House of Many Ways

By Diana Wynne Jones

Charmain Baker is in over her head. Looking after Great-Uncle William's tiny cottage while he's ill should have been easy. But Great-Uncle William is better known as the Royal Wizard Norland, and his house bends space and time. Its single door leads to nay number of places-the bedrooms, the kitchen, the caves under the mountain, the past, and the Royal Mansion, to name just a few.

By opening that door, Charmain has become responsible for not only the house, but for an extremely magical stray dog, a muddled young apprentice wizard, and a box of the king's most treasured documents. She has encountered a terrifying beast called a lubbock, irritated a clan of small blue creatures, and wound up smack in the middle of an urgent search. The king and his daughter are desperate to find the lost, fabled Elfgift-so desperate that they've even called in an intimidating sorceress named Sophie to help. And where Sophie is, can the Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer be far behind?

Of course, with that magical family involved, there's bound to be chaos-and unexpected revelations. No one will be more surprised than Charmain by what Howl and Sophie discover.

This is the third book in the same universe as Howl's Moving Castle; though it can be read on it's own. I heartily enjoyed the other two previous books, but this one I'm sad to say just wasn't as fun. It still is a good book and very entertaining. I got some good hearty laughs out of it, and was extremely amused at some of the things Howl does. But having read many of Diana's books, I just wasn't as enthralled with this one. It never bored me, but it wasn't as exciting to read as her other books. I'm glad I didn't get too excited and buy this one like I usually do; it's fun to have read it, but not a keeper.

Castle in the Air

By Diana Wynne Jones

Abdullah has always lived in Zanzib, a lowly carpet merchant, spending his every free moment daydreaming. His life was pretty consistently boring until the day he was sold a thread-bare carpet that happened to be magically endowed to fly. This one event leads to Abdullah’s daydreams beginning to come true-he finds the love of his life, princess Flower-in-the-night, only to see her be whisked away by a powerful djinn. In an effort to save her, Abdullah starts on a magical journey with the aid of his magic carpet and an ornery genie. Mayhem is sure to be a step ahead of him as he finds himself in the land of Ingary; the self-same land that houses a certain wizard named Howl…

Oh, I just love Diana Wynne Jones! I read this hoping for another helping of Howl and all the characters in the previous book, and much to my delight, I found myself loving Abdullah and new characters just as much. This book is a great fantasy and reminiscent of Aladdin or Ali Babba and the fourty thieves, wrought with magic carpets, sultans, deserts, genies. While the first two-thirds of the book can be read without any foreknowledge of Howl’s Moving Castle, the last bit of the book will definitely confuse readers who haven’t read it. It makes me laugh just to think of this book and all the hilarious encounters that Abdullah has, and Howl and Sophie’s unconventional return! Read it if you liked Howl’s Moving Castle! Please do!

Howl's Moving Castle

By Diana Wynne Jones

When you are the eldest of three you are doomed to fail. Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three sisters who was to inherit her father's hatshop and live a very dull life indeed. But after the Witch of the Waste comes in to buy a hat and doesn't find what she likes, she curses Sophie to be an old woman. Sophie decides she has nothing to stay for and leaves to find her fortune. Instead she falls in with the dubious Wizard Howl and his fire demon, getting herself into a bargain she didn't plan for. If she can break the contract between the wizard and his demon, then the demon will take the curse off of her. In an adventure full of magic, laughs, and wonderful twists, Sophie will find that perhaps it isn't so bad to be the eldest of three!

This book is my favorite. Diana has a style clearly her own that rings out with a dry and truly amusing humor. Her books are full of magic that is both easy to understand and very creative and new. And her characters are some you will never forget after reading. Howl is hilarious and one of my favorite characters in a book. Sophie will have you rolling with her antics. This book is just fun to read and purely entertaining. It's got everything a reader could want. I highly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys a great story and loveable characters with a great adventure to boot! (Just as a side note, my email is actually a line from this book, that's how much I love it!) Here comes green slime! ^_^

Fun Facts: Diana lives in England, so her stories have all the fun words like, 'bother' and 'drat'! in them. She has written over 30 books for youth. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci are great fun to read, as well as the Dalemark Quartet along with the two sequels to Howl's Moving Castle; Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways. If you like Howl, there's more where that came from! Also, Howl's Moving Castle was made into an animated movie that is very good, but very very different from the movie. While they are very different though, I like them both almost equally well. (The book is still better.)