[HPFGU-OTChatter] Another book (more on Diana Wynne Jones)

[Neil Ward]

David said:

<< I have just finished Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones.  I'm
pretty sure any Potter fan would like it.....I can't really say why, without
spoiling the book for anyone who  wants to read it, but it has plenty of
magic as well as clues dropped all over the place that turn out to be
important later on.  A bit of it is set in Wales. >>

I'll second that - as a DWJ fan - and mention that there is a slightly less
enigmatic sequel to that book, called "Castle In The Air".

Diana Wynne Jones is a very interesting writer, IMO, and one of the UK's
leading author's of YA fantasy literature, dragging in mythology, science
fiction and black magic along the way.  She's one of several authors you'll
see on the "if you like Harry Potter, try this" shelf in bookshops, and
people usually recommend her Chrestomanci series as having the most likely
appeal to Potter fans.  "Howl's Moving Castle" is not one of those, but it
is one of her lighter books.  Her darker stories, such as "Fire and Hemlock"
and "The Time of The Ghost," are well worth reading too.

I meant to recommend DWJ to Parker, when she mentioned being a weaver (on
the main list).  DWJ also wrote The Dalemark Quartet, the third book of
which - "The Spellcoats" - makes very interesting references to weaving.

Neil (who has been on a Wynne Jones binge for the last few months)
________________________________________

Flying Ford Anglia

"The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely
a bit bow-legged and its face looked grumpy and oddly
squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall"
["The Leaky Cauldron", PoA]