Dianna Wynne Jones

I tried The Tough Guide to Fantasy because I'd heard so many people praise it, but I found it disappointing. The D&D type format seemed ponderous (and not very funny) and I had already read, years ago, The Book of Weird by Barbara Ninde Byfield, which covers more territory and is far funnier.
 
Well OK Jones did write the original book but I was referring more to the screen adapatation. Still, it's good to see you lot are all wide awake after all....:p
 
I liked Witch Week. On the other hand, when I read it nothing was said about it being part of the Chrestomanci series; I had no expectations based on the other books; and it was simply a nice surprise when he made an appearance at the end.

All of her earlier books that I've read, I liked very much. Everything of hers that I've picked up recently ... has been a bit disappointing.

I feel like her editors are urging her to be a little more like J. K. Rowling. Ironic, considering that Jones did a lot of the same things that Rowling did, only first and better. And a great pity, because she was doing just fine writing like Diana Wynne Jones.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
All of her earlier books that I've read, I liked very much. Everything of hers that I've picked up recently ... has been a bit disappointing.

I feel like her editors are urging her to be a little more like J. K. Rowling. Ironic, considering that Jones did a lot of the same things that Rowling did, only first and better. And a great pity, because she was doing just fine writing like Diana Wynne Jones.
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I couldn't agree more, Teresa. I have been desperately disappointed by Conrad's Fate, The Year of the Griffin and The Merlin Conspiracy. I'm not sure about pressure from the publisher though - it might just be that she is beginning to lose her grip. I'd hate to think that especially when she's a million times better than her more famous and richer successor but she has always been a free spirit - un-editable, I would think - so she might just not have a good sense of what works any more.

Mary
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Since when did she not write Howl's Moving Castle then? Her name's on the book. It was published and promoted as her book. And it's listed on her website as her book.
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Thanks, Teresa - for a minute there I thought I'd dropped into a parallel dimension :)

"Fire and Hemlock" is my favourite too, Nesacat. I went to university in Bristol, so I enjoy reading the bits where they're running round the streets near the Colston Hall. And I love old folktales, too!
 
Howl's Moving Castle (the book) is one of my all-time favorites. In the top five, in fact. Jones is a wonderfully imaginative writer, but she can be a bit uneven. Tough Guide is probably my second-favorite, and Homeward Bounders is still on my shelf, though I don't think it's as quite as good as HMC.

However I didn't really like Dark Lord of Derkholm or Castle in the Air. In fact I refuse to remember that I even read that book; it was so different, and Howl and Sophie felt like completely different characters. I intend to finish A Tale of Time City one of these months.

Really she ought to be more famous than she is. I think Rowling is a little more consistent, but Jones has a lot more variety to her work, and as has been said, she's been at it a lot longer.
 
I really like practically all the books I've read by DWJ. I've read... Chrestomanci series, F&H, Hexwood, HMC, Time Of The Ghost, Power Of Three, and The Merlin Conspiracy.
I still can't understand Fire & Hemlock though, no matter how many times I read it. Love it, but don't understand half of it. ;)

I also love Hexwood, though I again find the Bannus a very difficult concept... it's hard to get your mind around.

But. My all time favourite DWJ has got to be Howl's Moving Castle. It's the best she's done in my opinion. I was really disappointed that CIA (heh heh) was so loosely connected. I need more Howl!
 
That Byfield novel is hard to find. Amazon doesn't even have good information on it!:p

I recently read The Game, about a bunch of kids playing this cosmic-pseudo-mythological game. It wasn't bad.

And I take back what I said about Dark Lord of Derkholm. Confused it with another book, Year of the Griffin, I think. Haven't read Derkholm yet.
 
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