Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones!

DWJ reviewed a number of books for the Guardian. Here she tackles Jonathan Stroud’s excellent THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND.

starflavoredspaghettisauce:

Diana Wynne Jones’ final exploration in the world of Chrestomanci returns to where it began, with Cat, the boy who will become the next Chrestomanci, figuring out who he is.

But he’s not the only one. Not far from Chrestomanci castle is a slew of Pinhoes who try to hide their magic from the…

The estimable critic Tom Shippey reviews Reflections for the TLS.

“Most of what this forty-novel professional has to say about the inner workings of narrative is both invaluable and beyond paraphrase.”

The Book Smugglers — who have celebrated Diana’s books once before — now turn their sights on A Tale of Time City.

“A Tale of Time City is an adventurous, fun time travel story. Everything fits well and events unfold elegantly with twists that come left and right.”

Two smart bloggers (Julie and Marirosa Mia) read, re-read, and love Howl’s Moving Castle (of course!)

“Four pages in, I decided it was genius.  As is so often the case with books that I love, it’s the voice that got me.  Jones uses the perfect matter-of-fact, wry voice to introduce her magical world.  It’s as if she’s saying, ‘Come on in.  Yes, it’s different here, but don’t worry.  You’ll get the hang of it quickly. And you’ll like it!’”

You can’t go wrong with the Book Smugglers’ opinionated take on things.

“It always fascinates me how DWJ never underestimates the children she is writing for.”

… and her review in The Guardian comes complete with a piece of artwork.

‘I was a bit scared but really wanted to know what was going to happen next!’

Last March, the author Marie Brennan set herself the impressive task of reading all of Diana’s published work over the course of the calendar year. She has now finished, and her thoughts are well worth reading. ::applauding::