Josie's comments (member since Feb 11, 2009)

Josie's comments from the Diana Wynne Jones Fans group.

Having just read my above post from long ago, where I mentioned that my library had HEAPS of DWJ's books...they're starting to get rid of them!! Is she going out of fashion? Are people just not reading DWJ anymore? Luckily, I managed to snap up The Homeward Bounders, Drowned Ammet, Power of Three, and Black Maria (for 20 cents each!), but while I'm happy to now own them, now no one else will find them :(
Also just finished reading (for the first time) Archer's Goon - it was really good! I loved the characters of the mum and dad, and Awful and the Goon! Such fun.

Have any of you seen the Tales from Earthsea anime? I've put it on hold at my library, wondering if it's any good...

I've been working my way through the Claidi books by Tanith Lee (first one Wolf Tower The Claidi Journals I), and the sheer quirkiness of them, combined with their humour reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones...

Oh yes, that's right - I liked her when she was shrunken and old, with goggly eyes - and she just sat there, but would occasionally come out with things like: "Isn't he handsome?" (about Howl)!
The war, was there a war in the book, with airships? And the movie didn't show the bit where Howl and Sophie go to (what I presumed to be) our world. (I really should read the book again!)

I liked the film, although Howl, after he'd had a bath and came out all shiny, looked far to much like a girl! BUT the one thing that I thought was not very well done was the scarecrow/prince bit - in one of the first scenes, when Sophie is walking through the streets, she passes some men who say something like 'heard about that prince who's disappeared?' but it's in the background, and I'm sure not many many people would pay attention to it, and then at the end, the scarecrow turns into the prince (ta-daa!) and says 'I'm the prince who disappeared!' and everyone's just supposed to KNOW. I think if I hadn't read the book, I would have had no idea what that was all about!
It's actually been a little while since I've read the book or seen the film - what were the major changes again?

Ooh yes, Robin McKinley's good (although I didn't enjoy her recent Sunshine very much, and I haven't being hearing good things about Deerskin), I just found The Blue Sword in a second-hand bookstore the other day, can't wait to read it!
In reference back to messages 12 and 14, the quote on the front of Neil Gamain's The Graveyard Book is from DWJ: "The best book Gamain has ever written." (I disagree, I liked Neverwhere better!)

Fiona, I just have to say...I couldn't stop laughing when I read "a stand alone about giant vegetables and the revenge of cauliflower cheese"! HA! It sounds hilarious!

YES! Another convert! Well, almost. Tell me what you think when you've read them!

Lian Hearn is the Australian author Gillian Rubenstein - I've yet to read the Otori series, I tried once, but couldn't get into it.... time to give it another go, I think!
I'm the same, Fiona, I'm 22, and still love YA the most above everything! Often I feel like I shouldn't, and that I really should grow up and act my age, but since coming onto GR, I've realised I'm definitely not the only one! AND I recommend The Sherwood Ring, and Summers at Castle Auburn - YA reads with a good mix of fantasy, romance and witty cleverness.

Susie - I've read Coraline, Stardust and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and I'm currently starting The Graveyard Book. Coraline was deliciously creepy, I thought the movie of Stardust better than the novel, but I loved Neverwhere!
Also, the sequels to The Thief (in my humble opinion) outshine it, so read them, quick! :D

I thought I'd mention The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia, because not only are they GREAT, but their author, Megan Whalen Turner, cites DWJ as one of her influences..

Oh! I loved Cart and Cwidder (especially the jolly dad who turns out to be a spy), and then I eagerly started the next book, only to be disappointed that it wasn't about the same people at all! Once I got over that, I liked the next two books, but the first and last were my favourites. Our library has heaps of her books, and I generally borrow one each time I go there, so EVENTUALLY I'll get through them all!

Hi everyone, I just joined after seeing your plea in the Next Best Book Club, Fiona! I only read my first DWJ book (Howl's Moving Castle) just over a year ago, so I'm a bit of a latecomer, which is a pity, because I would have really loved her books if I'd read them when I was younger. But as it is, I really like them! I've since read The Dalemark Quartet, Dogsbody, Castle in the Air, The Homeward Bounders, Power of Three, and Fire and Hemlock. As much as I've enjoyed them however, I often find myself becoming confused...especially with Fire and Hemlock's ending, I had NO idea what was going on and how what happened solved everything. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me and my limited brain?