Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jan 03, 2013 Andrew rated it it was amazing

So where shall I start - shall I say that I loved the film and had to read the book, Shall I start with the fact I have know of Diana Wynne Jones for years and never got round to reading her work or shall I start with the fact that this book has been on my TBR list for far too long and I finally decided to do something about it - or just admit to all 3.

I was introduced to anime at University and I was fascinated - ok there is like any other media out there a lot of rubbish out there but the crea So where shall I start - shall I say that I loved the film and had to read the book, Shall I start with the fact I have know of Diana Wynne Jones for years and never got round to reading her work or shall I start with the fact that this book has been on my TBR list for far too long and I finally decided to do something about it - or just admit to all 3.

I was introduced to anime at University and I was fascinated - ok there is like any other media out there a lot of rubbish out there but the creations of Studio Ghibli instantly caught my attention and my imagination. in working through their impressive catalogue of creations I came across Howls Moving Castle. After a little further reading I discovered it was in fact based on a book, not only that but a book by a Welsh author no less. So I was even more intrigued. I added the title to my TBR list and kept an eye out for it on my travels. Now I rarely go out and buy books brand new, rather I let them come to me as I explore the book shops on my travels. However because of that this title has always seemed to elude me. Well I finally managed to track it down, and the other two in the series and here we are today.

So what of the book, as explained in the afterwards in the book, the story and characters do differ to the film, and I must admit although I love the visualisation of the film I think the characters in the book are far more entertaining and intriguing. The story sort of follows the same lines, enough to make them feel familiar but at the same time totally different. In fact at times it feels like only the two share titles and names. Now for me I have always felt a little uncomfortable when books are made in to films or back again. However here because they are so utterly different I feel the two can exist side by side.

But what of the book, well I say even if you have seen the film, read the book you will not be disappointed and if you have seen the film you cannot claim to know what will happen in the book (although considering the target age group you can field a pretty good guess). I think now the real adventure will start in the next book - where the characters has been introduced (not doubt with more being added to the cast), and the real adventures begin. ...more

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Aug 29, 2017 Catherine rated it really liked it

Shelves: older-female-protagonists-in-sf-f-h

Charming fantasy in which nearly everyone has a spell of some sort cast on them. Sophie is cursed to look old before her time, Howl to avoid commitment and emotional entanglements, Sophie's sisters have changed places with each other, there's a fire demon and the list goes on. I will say that the romance subplot didn't really speak to me and I think that the book could have done without it. But it's still a fun read.

For the purposes of my older female protagonists in SF/F/H project, it falls squ ...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Izlinda rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

It has been a while since I read one of Dianna Wynne Jones' books. I bought this sometime last fall, but hadn't had the time to read it until now.

I haven't seen the movie, though this book and the movie, individually, have been recommended to me.

The plot, at times, got quite twisted and confusing for me. I did like the characters of Sophie and Calcifer, though. I have to wonder how Howl figured out who the Witch's fire demon was. (The part of catching a falling star reminded me of Gaiman's Star ...more

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