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Original poster

Would anyone like to enthuse/reminisce about Diana Wynne Jones with me?

80 replies

SarahAndQuack · 18/01/2019 19:21

I've just curled up with 'A Tale of Time City' and am remember how much I loved all her books when I was little. I really enjoy how as an adult they still 'work'. I especially like all the little in-jokes that you don't necessarily pick up on as a child.

Anyone else? Do you have a favourite?

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sleepyhead · 18/01/2019 22:20

Eight Days of Luke! Another one that I wonder if it inspired Mr Gaiman?

The Time of the Ghost - seriously creepy, and apparently partly based on her & her sisters growing up.

I love Joan Aiken. Midnight is a Place is my favourite, but I'd love to go back and re-read all her books too.

ISaySteadyOn · 18/01/2019 22:16

Marking my place. I love them all. She really knew how to write cats too.

BlessYourCottonSocks · 18/01/2019 22:14

I absolutely loved her - but I never 'got' The Dalemark Quartet. I've still got all my books, and I think that I only read that once. I might give it another go, SarahAndQuack if you think it was good - my favourites were Fire and Hemlock, Howl - and Deep Secret. I loved the weird Fantasy Writers' Conference Hotel!

Also - how about Black Maria?

(Also loved Susan Cooper and Alan Garner. Joan Aiken anyone?)

sleepyhead · 18/01/2019 22:11

Neil Gaiman on DWJ

sleepyhead · 18/01/2019 22:09

I think Fire & Hemlock is my favourite. I've just re-read the Dalemark Quarted though and I do love The Spellcoats. Power of Three is another great one, and Witch Week - so much fantastic stuff!!

Did you know that she was great friends with Neil Gaiman? I think his book The Ocean At The End of the Lane is very reminiscent of her work.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 18/01/2019 22:03

Another Fire and Hemlock lover here. I even pursued a Tamlin (successfully) on a joint school trip purely because of that book.

Loved the Chrestomanci books too, I think "Charmed Life" is my favourite. "Witch Week" was the first I read with help from my dm so a long time ago and I still have the books, just need ds and dd to get old enough to read them.

ATwinThing · 18/01/2019 22:01

I first read Fire and Hemlock probably as a young teenager. I think I'm still finding new things to enjoy/understand each time I read it.
I also love the Chrestomanci books.

ThePlatypusAlwaysTriumphs · 18/01/2019 22:00

Can't believe no one has mentioned the Outward Bounders! Re read that to my dds a few years ago, as well as Fire and Hemlock! Loved those books as a kid!

cheminotte · 18/01/2019 21:56

I loved her too. I read charmed life to DS (11) last summer as he reads very little fiction but does like Harry Potter. He enjoyed having them read to him (and has listened to as audio since) but not enough to keep reading when I left the room.

Lively123 · 18/01/2019 21:56

Still love the Chrestomanci books

JuniLoolaPalooza · 18/01/2019 21:51

Did you all read Fire & Hemlock as adults or kids/teenagers? I think I was too young to appreciate some of the subtleties.

Danteinferno · 18/01/2019 21:37

Fire and Hemlock ♥️

PinkOboe · 18/01/2019 21:37

Lurk

KatyNana · 18/01/2019 21:37

Love her. Especially Chrestomanci and especially Caprona.
Her adult books are great too..

Original poster
SarahAndQuack · 18/01/2019 21:35

Oh, that'll be lovely!

My DD is 21 months and I am already trying to work out how soon I can legitimately pretend I am reading them 'to' her rather than 'at' her. Grin

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bookworm14 · 18/01/2019 21:35

Yes!! She is an underrated genius. My favourite has to be Fire and Hemlock, but I don’t think she ever wrote a dud book. The Ogre Downstairs and Archer’s Goon can still make me laugh out loud. Witch Week is both hilarious and incredibly astute about bullying and fear of the ‘other’. Homeward Bounders is brilliant on authority and being an outsider.

God, I love Diana Wynne Jones.

JuniLoolaPalooza · 18/01/2019 21:35

Sarah - It's 'The Time of the Ghost', my mistake.

Danteinferno · 18/01/2019 21:33

I’m feeling sooooo nostalgic now. Tomorrow night I’m going to start reading my copies to my 6yr old at bed time

Original poster
SarahAndQuack · 18/01/2019 21:30

@danteinferno - ooh, yes, the Dalemark Quartet is wonderful. I love the richness of the world she imagines. Especially the way in The Spellcoats, that she has a frame story about the coats being discovered preserved in the bog, like Iron Age treasures. It's so clever.

polka - YY, Magicians of Caprona is fantastic! I remember my mum reading it with my little brother when he was Tonino's sort of age and very dyslexic, and I think it is a really clever way to communicate to a child that you could seem to be very slow at something but actually, you're just doing it in your own way.

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PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 18/01/2019 21:27

Oh I loved her books. I've read Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci books so many times.

The Magicians of Caprona was probably my favourite. I loved the idea of whole families of wizards. I liked the nods to Romeo and Juliet as well.

cheeseandcrackers · 18/01/2019 21:27

Witch week. First one I read. Haven't read any Diana WJ for 30 years but absolutely loved her books

Original poster
SarahAndQuack · 18/01/2019 21:26

juni, I've never read The Time of the Witch! I didn't realise there were any I'd missed. Thank you.

(I love Archer's Goon too. It is properly laugh-out-loud funny.)

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Danteinferno · 18/01/2019 21:26

Charmed life, howl’s moving castle and the dalemark quartet we’re my childhood favourites. I still have my whole collection and read them regularly 🥰

Original poster
SarahAndQuack · 18/01/2019 21:25

Ooh, yes, dance, I love Howl as a character! And Sophie even more so. Such a great sequence. And yes, Alan Garner and Susan Cooper. I am so envious of people who've not read their stuff. It was a great period for children's lit when they were writing.

musical - well, I enjoyed it! I do read a lot of children's fiction. It's not her most grown-up, but I still found it quite fun. And I liked little touches that feel real to an adult - about the endless ceremonies in Time City; that sort of thing.

broomstick - ha, I know the feeling! Grin I think Hexwood was a bit like that for me. Took me into the awkward corners of Arthurian romance to figure out where she was getting it all from. Of course, her husband was a famous medieval scholar so they must have chatted all the time.

christmas - ooh, yes! Grin I didn't read that until I was an adult but it's really enjoyable. With, now, the bonus that it's so very 'of its time'. The magical bits haven't dated but the ideas of the big brother sneaking out to the disco really have!

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JuniLoolaPalooza · 18/01/2019 21:22

My favourite is Archer's Goon. I prefer the ones for 9ish year olds than the older ones. I need to reread Fire and Hemlock as I really didn't understand the ending as a child.
The Time of the Witch was super creepy, she was so good at atmospheric stuff.