Diana Wynne Jones

[sieglinde]

Sad to report that this wonderful writer has died on Saturday, after a long battle with cancer.

Very sad here; feeling rather choked. I have 33 of her books on my shelves, and the spines are breaking on the most loved. Rest in peace.

No! The Chrestomaci books were some of my most loved books :(

Oh no - I absolutely adored her books - so incredibly sad that her amazing imagination and intelligence wont bestow more brilliant stories on our kids

I'm sad about this - I was expecting this to happen as she was diagnosed with lung cancer a while ago and gave up chemotherapy last summer.

dinky, I'm sorry that she won't bestow any more brilliant stories on me. I know a lot of grown up fans who still buy her books for themselves, including my cousin. I'm still sad about Joan Aiken's death 7 years later, too.

I hope my little boys will enjoy her books (at least I have some books I think they will like, as I don't have a daughter to share my Noel Streatfeilds with).

Sad news - good obituary of her in the Guardian here.

I grew up on her books, though haven't yet managed to interest my DCs in them. They do like the film of Howl's Moving Castle though.

Very sad - I'm glad she got a bit more recognition in the wake of Harry Potter, though.
And hoping more of her books get reprinted now. I'm a bit paranoid about lending my precious copy of Dogsbody...

Oh no. Great author.

I loved the Ogre Downstairs
Eight Days of Luke
and Power of Three.

Noooooo! I didn't even know she was ill

That's such a shame. I love all her books so much. I'm grateful that I haven't read all of them yet though, as it means I still have some yet to discover.

notcitrus Dogsbody was reprinted last year, I think

We love best The Ogre Downstairs, Eight Days of Luke, all the Chrestomanci, Howl (the first), The Homeward Bounders and Fire & Hemlock; but all her books were inspirational.

I don't think I will ever understand Hexwood properly though

I have to admit I often re-read her books Elkie when I'm feeling blue - loved a Sudden Wild Magic, Fire & Hemlock and Howl's Moving Castle.

Thats sad, Chrestomanci was one of DS's favorite books.

Yes, I feel choky, too. She was a brilliant writer. I gather there's another and final book in press.

She had lung cancer for many years. I really love her Tough Guide to Fantasyland, as well as those cited by others - though also must cite Fire and Hemlock, and Witch Week...

WHAT a loss. Best fantasy writer of her generation, IMHO. The Neil Gaiman blog has some good recollections of her.

One of the final books is an assembly of talks and essays, I think, assembled by Charles Butler, I think.

The Neil Gaiman blog made me cry.

Yes, just found this -

"A short novel for younger readers, Earwig and the Witch, will be published in summer 2011 by HarperCollins (UK), Greenwillow (US) and Tokuma Shoten (Japan). This tells the story of young Earwig, who loved living in an orphanage and hates Bella Yaga, who chose her from the children's home and makes her do horrible jobs such as scrubbing the floor and powdering rats' bones. With the help of Thomas the Cat, Earwig solves her predicament with DWJ's trademark humour and understanding.

Secondly, next year David Fickling Publishers will be producing a collection of Diana's articles, lectures, talks, etc. This will include an introduction by Charlie Butler and an interview by him with her, probably Diana's last ever interview."

Charlie will do a great job, I think, as will David Fickling. Yes, Colyngbourne - agree about the Neil Gaiman blog. She deserves a few tears; we were lucky to have her books.... and we still have those.

We have all her books, my DDs are just getting into them and I still re-read them regularly. Tragic loss, she was still writing brilliant books and I was always looking forward to her next one.

Oh so sad - I love her books

That's good news about the nonfiction collection. There've been quite a few recent reprints - Eight Days of Luke was reissued a couple of months ago.