Diana Wynne Jones

So are there any other fans of her shit around?
If you are unfamiliar with her, you should fix that. She wrote a lot of really vividly different stuff, not just in setting and premise but also in terms of voice and tone and narrative color, to the point that I've forgotten some of her stuff was by the same person. Her essays are also pretty fucking excellent, especially the ones where she really broke open the writing a lot to get a look at the marrow. Most of her stuff also features abusive/neglectful family members in interesting ways.


Anyways, the real reason I started this thread is because I stumbled across this song @whimsicalobservant posted in the current music thread, and it is such a Homeward Bounders song. Hell, there's even a "fuck anchors" bit.

 

Only read Howls Moving Castle. Great book.

 

I read books from her Chrestomanci series when I was a kid and I really loved them. I think I read Charmed Life first, and for the following books I always thought it was a shame that the characters didn't come back.

 

i spent a really long time trying to hunt down copies of her harder-to-find books in various libraries. i don't think i ever managed to find them all. i should definitely try again and also reread the ones i did find.

 

The Dark Lord of Derkholm is one of my favorite books ever, though it's been ages since I read it. Dat worldbuilding. Same with Homeward Bounders, it had such a good bittersweet ending.

 

Spoiler: just in case

ngl, if I had a tumblr I would be so tempted to draw an anchor with a ribbon wrapped around it saying "hope is an anchor" to see how many "oh you motherfucker"s I could get mixed in with all the ~inspirational~ reblogs.

 

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland was formative for me as a kid.

 

I grew up on her books! The Crestomanci stuff never grabbed me all that much, but Archer's Goon, and The Ogre Downstairs, and Homeward Bounders, and Howl's Moving Castle, and the Dalemark quarter, and Tough Guide & Dark Lord of Derkholm... so much good stuff!

 

I've only ever read Howl's Moving Castle, but it was really good and i liked it! I need to read more of her stuff.

 

My Chrestomanci books yellowed, thoroughly dog-eared and falling apart from shattered spines

 

I've read a lot of her stuff, though not all.

Those of you who have only read HMC: there are sequels! It's a little hard to see how they connect at first, but they really expand the universe and I love the house in House of Many Ways.