From archive (archive) Subject: Author Lists: Diana Wynne Jones From: JWenn.ESAE@XEROX.COM Date: 18 Apr 89 07:38:57 GMT I'm a great fan of well done "juveniles". A juvenile can have anything an adult book can have (except for wild sex). The prose is seldom as intricate as other adult novels, but that means that it can be clearer, more direct, without the complications adult life can impose on situations. Diana Wynne Jones (together with Margaret Mahy, Jane Yolen, and Daniel Pinkwater (for humor) are among my favorite "juvenile" authors. I'ld especially recommend the "Chrestomanci" books as well as "Fire and Hemlock" [an excellent retelling of Tam Lin]. [C] == Short Story Collection. [J] == The book is for juveniles (however you define them) aka == Also known by this other title. /John arpa: JWenn.ESAE@Xerox.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jones, Diana Wynne [1934- ] [all works considered [J], most can be considered humour] The Dalemark Sequence: Cart and Cwidder [1975] Drowned Ammet [1976] The Spellcoats [1979] The Chrestomanci books: Charmed Life [1977] The Magicians of Caprona [1980] Witch Week [1982] The Lives of Christopher Chant [1988] Changeover [1970] [Adult] Witch's Business [1973] [aka "Wilkin's Tooth"] The Ogre Downstairs [1974] The Eight Days of Luke [1975] Dogsbody [1975] Power of Three [1976] Who Got Rid of Angus Flint? [1978] The Four Grannies [1980] The Homeward Bounders [1981] The Time of the Ghost [1981] Archer's Goon [1984] The Skiver's Guide [1984] [non-fiction, how to avoid having to do anything] Fire and Hemlock [1984] Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories [1985] [C] Howl's Moving Castle [1986] A Tale of the Time City [1987] From rec.arts.sf.written Thu Nov 11 12:31:33 1993 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!gatech!cc.gatech.edu!erica From: erica@cc.gatech.edu () Subject: Re: Diana Wynne Jones, _Charmed Life_ Message-ID: <1993Nov9.155928.14759@cc.gatech.edu> Sender: news@cc.gatech.edu Organization: College of Computing, Georgia Tech References: <2beko3$h82@usenet.pa.dec.com> <1993Nov7.000238.26472@odin.diku.dk> Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 15:59:28 GMT Lines: 68 In article , Ulrike Schrepf wrote: > >In article <1993Nov7.000238.26472@odin.diku.dk>, rancke@diku.dk (Hans Rancke-Madsen) writes: >|> rcrowley@hildy.zso.dec.com ("Rebecca Leann Smit Crowley") writes: [MUNCH] Here's my reviews: Tale of Time City: exciting and well paced--but the ending is a bit vague. [Vivian Lee is abducted into time city to solve a mystery which threatens time itself] The Ogre Downstairs: super sense-of-wonder and I >loved< the bit about the pipes. Closest to Nesbit I've found (except the children aren't as well-behaved! :) [Their mother married an ogre with unpleasant children and the ogre gave both sets of children an unusual chemistry set] Wilkin's tooth: not very good but worth reading once [two children set up a detective agency] Warlock at the wheel: good collection but I prefer the longer books Spellcloaks: delightful!!! Wish I owned a copy [Too neat to describe easily] Power of Three: very nice and surprising. Ditto [Three siblings discover that their world is on a much smaller scale then you might believe...] Cart and Cwidder: one of her best. Exciting travel adventure Homeward Bounders: darker and a little confusing. Sad ending but enthralling none-the-less. [Jamie gets caught up in a game with enormous consequences...little did he suspect what curiocity would get him into] Archer's Goon: A delightful laugh from beginning to end with a current of realism present throughout her books. Still have a few questions about this one (in particular about Awful right near the end, but I'll save that for anotherpost...) Howl's Moving Castle: her best. Romance, comedy, magic, fun! [Sophie, the eldest of three, knows that she is doomed to fail first and worst in life in a land where faery tales are true] Fire & Hemlock: dark, moving, sad, funny, confusing, brilliant, written for children, meant for adults, and an ending which once you get it is brilliant and when you don't frustrates you until you >do< get it. Lives of Christopher Chant: good book. Some of it outraged me (esp. the mermaids), but a solid read. [Story about young Chrestomanci...] Charmed Life: Boooooy! Is Gwendolyn mean! Good book but not her best. Still very readable. Witch Week: closest to actually being written for the fifth graders which she is often accused of writing for. Good adventure with dark undercurrents. [Chrestomanci makes an appearance here too. The story relates about a class in which someone >might< be a witch!] Dogsbody: superb book with moral overtones and a wonderful sense of reality. As always, some darkness pervades the storyline. [Sirius the dogstar is relegated to an earthly body--a dog, in order to prove his innocence in a matter of murder] Aunt Maria: pretty silly nothing. Worth reading from the library [Two kids meet a nasty aunt] Castle in the Air: lame followup to Howl's Moving castle. For DWJ, lame means read at least once. [Arabian tale] A Sudden Wild Magic: meant for adults but in fact is readable easily by fifth graders (while some of the fifth grader stuff is better read by adults!) A sweet nothing of a tale. Erica ===========================ERICA SADUN================================ Grep foo whilst ye may, oh daemons of the Spring... erica@cc.gatech.edu ======================================================================