Diana Wynne Jones

[Kathy Li]

I'm behind. I had no idea that Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air have another sequel. Let's just say that when I saw House of Many Ways in the bookstore, I grabbed. And not that you needed to be told, but it rocks. Sophie, Howl, Morgan, and Calcifer all appear (not to mention Jamal and his squid-loving dog).

[Space Cadet]

Oh, wow. Thank you so much for posting! I haven't been keeping up with what DWJ has been publishing recently, but that is definitely a book I would want to read.

Right, I'm now off to do a little jig of joy.

[running_alone]

Woah, woah, wait. There's a third one now?! *does a dance*

I just re-read Howl's Moving Castle, before re-reading the Young Wizard books. I shall have to go find this sequel. Hope the university library has it. So far it hasn't let me down.

I do love Sophie.

[Birdhead]

I just wrote my Honours year research paper on House of Many Ways! (OK, and a couple of other books: some Arthur Ransome, Enid Blyton, Margaret Mahy, and also The Merlin Conspiracy.) I really enjoyed it - it's terrific (and it's telling that I still think it's good even after writing 10000 words about it.)

Potentially spoilery remarks ahead: I really enjoy the way Charmain and Peter's roles in the novel reverse Howl and Sophie (gender-wise) in HMC. Charmain goes out to do Important Stuff and Peter stays home and cleans. And their character journeys are similar too - Peter, like Sophie, while he cleans the house is also metaphorically sorting *himself* out, discovering his talents etc; Charmain's big learning journey, like Howl, is about learning to be a bit more thoughtful of others. It's kind of neat.

Plus, it's DWJ, so it's funny and beautifully written - but that really goes without saying. I'm really looking forward to Enchanted Glass next year!

[Space Cadet]

DWJ not well at all

I've got some bad news for you, if you haven't heard yet. Diana Wynne Jones is battling cancer, but it seems that she has now decided to stop her chemotherapy treatment and start preparing for the inevitable. Apparently, her doctors think she only has a few months to live.

I . . . I really can't put my feelings about this into words yet. I'm upset, and thinking about all of her books that I have read so far, all the characters and worlds I have been introduced to through her, and how she has challenged, again and again, my ideas of what YA fantasy is.

Tor.com has a great post here: Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Send Diana Wynne Jones well-wishes
They've put a link to DWJ's semi-official fan page, which has an email address through which you can send thank you letters and best wishes to Diana.

[Elita Justice]

Wow...thanks so much for bringing this to our attention. Not sure I would've found out otherwise. Or if I had, not till much later.

This is such sad news. I love Diana Wynne Jones's work, and she was one of the first authors whose work I looked at and said "if only I could write like that." There's still many books of hers that I haven't read yet, and I look forward to discovering new favourites.

She hasn't even died yet, but it's so scary to think it will be happening in the forseeable. A great author gone so soon.

What's everyone favourite DWJ book? Mine is (so far) either Howl's Moving Castle or The Merlin Conspiracy.

[Priellan]

Holy cow. That's awfully sad. Life is too sad sometimes. Thanks for telling us that.

My favorite books by her are actually Year of the Griffin and The Game, with Deep Secret and Dark Lord of Derkholm following close behind, but I love everything I've read by her. (Griffin was actually the first thing I read by her - I hadn't heard of Howl's until I heard about the Miyazaki movie based on it.) She's definitely one of my favorite authors and she's probably one of the best fantasy writers ever, especially when it comes to humor. It's sad to see someone with such wonderful work go.

[Lazy Leopard]

My usual link for SF-related news is Ansible. The current issue says this:

Sadly, the same issue also reported Jeanne Robinson's death.

Many years ago now, as part of a small choir, I spent a couple of weekends in DWJ's basement recording a CD.

[96bookworms]

Wow...

I heard a while ago that she had cancer, but I saw it on a rather outdated site, so I thought that she had gotten a bit better...

I would have to say that my favorite books by her are the Chronicles of Chrestomanci, which are amazing books, and, obviously, very funny... In a book store in Jo'burg I found a really cool interview with DWJ in the back of one of her Chrestomanci books. One story that she told was about the husband of a friend of hers. He was traveling, and he stopped in a special lounge at the airport. he was about to leave and he saw that he was still carrying the drink. He muttered to himself I belong to Crestomanci Castle, I Belong to Crestomanci Castle!, and put down his drink. A man next to him heard him and said "Yes, but underneath this suit I am, in fact, wearing a richly embroidered dressing gown.", and walked out with his drink. I might not make sense if you haven't read the series, but if you have it's hilarious...
My second favorite books are definitely Howl's Moving Castle and the sequels. I read those first, and I really loved them, particularly House of Many Ways, because I am very similar to Charmain, or at least I hope I am...

Anyways, I just wanted to say that I am really sorry to hear about Diana Wynne Jones, and have always loved her as an author.

[Lazy Leopard]

I recently read House of Many Ways, the third book in the Howl series. I'm now reading her new book Enchanted Glass, which is, I think, not actually part of any particular series. It's being an entertaining read.

[nita13579]

Wow... i've never read any of DWJ books at all... I remember seeing them on the book shelves in the bookstore, but never really thought to read them. so far they sound very good, and next time I'll keep them in mind. Thank you all DWJ lovers, you have changed me!

[Lazy Leopard]

Sadly, Diana Wynne Jones died last night. DD has written a tribute in her LJ, and there's a link in that to Peter Morwood's tribute. There will be more tributes in the days to come, I'm sure.

[Kathy Li]

Yes, I was on twitter, and Neil Gaiman said that he was on a train after a rough day and he'd answer questions for a while, so there was a tweetmobfest interview, and in the middle of it, one person asked him why it was a rough day, and he said he'd gone to visit a friend who was dying in hospice, and I just knew he meant DWJ.

And then, about eight hours later, he was tweeting that DWJ had died in the night, and that he was glad he'd gone down to see her. He'd almost put it off until today.

I have only one memory of DWJ. I saw her in a panel at a World Fantasy Convention that was held in London, and I just remember thinking she was incredibly cool and wise and funny and I'd have liked to have known her better. I'm so glad I've read her books. I know a lot of folks, DD included, are recommending The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, but I think I prefer the fictional version that's wrapped up in a plot, which is The Dark Lord of Derkholm.

[96bookworms]

Yeah, I heard about that earlier today...i'm really sad I knew she wasn't doing to well for a long time. On her website I'd read that she had stopped chemo months ago, and I knew what that meant.... but still, her book came out after that, and I heard that she was better for a while

[running_alone]

It made me sad to hear, as well. I'm glad that at least she doesn't have to put up with any pain any more. And I'm glad that she was able to leave such a great legacy behind.