Wizard's Castle (Howl's Moving Castle & Castle in the Air)

Diana Wynne-Jones has become one of the best known fantasy writers still around today. Wizards, witches, monsters and a good dose of comic relief characterize her books, including the solid duology "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Castle in the Air." In "Howl's Moving Castle," timid Sophie was the eldest of three daughters, meaning that she had nil chance of destiny finding a great place for her. She vents her frustrations on an old woman who comes into her hat shop... only to find out that the old woman is the Witch of the Wastes, who ages her into a crone. Deeply annoying, Sophie tramps off to the castle of the magician Howl, who reportedly drains the souls of young maidens... and who turns out to be a lot more of a handful than Sophie predicted. In "Castle in the Air," the not-so-prosperous Abdullah is a carpet merchant, but spends more time lost in his own thoughts. Things take an unexpected twist when a man sells him a magical carpet. It whisks him off to the garden of a lovely princess, who is fated to marry whatever man she sees first. That's fine with Abdullah. They try to elope, only to have the princess kidnapped by a hideous djinn. Now he's on the run with a mercenary, a malicious genie, and and a pair of cats. You can tell a book is good if Hayao Miyazaki has made an animated movie about it (although if he does the sequel, he'll need to change the title). And while undoubtedly Miyazaki has brought his own brand of creative magic to the film, Jones's variety is intact and present in these two books. Don't think that the wrong two books have been meshed together when "Castle in the Air" starts -- Howl and Co. are in the book, they just take awhile to show up. Jones takes the opportunity to poke a little fun at Arabian-Nights settings, as well as fairy-tale conventions (why do older sisters get all the tough luck, huh?). Her writing is brisk and highly entertaining, especially when the unfortunate Sophie struggles to deal with the rather immature, erratic Howl, or when Abdullah has to carefully phrase his wishes to the malicious genie -- or risk getting his wishes twisted. And her characters are, in the end, likable people -- they have individual quirks and personalities that make them fun to read about. And colorful ones -- enslaved fire demons, embittered genies, dreamy carpet merchants, and a damsel turned into an old lady. Before Hayao Miyazaki's film comes to the United States, brush up on Diana Wynn-Jones' original fantasy duology. Fun, weird and a little bit twisted.