(no subject)

We have had Aunt Maria ever since Dad died. If that sounds as if we have the plague, that is what I mean.

-The opening lines of Black Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

I just started this book, since I offered to write it for Yuletide, realized this is one of the few DWJ books I'd never read, so I found a copy and got my read on. I like it so far. It starts out as a conversational journal entry from the main character, Mig.

It quickly moves into one of the more exciting 'my parents were divorcing but my dad drove off a cliff to his death by accident instead' openings to a book I've read and things are getting... oddly sinister.

According to the summary, Mig's brother is gonna get turned into a wolf. Exciting.



Final thoughts on A Horse And His Boy now that I've finished it:

"This boy is manifestly no son of yours, for your cheek is as dark as mine but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North."

-The moment where it all went wrong in A Horse And His Boy by C.S. Lewis

Good news, everybody! I actually liked the last few chapters a lot. The point where I went 'I can't take this anymore' and shut off the book was also, apparently the last lap it had in it for horrifying me.

It had some interesting stuff, like the god of the Calormenes, Tash, being recognized by Aslan and I got to see the other humans of the Narnia world, the Archenlanders. Talking Beasts, there were humans right next door. I think you could have dealt with your witch problem a little sooner instead of waiting for a rogue wardrobe.

The 'epic battle scene' was a little less than epic. When it was from Shasta's perspective when he rode into it, it ended within sentences as he lost his sword, lost his shield, banged his hand, and fell over.

Then a hermit narrated it like a boxing match. As one does.

But! Then the wrap up. Parents were found, futures were glimpsed, and horses rolled around in bracken. The usual.

I talked mostly about what I didn't like in my last post, so I'll talk here about what I like, which are:

1. Aravis, the Calormene main character and a warrior girl. I like Aravis/Shasta too. Two thumbs up.
2. Hwin the horse. And Bree the horse, once he smartened up.
3. C.S. Lewis' food scenes. Like I said to someone else, even knowing what Turkish delight is like, his scene in LWW always makes me crave it.
4. The journey bits. Those were actually fun. I didn't like the world building that was mostly 'what unpleasant stereotype can I use now?' (someone pointed out that he may, and I say may because I didn't ask for more info so I don't know for sure, have gotten a lot of this from reading about the Crusades and old translation of 1001 Nights, which is an explanation. Not an excuse, but an explanation) but the actual journeying and his descriptions of the gardens around Tashbaan and the way he described riding through the desert, I really truly liked that. And Shasta learning to ride was great. Especially since his horse was teaching him, as well as teasing about it after.

As you can tell from the start of this post, I've moved onto another book by my favourite author, Diana Wynne Jones. Here's hoping.

(no subject)

Damn and blast.

Okay, I like having icons relevant to the book I'm talking about in my posts, but my account's all run out (although, fifteen icons is a lot nicer than what I 'grew up on', on lj back when it was three icons a person)

So which one should I delete to make room for a general purpose Diana Wynne Jones icon?



CRISIS AVERTED oh beloved pixel children you get to stay.

Thank you, Anonymous benefactor!

THE DIANA WYNNE JONES ICON is from the cover of Howl's Moving Castle, as alas, I didn't think I'd get the cool details of the Hexwood cover in if I resized it, and couldn't find a good large cover of Eight Days Of Luke.