Book of the Month - Oct Review

Title: Castle in the Air

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Important Info: Sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle

I went the magic route for my first review as an homage to the magical mysteries of Halloween month. Castle in the Air is part of a series that begins with Howl’s Moving Castle. The main reason I chose to read these books is because I have always loved the movie by Hayao Miyazaki. I wanted to see if I would fall in love with the written version that inspired the movie.

Once I read Howl’s Moving Castle, I truly enjoyed the story making and writing style of the author, Diana Wynne Jones. So, I chose to read the sequel, Castle in the Air, and it did not disappoint.

The main character, Abdullahi, was a great protagonist. He was a nice guy just trying to find his way, but was constantly being pushed down by his family and even the world itself. Finally got some luck with the discovery of a magic carpet that he was able to use to find the love of his life, The-Flower-In-The-Night. Even then, however, his hopes and dreams were ripped away as his one true love was stolen from him by djinn. Blamed

for the disappearance, he tries to clear his name, and of course save the woman he loves from certain danger. On the way he gets help from his magic carpet, a cranky genie, a rogue soldier, a shapeshifting cat, and not to mention a whole slew of helpful princesses. It is definitely a book full of magic and mystery.

When I first started reading the book, I was slightly disappointed that Howl and Sophie (two main characters from Howl’s Moving Castle) were nowhere to be found. But once I accepted this was a story about Abdullahi, the overly polite carpet salesmen, I began to truly appreciate the storytelling and the many crazy adventures that Abduallhi had to face. It was a book that definitely kept me on my toes, especially near the last few chapters where Ms Jones began to start connecting everything together including the previous book, Howl’s Moving Castle. Every page there was a surprise to behold, and it kept me reading to find out what new link might be unraveled.

The big question is who would I recommend this book to?

If you have read Howl’s Moving Castle…read this book!

If you have watched Howl’s Moving Castle…read Howl’s Moving Castle then read this book!

If you like cranky genies, magic carpets that need compliments, and people chasing cloudy castles…read this book!

And finally if you are a person who wants to see the underdog prove himself the hero…read this book!

What is great about this book is that you do not have to read Howl’s Moving Castle to enjoy it (though I do highly recommend you do). Diana Jones does a great job writing the book so that anyone can pick it up and enjoy the story.

So let’s rank it! As you may know I am Polish and an important symbol to many Polish people is the white eagle.

Occasionally it can even be seen on the polish flag. On that note, for my ratings I am going to give out feathers (I would like to add that my rating in no way means the book was bad…it more states that it just wasn’t my type of book but others should still try it out). One feather probably won't be reading again and five feathers mean that this will be a book I read every year.

Castle in the Air: 3.5/5 feathers!

Characters were great and I loved how they developed throughout the book, but it was hard keeping track of all the kingdoms and really quick location changes.

Have you read Castle in the Air? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them and possibly share them here with everyone. And if you haven’t read it, please do give it a try!

Like I always say -

GOTTA READ EM ALL!