Warning: The following contains the inevitable spoilers…

Fire and Hemlock
I’ve spoken of this book before, and of why I love it so much. It’s just such a classic, beautifully told, intelligent story. Yes, I know people who dislike the story and can’t read it because of the questionable relationship between Tom Lynn and Polly as a young girl, but its still a damn good story where nothing bad (in that way) happens. It’s also one of those rare books where, upon each re-reading you always gain some further understanding, notice something new, and love it just that little bit more.

Deep Secret
As previously discussed I find this book works for the same reasons that Fire & Hemlock. It’s what I call ‘real-world fantasy’ (does anyone else use that term), and I mean that even though half the book takes place a multitude of different worlds. The main story, the story that we all care about happens in the real world, in and around recognisable places, the fantasy crosses into those everyday situations so utterly deliciously.

Charmed Life
What’s not to like in Charmed Life. This was my first Chrestomanci novel that I read, and is, far and away the best. Why do I love this book so much? I think its because the way that Diana Wynne Jones takes you on a journey where you cross allegiances – a trick that I find is rarely pulled off. You start off thinking that Gwendoline is the heroine of the story, but she’s not, she’s far from not.

A Tale of Time City
Many people don’t seem to rate this. I’m not sure why not. For one thing its a stand-alone story, something that is increasingly rare amongst Diana Wynne Jones’ canon of work. Forgive me if my review isn’t accurate, its too many years since I read it, but I do remember it and as something worth remembering. The story takes a while for you to get into, but persevere and you will be rewarded with a marvellous time-switch novel of the highest order. And if I recall correctly, some brilliant parallels with Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities.

Power of Three
It’s hard to say why this story is important to me without revealing the ending and in that the reason for reading the novel. My advice with Power of Three is to sit back and enjoy it, and guess at what is to become, and constantly be surprised and have yourself second guessed and proved right until the final reveal. You won’t be disappointed in this story which takes our historical heritage and twists it into something new.

Dogsbody
What’s not to love about Dogsbody? Actually, I think that’s all I can say about it. I loved that book. 🙂

Howl’s Moving Castle
This is everyone’s favourite I think. Well, everyone who hasn’t ranked Fire & Hemlock higher. If I’m honest I think I struggled a bit to get into this book the first time I read it. I know, I know, the shock of it. But once I did get into it, I was away. I think the problem was I didn’t care so much for Howl the first time I read it. I liked Sophie, and Calcifer, and their sparring relationship, but I guess I wanted more of the title character and he is strangely absent for much of the book, which is odd since he’s the title character. Enjoy this though and then relive it all in House of Many Ways.

There you are, there’s my top seven Diana Wynne Jones books. Maybe not the best reviews, and much of it taken from memory, but my honest opinions. Finally, I’m currently reading The Merlin Conspiracy. This is the second time I’ve started reading this book, notionally a sequel to Deep Secret. I’m struggling, it has to be said. It’s not quite got the consistency of magic that her best books have.

One of the things I love about Fire & Hemlock is its rich use of source material; the layers of literature that underly the story. From the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, and the story of Tam Lin which are referenced directly in the story, to T.S. Elliot’s Four Quartets. Finding these links and these parallels have been a fascinating, insightful, and add more and more to every re-reading. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it now. The story was bound to inspire me and inform my own writing.

The novel I’m currently writing, Mr Tumnal draws parallels with Diana Wynne Jones’ book. And has nods and quotes to and from it along with other references to popular culture and literature. It’s fun. It’s not fan-fiction because it doesn’t use DWJ’s characters, plot, or setup in anyway (although there are a couple of minor characters who happen to be called Tom and Polly and who happen to be getting married but who aren’t DWJ’s Tom and Polly). It’s not a dreadful rehashing of a timeless classic either.

Like Fire & Hemlock with its double set of memories there are two sides to the story of Louis Tumnal. It’s just that where in F & H they were memories, in my story they are the real and the imaginative life of a lonely man. It’s a story of my own creation, very unique in its way which exists in the way that it does because Diana Wynne Jones inspired me by writing her great book.

Fire & Hemlock was the first of Diana Wynne Jones’ books that I read. I still have the battered and well-thumbed, much-loved Methuen Teens edition with that smokey and evocative, chalk cover illustration. I devoured Tom and Polly’s story completely. This was back in 1989 – my friend Simon recommended the book to me in Geography class at school. I went on to seek out all of her other books over the next few years devoured them all. I remember my brother thinking that there were two authors of the same name, confused as he was by Diana’s ability to write for both young children and older teenagers.

Charmed Life stands out as a book I really enjoyed and I did like many of the early Chrestomanci novels including The Lives of Christopher Chant and Witch Week but for me Charmed Life cannot be one of my favourite books simply because (unlike many) I don’t count the Chrestomanci books as a whole as Diana Wynne Jones at her best. As a series I do not find them as successful as her stand-alone novels. I also have a preference for her real-world fantasy which is why I like Tom and Polly’s story so much. It is firmly set in the Here and Now (or nowhere I guess…) and there is a reasonable explanation for almost everything fantastical that happens.

It is perhaps fitting that my second-favourite Diana Wynne Jones novel is the last one that I have read. Deep Secret is another real-world fantasy with wonderful similarities to all that I liked best in Fire & Hemlock; a will-they-won’t they relationship between the main characters; the sci-fi convention that echoes the fair scene in Fire & Hemlock.

Another favourite is Tale of Time City, which I think, really might be due a re-read. I wonder if Jane will pick this story up for one of her remaining reviews of the week?