Overview

A magical Arabian Nights tale from the captivating creator of fantasy, Diana Wynne Jones. The dazzling sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle. Far to the south in the Land of Ingary, lives a young carpet merchant called Abdullah. In his dreams, he is the long-lost son of a great prince. This dream is a complete castle in the air… or is it? Abdullah’s day-dreams suddenly start to come true when he meets the exquisite Flower-in-the-Night, daughter of the ferocious Sultan of Zanzib. Fate has destined them for each other, but a bad-tempered genie, a hideous djinn, and various villanous bandits have their own ideas. When Flower-in-the-Night is carried off, Abdullah is determined to rescue her – if he can find her.

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9780006755302

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Reviews

This is the Arabian Nights with a twist. Readers won't put down the book until they figure out all its secrets. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review) A bewitching romp, gratifying to mind, imagination, and funnybone. KIRKUS REVIEWS Praise for Diana Wynne Jones !Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones's most outrageous plots to her readers' hopes and fears! Publishers Weekly Diana Wynne Jones ought to be crowned with coloured garlands because she is the best writer of magical fantasy for children in this country Evening Standard Diana Wynne Jones could teach Stephen King and JK Rowling a thing or two ! [she] has a skill for inserting just the right amount of detail in her written words, leaving you satiated but not stuffed. SFX

This is the Arabian Nights with a twist. Readers won't put down the book until they figure out all its secrets. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review) A bewitching romp, gratifying to mind, imagination, and funnybone. KIRKUS REVIEWS Praise for Diana Wynne Jones !Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones's most outrageous plots to her readers' hopes and fears! Publishers Weekly Diana Wynne Jones ought to be crowned with coloured garlands because she is the best writer of magical fantasy for children in this country Evening Standard Diana Wynne Jones could teach Stephen King and JK Rowling a thing or two ! [she] has a skill for inserting just the right amount of detail in her written words, leaving you satiated but not stuffed. SFX

In a sequel to the ebulliently inventive Howl's Moving Castle (1986), a wicked djinn (with the aid of his more benevolent brother, whom he's managed to enthrall) has captured more than a hundred princesses in the hope of wedding them all. Young Abdullah, a rug merchant enamored of one of them, discovers that his dreams and nightmares are being precipitately realized as he endeavors to rescue her. A strange merchant sold him the carpet, threadbare but magical, that first wafted him to Flower-in-the-Night ; he is soon also equipped with a comically cranky genie that does its best to subvert Abdullah's attempts to get out of his increasingly elaborate predicaments with the use of his daily wish. The quest takes him from the deserts near his native Zanzib to Britain-like Ingary (see Howl) and thence to the sky-high Castle, now considerably inflated by the djinns who are keeping the princesses there. True to form, Jones provides delicious personalities even for the carpet (it's lazy but susceptible to flattery), and slips in some double identities that should surprise even fans familiar with her bottomless bag of tricks. This hasn't quite the intellectual pyrotechnics of The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988), or as many wheels within thematic wheels; it will stand alone, but is even more fun if the familiar characters (who do finally turn up) are already known. A bewitching romp, gratifying to mind, imagination, and funny bone. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011) spent her childhood in Essex and began writing fantasy novels for children in the 1970s. With her unique combination of magic, humour and imagination, she enthralled generations of children and adults with her work. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life, was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981 and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal.

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