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The Dalemark Quartet #1-2
The Dalemark Quartet, Vol. 1: Cart and Cwidder & Drowned Ammet
It is a country divided by war. For centuries, the earldoms of the North and South have battled. Now, four young people from different times -- with the help of their mysterious gods, the Undying -- must unite to save their beloved land. Traveling musician Moril has inherited a cwidder said to have belonged to one of the Undying. Can he learn to harness its strange powers in time to prevent an invasion? To avenge his father's death, Mitt has joined a plot to assassinate the tyrannical Earl Hadd. But when everything goes wrong, he finds himself on a storm-tossed sea in a boat with his enemies.
534 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
3 people are currently reading
473 people want to read
About the author
Diana Wynne Jones
157 books12k followersDiana Wynne Jones was a celebrated British writer best known for her inventive and influential works of fantasy for children and young adults. Her stories often combined magical worlds with science fiction elements, parallel universes, and a sharp sense of humor. Among her most beloved books are Howl's Moving Castle, the Chrestomanci series, The Dalemark Quartet, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and the satirical The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Her work gained renewed attention and readership with the popularity of the Harry Potter series, to which her books have frequently been compared.
Admired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling, Jones was a major influence on the landscape of modern fantasy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, two Mythopoeic Awards, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2004, Howl's Moving Castle was adapted into an acclaimed animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, further expanding her global audience.
Jones studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She began writing professionally in the 1960s and remained active until her death in 2011. Her final novel, The Islands of Chaldea, was completed posthumously by her sister Ursula Jones.
Admired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling, Jones was a major influence on the landscape of modern fantasy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, two Mythopoeic Awards, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2004, Howl's Moving Castle was adapted into an acclaimed animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, further expanding her global audience.
Jones studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She began writing professionally in the 1960s and remained active until her death in 2011. Her final novel, The Islands of Chaldea, was completed posthumously by her sister Ursula Jones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 3, 2013
There is sometimes an assumption that if a novel’s protagonists are youngsters then the novel can only be for other youngsters to read. This is not always the case, and for me many of Diana Wynne Jones’ ‘young adult’ stories can and ought to be enjoyed by youngsters of all ages, reasoning which prompts me to resist tagging this volume as ‘children’ or ‘YA’.
It is also sometimes assumed that fantasy is a lesser genre than more mainstream novels. I don’t accept that needs to be so, and the author herself has made clear that to dismiss fantasy as escapist is a mistaken attitude (http://wp.me/p2oNj1-bd). The best fantasy has as much to say about the human condition as more literary examples, and Jones’ fantasy mostly falls into this category. Add to that the fact that Jones attended lectures by Tolkien himself at Oxford (he mumbled a lot, apparently) then this series of four related fantasy novels deserves to be taken seriously.
The first three of the Dalemark Quartet were published in the 70s, with the first two published as Volume 1 nearly thirty years later. Cart and Cwidder happens moreorless contemporaneously with Drowned Ammet and so it makes sense to have the two titles combined in one, as the publishers have done here. The action takes place in a land wracked by civil war between north and south, in which Jones’ young heroes and heroines must make their precarious way.
Cart and Cwidder (1975)
In a lecture on ‘Heroes’ delivered in Australia in 1992, Diana Wynne Jones makes it quite clear that she sees her heroes (and heroines) as flawed beings in whom we, the spectators, seek to invest our sympathy. And so it is with the young travelling musician Moril in this tale, an apparent dreamer who inherits a stringed instrument called a cwidder. (This seems to be a made-up word based on a family of stringed instruments, from Ancient Greek kithara and zither, through to modern guitar and sitar, though cover illustrations seem to show a cross between a Renaissance lute and a mandolin.) He is expected to shoulder a lot of responsibility, despite his age, and how he responds is the mainspring of the story. And his response involves exactly that dreaminess that many other creative people have, in concert with the latent magical powers of the cwidder. A great many stories of magic, both old and new, involve the power of sound, from Orpheus’ lyre to the necromantic bells of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, from the musical instruments in Alison Croggon’s Pellinor tales to the traditional use of terms like ‘spell’, ‘enchantment’ (from French chanter), ‘grimoire’ and ‘glamour’ (from ‘grammar’) all referring to both spoken and sung words as well as those written down, and this Dalemark story follows in the same tradition.
Drowned Ammet (1979)
As Cart and Cwidder is structured round a journey (by cart, of course) from the south of the subcontinent of Dalemark to the north, so Drowned Ammet founds young Mitt also travelling in the same general direction, but this time by sea. And, in a similar way to Moril’s experience, Mitt’s long physical journey is shadowed by an inner journey as he comes to terms with who he is, what he stands for, where he is coming from and how he stands in relationship to friends, family, acquaintances, enemies and the demiurges that shape his world. When we hear distant news of Moril’s achievements we may strongly suspect that the paths of both Mitt and Moril may be destined to cross in a future book.
It is certainly delightful to read these two tales back to back and to live the experiences of these two protagonists through their eyes, as it were. And while the geography and physics of this world may seem strange to us, and the technology veer from high medieval to early modern, there is no doubting that these are real human beings recognisable from our own world, and for whom we can feel affinity and affection. And this being fantasy, there is of course an element of magic and the supernatural.
Here may be a good place to mention the useful map prepared by David Cuzic that appears in this edition and which provides a rudimentary but indispensible counterpart to the clues contained in the text.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-dalemark
It is also sometimes assumed that fantasy is a lesser genre than more mainstream novels. I don’t accept that needs to be so, and the author herself has made clear that to dismiss fantasy as escapist is a mistaken attitude (http://wp.me/p2oNj1-bd). The best fantasy has as much to say about the human condition as more literary examples, and Jones’ fantasy mostly falls into this category. Add to that the fact that Jones attended lectures by Tolkien himself at Oxford (he mumbled a lot, apparently) then this series of four related fantasy novels deserves to be taken seriously.
The first three of the Dalemark Quartet were published in the 70s, with the first two published as Volume 1 nearly thirty years later. Cart and Cwidder happens moreorless contemporaneously with Drowned Ammet and so it makes sense to have the two titles combined in one, as the publishers have done here. The action takes place in a land wracked by civil war between north and south, in which Jones’ young heroes and heroines must make their precarious way.
Cart and Cwidder (1975)
In a lecture on ‘Heroes’ delivered in Australia in 1992, Diana Wynne Jones makes it quite clear that she sees her heroes (and heroines) as flawed beings in whom we, the spectators, seek to invest our sympathy. And so it is with the young travelling musician Moril in this tale, an apparent dreamer who inherits a stringed instrument called a cwidder. (This seems to be a made-up word based on a family of stringed instruments, from Ancient Greek kithara and zither, through to modern guitar and sitar, though cover illustrations seem to show a cross between a Renaissance lute and a mandolin.) He is expected to shoulder a lot of responsibility, despite his age, and how he responds is the mainspring of the story. And his response involves exactly that dreaminess that many other creative people have, in concert with the latent magical powers of the cwidder. A great many stories of magic, both old and new, involve the power of sound, from Orpheus’ lyre to the necromantic bells of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, from the musical instruments in Alison Croggon’s Pellinor tales to the traditional use of terms like ‘spell’, ‘enchantment’ (from French chanter), ‘grimoire’ and ‘glamour’ (from ‘grammar’) all referring to both spoken and sung words as well as those written down, and this Dalemark story follows in the same tradition.
Drowned Ammet (1979)
As Cart and Cwidder is structured round a journey (by cart, of course) from the south of the subcontinent of Dalemark to the north, so Drowned Ammet founds young Mitt also travelling in the same general direction, but this time by sea. And, in a similar way to Moril’s experience, Mitt’s long physical journey is shadowed by an inner journey as he comes to terms with who he is, what he stands for, where he is coming from and how he stands in relationship to friends, family, acquaintances, enemies and the demiurges that shape his world. When we hear distant news of Moril’s achievements we may strongly suspect that the paths of both Mitt and Moril may be destined to cross in a future book.
It is certainly delightful to read these two tales back to back and to live the experiences of these two protagonists through their eyes, as it were. And while the geography and physics of this world may seem strange to us, and the technology veer from high medieval to early modern, there is no doubting that these are real human beings recognisable from our own world, and for whom we can feel affinity and affection. And this being fantasy, there is of course an element of magic and the supernatural.
Here may be a good place to mention the useful map prepared by David Cuzic that appears in this edition and which provides a rudimentary but indispensible counterpart to the clues contained in the text.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-dalemark
October 13, 2007
I've read a lot of Ms. Jones' work, and I feel the Dalemark Quartet is probably the best of the ones I've read. Instead of people "casting spells" as they do in her other stories (an act that is often just tossed out there as easily as "he scratched his ear"), the people in this world are plain old people, with the Undying (like gods) appearing to lend magical hands when needed. The character development is better in this quartet and the stories feel richer than, say, the Chrestomanci stories, where people just conjure up what they need, or wave a hand to mend broken items, and whatnot. Dalemark seems like a believable world structure.
June 29, 2021
Carrying on with my Diana Wynne Jones reading phase, I read the first (as in first published) of the Dalemark Quartet series. Like most of Jones' series, these books weren't written consecutively, but over a period of years. In this case, some twenty years. The one I've just read comes second in chronological order, but was the first written. Taking into account the fact that C S Lewis also wrote some Narnia series 'out of chronological order' I don't think this matters much, and for me it's better to read the books as they were produced, since this is how the author initially conceived them.
That aside, this is a different kind of story to the more magical ones that I've read previously (the 3 in the Howl's Castle series, and Black Maria.) There is magic in it - the climax is brought about by it, in fact - but in general this is mostly more of adventure yarn than a magical story. Like the other Jones books, it delves into human nature and personality more than many children's stories - into the 'why' of how people behave, and whether that's always for the best.
Here the main character is named Moril: he's a boy of about ten or eleven, the third and youngest child of a couple of travelling performers. The father is the showman, full of bluff and stories and the old songs; the mother is quieter, but not at all a wallflower, and extraordinarily decisive when the chance is there to be seized. The older brother is a composer of 'new' songs, but more retiring in his demeanour - or so it seems. And the sister - the middle child - takes after her father: capable of facing an audience and having them eat out of her hand but not so good when it comes to saving her skin, or that of her younger brother.
The family is travelling in their cart (something like a covered wagon) with all their worldly goods, which include some very valuable musical instruments - the cwidder of the title is one such. Incidentally, cwidder seems to be a made-up word (as several of the words in the book are), though it has a kind of Welsh ring about it, especially in regard to the spelling. Jones tells us, in the glossary, that it's similar to a lute, but with some features of the acoustic guitar. (Her glossary appears to be authoritative, but is as much fiction as the rest of the book.)
Though it isn't obvious to the two younger children, there is more going on at each performance by the family as they come to each town - and after - than meets the eye. The consequences of all this provide a nasty shock for the reader about a third of the way through the book. Not long after, the three children - along with a fourth who's been picked up by the father earlier on - are on their own. Their struggles to get to the North (the 'safe' part of the country) from the dangerous South, and to provide for themselves, form the remainder of the book.
Moril matures considerably during the course of the book: he's a dreamer, but instead of that being a disadvantage, his father knows that it's a gift. Moril still has to discover how it's a gift, and playing the large cwidder is part of that discovery. Part of Jones' skill as a writer is to show that while Moril uses his gift for the benefit of those he's with, and to save the people of the North from an invasion, he doesn't use his gift truthfully. On page 167 Moril realises the following: If you stood up and told the truth in the wrong way, it was not true any longer, though it might be as powerful as ever. It's to Moril's credit that he not only learns from his exhilarating but wrongly handled experience, but understands that he is still immature, and needs someone to keep teaching him.
This book takes a little longer to grab hold of you, compared to the others I've read. It seems too down-to-earth at first, and not fantastical enough - and there's less of Jones' wit and humour. It'll be interesting to see what the rest of the Quartet is like (though they'll have to wait, as I'm now reading another book that was recommended to me by the same people who enthused about Jones - The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner.)
That aside, this is a different kind of story to the more magical ones that I've read previously (the 3 in the Howl's Castle series, and Black Maria.) There is magic in it - the climax is brought about by it, in fact - but in general this is mostly more of adventure yarn than a magical story. Like the other Jones books, it delves into human nature and personality more than many children's stories - into the 'why' of how people behave, and whether that's always for the best.
Here the main character is named Moril: he's a boy of about ten or eleven, the third and youngest child of a couple of travelling performers. The father is the showman, full of bluff and stories and the old songs; the mother is quieter, but not at all a wallflower, and extraordinarily decisive when the chance is there to be seized. The older brother is a composer of 'new' songs, but more retiring in his demeanour - or so it seems. And the sister - the middle child - takes after her father: capable of facing an audience and having them eat out of her hand but not so good when it comes to saving her skin, or that of her younger brother.
The family is travelling in their cart (something like a covered wagon) with all their worldly goods, which include some very valuable musical instruments - the cwidder of the title is one such. Incidentally, cwidder seems to be a made-up word (as several of the words in the book are), though it has a kind of Welsh ring about it, especially in regard to the spelling. Jones tells us, in the glossary, that it's similar to a lute, but with some features of the acoustic guitar. (Her glossary appears to be authoritative, but is as much fiction as the rest of the book.)
Though it isn't obvious to the two younger children, there is more going on at each performance by the family as they come to each town - and after - than meets the eye. The consequences of all this provide a nasty shock for the reader about a third of the way through the book. Not long after, the three children - along with a fourth who's been picked up by the father earlier on - are on their own. Their struggles to get to the North (the 'safe' part of the country) from the dangerous South, and to provide for themselves, form the remainder of the book.
Moril matures considerably during the course of the book: he's a dreamer, but instead of that being a disadvantage, his father knows that it's a gift. Moril still has to discover how it's a gift, and playing the large cwidder is part of that discovery. Part of Jones' skill as a writer is to show that while Moril uses his gift for the benefit of those he's with, and to save the people of the North from an invasion, he doesn't use his gift truthfully. On page 167 Moril realises the following: If you stood up and told the truth in the wrong way, it was not true any longer, though it might be as powerful as ever. It's to Moril's credit that he not only learns from his exhilarating but wrongly handled experience, but understands that he is still immature, and needs someone to keep teaching him.
This book takes a little longer to grab hold of you, compared to the others I've read. It seems too down-to-earth at first, and not fantastical enough - and there's less of Jones' wit and humour. It'll be interesting to see what the rest of the Quartet is like (though they'll have to wait, as I'm now reading another book that was recommended to me by the same people who enthused about Jones - The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner.)
January 8, 2021
An enjoyable romp through a fantastical land roughly like a divided medieval Europe; the northern half democratic and fair, the southern half autocratic, dangerous and a place where small indiscretions can lead to serious consequences. The depiction of a family of travelling minstrels in Cart and Cwidder is colourful and believable with lovely details such as the ‘murmuring gentlemen’ who attend to women after performances - exactly how a child would see it. I enjoyed the way Moril slowly figured out how his cwidder worked and the story hung together nicely with a satisfyingly complex and subtle resolution for a children's book, reflecting the eloquence of the writing.
Mitt’s story (Drowned Ammett) took a little longer to get to the magical point, working through Mitt’s childhood slowly and his first careers as sailor, freedom fighter and gunsmith until we get to the exciting moment when he is finally adrift with some members of the hated nobility. Much danger and conflict ensues before as in the first book, magical measures win the day.
Having read the whole quartet it becomes clear that backstory is significant and while both books are complete in their own rights, the second book (Drowned Ammett) was not as neat a read as Cart and Cwidder. Overall though the two are an enjoyable and quick read, definitely aimed at older children for the simplicity of the plot and age of the heroes.
Mitt’s story (Drowned Ammett) took a little longer to get to the magical point, working through Mitt’s childhood slowly and his first careers as sailor, freedom fighter and gunsmith until we get to the exciting moment when he is finally adrift with some members of the hated nobility. Much danger and conflict ensues before as in the first book, magical measures win the day.
Having read the whole quartet it becomes clear that backstory is significant and while both books are complete in their own rights, the second book (Drowned Ammett) was not as neat a read as Cart and Cwidder. Overall though the two are an enjoyable and quick read, definitely aimed at older children for the simplicity of the plot and age of the heroes.
December 13, 2022
CW: murder, death of multiple family members.
DWJ readthrough, #3
Moril's family are singers who travel around unfriendly regions of Dalemark giving shows on the cwidder— a lute-like instrument.
Apparently out of the blue, Moril's father is murdered by some mercenaries; before he dies, he gives Moril his cwidder. Moril's mother then remarries on the same day. Moril has to figure out what's going on before too many more people get killed.
This is the first of the four Dalemark books, DWJ's main venture into high fantasy. The books are deftly written and believable, though I miss the usual humour. As usual in DWJ, there's a lot of family tension and a lot about the nature of words and story.
DWJ readthrough, #3
Moril's family are singers who travel around unfriendly regions of Dalemark giving shows on the cwidder— a lute-like instrument.
Apparently out of the blue, Moril's father is murdered by some mercenaries; before he dies, he gives Moril his cwidder. Moril's mother then remarries on the same day. Moril has to figure out what's going on before too many more people get killed.
This is the first of the four Dalemark books, DWJ's main venture into high fantasy. The books are deftly written and believable, though I miss the usual humour. As usual in DWJ, there's a lot of family tension and a lot about the nature of words and story.
October 29, 2017
It was hard for me to stay with Cart And Cwidder but I am glad I did. A very brutal world. Made me think of Ursula Le Quin works. Diana also uses different color complexions in her characters.
I liked Drowned Ammet better. The magic of the gods Old Ammet and Lilly Beers was wonderful as was the Holy Islands. (made me visualize Moana) I told myself halfway through that I did not need to read the rest of the quartet but of course now I want to.
I liked Drowned Ammet better. The magic of the gods Old Ammet and Lilly Beers was wonderful as was the Holy Islands. (made me visualize Moana) I told myself halfway through that I did not need to read the rest of the quartet but of course now I want to.
February 16, 2017
Definitely worth a reread, a masterpiece of storytelling.
August 18, 2019
Really great ideas but had to start skimming after two-thirds.
March 18, 2021
I've just finished the first book, Cart and Cwidder. How beautifully DWJ writes about adults as they are, rather than as we imagine they are, and about love from a child's perspective. Moril's parents are both self-centered, even as they do their duties, and it is Olob the horse, you realize, who stands in for the children's parents, as protector and object of affection, which makes the child Moril's feelings and actions understandable at the end. She is not afraid add death to the story, but she is not cruel. To release one character she gives us back another, making the ending of the story exactly right.
Drowned Ammet did not please me much. Somehow Mitt's acquiring godlike power from the gods seemed more contrived than Moril's acquiring it from his cwidder. I did not really care about any of the characters. Perhaps DWJ meant for us to see the world from Mitt's perspective.
Drowned Ammet did not please me much. Somehow Mitt's acquiring godlike power from the gods seemed more contrived than Moril's acquiring it from his cwidder. I did not really care about any of the characters. Perhaps DWJ meant for us to see the world from Mitt's perspective.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2022
3.5 stars.
Cart & Cwidder: 3 stars.
Drowned Ammet: 4 stars.
Cart & Cwidder: 3 stars.
Drowned Ammet: 4 stars.
January 11, 2019
I haven’t read Diana Wynne Jones in such a long time, and this book has been sitting on my TBR (“to be read”) pile for quite literally years. I’ve read the Dalemark books before, so I was familiar with the story, but it was so great to experience Jones and her writing and her worlds again.
Cart and Cwidder tells the story of Moril, who has to help escort a mysterious young boy to the North. Along the way, they stumble into the path of an army and have to prevent an invasion. The basics of Dalemark are established in this book: the North and the South have been in conflict for years. The South is much less free than the North. Moril inherits a cwidder (I’m guessing like a lute) from his father, which was the cwidder of a famous hero of old, and he discovers that it’s magical. In terms of tropes, everything is very familiar, but Jones weaves everything together in her trademark way and makes things interesting. I also liked the way Moril figured out how the cwidder works: you have to sing things that are truth, not opinion. I think that’s a good message that emphasizes the different between opinion and truth. Moril is a bit of a dull character, though, since he doesn’t get a lot of development.
Drowned Ammet I thought was much better story-wise than Cart and Cwidder, and there was much better development as well. I wrote an essay in college about true names in fantasy, and I used this book as an example. The book takes place near about the same time as Cart and Cwidder, though the bulk of it takes place after the events of the latter. I found this one much more interesting, since Mitt was a more interesting character and I liked the mechanics of the magic better in this one. I’ve also always enjoyed the big reveal at the end.
Hopefully the next two books in the quartet won’t take me years to get to! I think Drowned Ammet has always been my favorite, but if I remember correctly, the last two books bring in a Big Bad Villain that ties everything together.
Cart and Cwidder tells the story of Moril, who has to help escort a mysterious young boy to the North. Along the way, they stumble into the path of an army and have to prevent an invasion. The basics of Dalemark are established in this book: the North and the South have been in conflict for years. The South is much less free than the North. Moril inherits a cwidder (I’m guessing like a lute) from his father, which was the cwidder of a famous hero of old, and he discovers that it’s magical. In terms of tropes, everything is very familiar, but Jones weaves everything together in her trademark way and makes things interesting. I also liked the way Moril figured out how the cwidder works: you have to sing things that are truth, not opinion. I think that’s a good message that emphasizes the different between opinion and truth. Moril is a bit of a dull character, though, since he doesn’t get a lot of development.
Drowned Ammet I thought was much better story-wise than Cart and Cwidder, and there was much better development as well. I wrote an essay in college about true names in fantasy, and I used this book as an example. The book takes place near about the same time as Cart and Cwidder, though the bulk of it takes place after the events of the latter. I found this one much more interesting, since Mitt was a more interesting character and I liked the mechanics of the magic better in this one. I’ve also always enjoyed the big reveal at the end.
Hopefully the next two books in the quartet won’t take me years to get to! I think Drowned Ammet has always been my favorite, but if I remember correctly, the last two books bring in a Big Bad Villain that ties everything together.
February 10, 2010
This was an okay fantasy series, but I was expecting more. It is definitely aimed at young adults with all the main characters being young. Each book is a stand alone which is nice, and each is a relatively quick read though all four of them take some time to get through. I like Dianne Wynne Jones when she is funny, but she wasn't particularly funny in this series. I felt the stories could have been a lot better, and the character development was weak. I didn't really like any of the characters. I liked _Cart and Cwidder_ more than _Drowned Ammet_ though I may have felt differently in the days before 9/11 and this series was written long before that. I did not like the terrorist overtones of _Drowned Ammet_.
September 6, 2009
This was an okay book. It had the first two books in a series of 4. They seem to be building to some sort of final king conclusion. There weren't any of the characters in the first book in the second, except a minor situation and I think that was just to establish a timeline of how these books were occurring simultaneously. I would like to read the last two books. But the romances have been the tired bickering and dislike overcome by the trials they go through. But it is an easy read. Although it would have been great if the author had chosen names that indicated male or female, just to help keep the characters straight.
August 18, 2012
I just picked this up from the library, and am really looking forward to it! My reading tastes have swung back to the comfy fantasy section for some much-needed lighter reading, but this year I've been devouring books that either flew under my radar or weren't in the kids' section back when I was in love with (ahem, still love...shh...) King Arthur and Robin Hood. Mmm, nothing like a fantastic book.
February 22, 2009
I should add this book to the list of Things I Should Have Read When Younger, But Am Glad I Get To Read Now. Unlike a lot of young adult/kid stories, all adults involved are not stupid, evil, or both. There are good and bad authority figures and both boys and girls get to be strong.
I have the second volume, containing the third and fourth books, coming to me from the library. I'm curious to see how the stories tie together and what happens in the end!
I have the second volume, containing the third and fourth books, coming to me from the library. I'm curious to see how the stories tie together and what happens in the end!
July 5, 2009
Both books were pretty good, though I think I preferred "Cart and Cwidder". I don't much like reading about characters on boats, for some reason, and most of "Drowned Ammet" was on the boat, off the boat, on the boat . . .
March 11, 2016
I enjoyed the first story, of Moril and the cwidder, much more than Mitt's story. I did come around in the end, and was happy to have such a good ending to the second book. I'm looking forward to reading the other two in the quartet.
Reread March 2016.
Reread March 2016.
April 1, 2012
Pretty good. I couldn't put it down. Still not certain how everything's supposed to tie together, but that's the fun of reading Diana Wynne Jones. On to the second volume!
SENSITIVITY WARNING: Um, there's some death in it?
SENSITIVITY WARNING: Um, there's some death in it?
July 31, 2016
I really adored these stories and I can't wait to get the last two books in this series!
(Read full review here.)
http://sutorinohana.blogspot.com/2015...
(Includes content advisory.)
(Read full review here.)
http://sutorinohana.blogspot.com/2015...
(Includes content advisory.)
June 3, 2016
The first two novels of the Dalemark quartet. These novels are a loosely connected history of Dalemark through the ages - a land where freedom is fought for in the south and how children come of age in learning of that fight.
March 24, 2007
A great fantasy. Dianna Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors and this is a great example of her great writing. Loved it!!
April 30, 2008
excellent author!! Read all you can find. This book is an excellent story with a fantastic ending.
May 28, 2008
These were good though for some reason I never got around to reading the fourth one.
June 5, 2008
both books were completely engrossing, I loved them! Wynne Jones has an amazing fantasy writing style.
August 26, 2008
I was disappointed with these books. I do not think they are nearly her best.
December 30, 2020
I've enjoyed a whole lot of Jones' books, but the Dalemark series are among her weakest work.
January 4, 2013
Excellent.
November 19, 2015
Diana Wynne Jones is amazing. End of story.
February 18, 2015
Uncharacteristically poor writing for Jones. Choppy, forced, bland dialogue, characters and plot.
September 2, 2025
3 Stars for "Cart and Cwidder"
4 Stars for "Drowned Ammet" - weird colonialism aside
4 Stars for "Drowned Ammet" - weird colonialism aside
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews