Diana Wynne Jones Fans discussion
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New DWJ book!
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Ooh, that's exciting! Thanks for the post!
Some more details here: http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles...The hardback is due to be published in the UK on 27th February next year and in the States the day after.
Can't wait for this! Thanks for letting us know.
Cassandra wrote: "Can't wait for this! Thanks for letting us know."It's also listed on Goodreads, ISBN 978-0-00-754223-9
I've already clicked on Want to Read!
Zoe wrote: "Ooh, that's exciting! Thanks for the post!"The Diana Wynne Jones Fan Page on Facebook is managed by Diana's agent Laura Cecil.
By the way, I must look at some of Ursula Jones' books. Perhaps we can get our DWJ fix by reading her titles? http://www.ursulajones.co.uk/index.html
The Islands of ChaldeaAdding a handy book link so people don't have to search. I'm adding it, but I'm a little apprehensive just because well, I keep thinking of that Hitchhiker's book written by Eowin Colfer, and then there were Thompson Oz books that were never quite the same as the Baum ones...
Thank you so much for posting this news! I can hardly wait until it comes out, it will be like a second Christmas.
Chris wrote: "By the way, I must look at some of Ursula Jones' books. Perhaps we can get our DWJ fix by reading her titles?"
I have an audiobook edition of Witch Week that is read by Ursula Jones, and even though it is abridged, I still love it very much because Ursula just has one of those voices perfectly honed and crafted for reading aloud.
I knew that an Ursula Jones wrote books, but I was never sure that it was the same Ursula that was Diana's sister. Now that this article has confirmed it for me, my reading list has grown once again.
My reading list tends to grow exponentially no matter how fast I read.
I think it looks great! Much better than Enchanted Glass and The Game (both of which were solidly conceived but not executed up to her usual standard, I felt). Looking forward to this one.
I loved Enchanted Glass. It's one of my favorites.
Yi-ling wrote: "I think it looks great! Much better than Enchanted Glass and The Game (both of which were solidly conceived but not executed up to her usual standard, I felt). Looking forward to this one."I too was mildly disappointed at The Game, though I found more to enjoy in Enchanted Glass (which almost seemed to promise a sequel). It will certainly be interesting to see how Ursula completes this, whether the join is seamless, and whether we might have a couple of more posthumous collaborations to look forward to.
Beth wrote: "I loved Enchanted Glass. It's one of my favorites."Enchanted Glass was one of my favorites too.
I hope it has an older feel!Also, this made my day. Thanks for posting.
Marvelous news, Chris! Oh it will be no fun waiting for it to make it to this shore.The Game did feel rather truncated. I enjoyed Enchanted Glass on the whole, though it felt a little overfamiliar.
Feeling bad about criticising Enchanted Glass now. I think i was expecting something very complex and long and it was charming and interesting, for what it was.
I also found this nugget while browsing today.“The Islands of Chaldea is [a uniquely humorous picaresque adventure] about a young girl and her bossy White Witch aunt fighting to free a king’s son held to ransom behind an enchanted forcefield, encountering a giant invisible cat and a fiery lizard along their way.”
I thought I would post it because it contains some information that seems to be missing from the blurb.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/06/digi...
Zach wrote: "I also found this nugget while browsing today.“The Islands of Chaldea is [a uniquely humorous picaresque adventure] about a young girl and her bossy White Witch aunt fighting to free a king’s son..."
Sounds typical DWJ so far! Wonder what sister Ursula's contribution will add to it.
Just in case anyone wanted to bid on it, there is an ARC of The Islands of Chaldea currently available on eBay. This is the 3rd one I've seen. I bought one, and the other went for around $60. This one, as of this post, is going for $15 (plus $4 shipping) and has about 12 hours to go.I really did enjoy this one. I kept trying to slow down so it would last longer, but no such luck.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151219093044?...
For what it is worth, I did review it here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Zach wrote: "Just in case anyone wanted to bid on it, there is an ARC of The Islands of Chaldea currently available on eBay. This is the 3rd one I've seen. I bought one, and the other went for around $60. Th..."I've put a comment on your review, Zach, but for now all I can say is, you lucky so-and-so! Very envious...
Sold - I can't believe I missed this! Zach, did the writing in this one feel older? I liked the last few ones that she released (House of Many Ways, Earwig and the Witch, etc.), but I didn't love them because the writing felt like it was aimed at a younger audience. If you're comparing it to Dark Lord of Derkholm and Howl's Moving Castle, I live in hope!
Emily wrote: "Sold - I can't believe I missed this! Zach, did the writing in this one feel older? I liked the last few ones that she released (House of Many Ways, Earwig and the Witch, etc.), but I didn't love..."
From Zach's review I got the impression, Emily, that Isles of Chaldea could be part of the Magids series (Deep Secret and The Merlin Conspiracy) rather than the other two titles mentioned, but I may well be wrong.
I'm sorry to say that it isn't part of The Magids series, it would have been very interesting if it was (the quack chicks were among my favorites of DWJ's imaginary menagerie). The world is built a bit like Dalemark in that there aren't any modern conveniences, not like what we find in Chrestomanci's homeworld. The writing does feel a bit more adult than her last couple books due to the situations that the characters are dealing with, but that may just be bias on my part. I was listening to a podcast with Farah Mendelsohn on it the other day, and she made an interesting point. If you look at the publication dates of the books and the age range of the books, you can track the ages of Diana's own children. The book is written from Aileen's perspective and I'm not sure now if it ever mentions her age specifically, but I get the impression that she is around 12-14 years old. I did enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to reading it again when the copy I preordered comes in.
Zach wrote: "I'm sorry to say that it isn't part of The Magids series, it would have been very interesting if it was (the quack chicks were among my favorites of DWJ's imaginary menagerie). The world is built ..."Still sounds a good read, Zach! Thanks for the background info.
Thanks for posting. I agree with her sentiments on the book. On a side note, one of the readers of the first manuscript on the suberic.net mailing list (http://suberic.net/dwj/list/) has agreed to reveal just exactly where Diana left off and where Ursula picked up once everyone (on the forum/mailing list) has had a chance to read it and make their guess.
Zach wrote: "Thanks for posting. I agree with her sentiments on the book. On a side note, one of the readers of the first manuscript on the suberic.net mailing list (http://suberic.net/dwj/list/) has agreed t..."Another thank you is due to you, Zach!
Guys, there's a couple of promotional contests in place to win a copy of Islands of Chaldea! Details for one are here: http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/And the other is here: https://twitter.com/HarperCollinsCh
The 1st involves you sending an email to Harpercollins about why you are a fan of Jones by March 9.
On the second one, you have to retweet the relevant tweet by Feb 26th.
Zach wrote: "Oh, and good luck!"Thanks for pointing me in the direction of these, Zach -- as a result of the first promo I'm officially one of the ten "greatest" fans of Diana, having arrived home today to find a copy of the book waiting. Soon time for me to see what all the fuss in about!
The Facebook page says
Some of you may have already spotted the exciting news announced on Publishers Weekly yesterday, but just in case you haven’t, we’re delighted to announce that there will be a new Diana Wynne Jones book published in Spring next year, called ISLANDS OF CHALDEA!
The book, left unfinished by Diana, has been completed by her sister Ursula Jones, who is a successful children’s author and actress in her own right.
ISLANDS OF CHALDEA will be published by Greenwillow Books in the US, and HarperCollins Children’s books in the UK.