Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones Release Date: Buy it Today! HarperCollins Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon. Purchase at Powell’s. Find independent bookstores.

In this sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, Abdullah spends his time daydreaming about a more exciting life, filled with princesses and bandits. His dreams come true when he obtains a magic carpet and meets his princess, Flower-in-the-Night, but the dreams turn dangerous when she’s kidnapped and he meets his bandits.

Now armed with a magic carpet, a disillusioned soldier, a mother cat and kitten, and a very angry genie, Abdullah will journey to save his princess and all the others captured alongside her.

Like Howl’s Moving Castle, the characters are all delightfully flawed and seem to come to life on the page. The reader can also expect lots of familiar faces as well as new characters. Each book in Howl’s world builds on the others, and while you can read one on its own, they really work better together.

Castle in the Air did with the Arabian legends what Howl’s Moving Castle did with European fairy tales. Neither book takes off of a specific tale, but instead incorporates traditional elements, like birth order and genies. In Howl’s, Sophie falls into the trap of figuring she’s the oldest and therefore destined for boredom, whereas in this book Abdullah actually is destined for greatness and to rise above all others. Of course, rising above could mean dying on the forty foot spike the Sultan threatens to impale him with. I like the way fate/prophecy plays out in this book, both with good and bad meanings.

If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have given you half a dozen reasons why I didn’t enjoy this book. Like Howl’s though, rereading opened my eyes to its true charm and intricate plot. In fact, I think this book is possibly even better in that the ending doesn’t make me go, "Wait, huh?…. but…." like Howl’s did. Reading Castle for the second time was also enjoyable because then I knew who was who. Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer play large roles, but they have been transformed into different shapes for most of the book, something the reader doesn’t find out until the end. This angered me the first time I read it, but the second time through, I knew who they were to begin with, so those characters were more interesting and their actions made more sense. Now that I’ve thoroughly confused you, feel free to e-mail me if you want to know who they really are, because I do think it’s more enjoyable to know ahead of time.

Ratings Reasons:
Action 4 - With flying carpets and desert bandits, it’s easy to find adventure in this book. Jones moves this story at the same fast pace as Howl’s Moving Castle and the whirlwind will quickly pull the reader in.

Romance 4 - I would have liked to have seen more development in the main couple, but overall I enjoyed the romance and the glimpses we got of our old favorites.

Characters 4 - Solid characters, though probably more interesting once you know who everyone is, but the cast is nice and complex.

Overall 4 - An enjoyable book, worth reading a few times if you liked Howl’s Moving Castle.

Extras:
Diana Wynne Jones has written a million books. Well, at least thirty. I’m not going to list them all here. The important ones to know about though are the two other books that take place in this world, and those are Howl’s Moving Castle and House of Many Ways (June 2008).

This book reminds me of another book with an evil genie and captured princesses, and that is Mercedes Lackey’s Fortune’s Fool. Now, her books are always a bit more adult than YA, and it’s been a while since I read this one, so I’ll say it’s probably an age sixteen and up book.

I love the various Arabian Nights tales, so I’d definitely recommend reading The Storyteller’s Daughter by Cameron Dokey, a story focusing on Scheherezade, which is a Once Upon a Time series book.

Parents: 10 + Nothing much wrong with this book, though I’d probably recommend it to an older reader, just because of the writing style.

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