A Man With An Agenda

DWJ Book Toast, #4

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite fantasy authors, growing up and now, and I was saddened by the news of her death. I can't say I'm overcome with emotion - as personal as some of her work is to me, its not like I knew her after all - but I wish I could put into words how I feel about her no longer being out there, writing new adventures and laughing at all of us serious fans thinking so hard about her words when we should simply get on with the business of enjoying them.

And that's...what I'm going to do. She's left behind a huge body of work, a large amount of which I haven't read yet, so I'm going to reread all my old favorites (and hopefully some new).

This used to be my favorite in the whole Chrestomanci series. I loved the Italian setting, the feuding families, the song magic, and the cats, but reading this again left me with a "was that it?" feeling. There just wasn't enough development of the the city of Caprona's character, or the rival Petrucchi family, for me to really get hooked in. All the surface elements of a good Jones book are here, and the plot is engaging for a once-read, but I just couldn't get into it again.

Chrestomanci

Next: 'Conrad's Fate'

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