Howl's Moving Castle

Genre fantasy Author Diana Wynne Jones Publisher Eos Publishing External Links Official Eos Publishing Website

If you love strange and wild fantasies, you will enjoy reading Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Sophie is a young girl who was destined to fail from the start. It is said that the eldest of three children will no doubt be the worst. She grew up in a relatively normal family. Her mother died when she was young, and her father remarried, though the stepmother was just as kind to her new adopted children as she was to her own child. The quaint little town of Ingary, there is magic and it is quite normal for it to exist.

One day, poor Sophie ends up on the bad side of the Witch of the Waste. Sophie is turned into an old hag. If she wants to be changed back, she needs to find the Witch of the Waste and get her to change her back. She sets out on a journey to find the witch and ends up on a wild adventure along the way.

Along the way, she finds Howl's Moving Castle and creeps inside. Howl is known as an eater of souls and is trying to escape his curse from the same witch. As the story progresses, it is yet another story of love conquers all. Is it fate that Sophie ends up in Howl's castle?

This is a really twisted tale, and it is not surprising why Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli Studios would be attracted to this story to create a film. This is not a story for someone who needs things to make 'sense'. If you enjoy a good story about love and fantasy and can handle random appearances by odd characters and widely out of place thoughts and actions, you would enjoy this story. If you did enjoy the animated movie, you will enjoy the story in the novel Howl's Moving Castle.

Sophie, although claimed to be plain, is actually a very exciting and ingenious character to follow. Howl is a sweetheart, even if he is a bit strange. Even the fire demon is surprisingly entertaining. There are random appearances of strange characters that sometimes seem out of place but with this book, it just seems to fit.

The only disappointments are the sometimes too fast and confusing paces the writer gets into. You may have to go back and reread some passages to get it right, but overall it is fairly easy to understand. The pacing also adds some real excitement though. It might be considered too weird for some readers. Anyone who doesn't enjoy free flow fantasy should avoid this one altogether. Otherwise, this book is a lot of fun. Surely one to add to your fantasy collection and treasure. You will never forget it.