- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (7 Nov 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575063254
- ISBN-13: 978-0575063259
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
265,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #50 in Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators > J > Jones, Diana Wynne
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Product Description
Product Description
The six short stories and a novella in this collection all show a degree of offbeat quirkiness, from an author well-renowned as a writer of children's fantasy fiction.
About the Author
Diana Wynne Jones is Britain's foremost writer of children's fantasy, including the World Fantasy Award-nominated Archer's Goon, which was made into a six-part BBC TV series, and the Guardian Award-winning Charmed Life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Some of the stories in this volume are excellent, particularly Dragon Reserve, but one or two are much poorer than Diana Wynne Jones' usual high standard of writing. I wouldn't recommend this if you haven't read DWJ before, but if you're already a fan there's enough good stuff in there to make it worth adding to your collection.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Humor, Horror, and Everything in Between
12 Nov 2000
Format:Paperback
Thasper is born to spread disorder in a world that thrives on Rules and Systems and Order. He finds himself asking disastrous questions that no one has discovered answers for. And a young veterinarian has a frightening and surreal dream about three wolves and a man who are not what they seem. But a dream is only a dream, isn't it? Then there is Phega, so smitten by the sun that she tries to turn herself into a tree to please him. And a writer creates aliens and civil wars and battleships on her computer, only to find one morning that a typing error has put her in contact with one of her own creations.
These are far-fetched tales and sometimes one cannot quite suspend one's disbelief, even for the short span of the story, but the humor keeps them entertaining anyway. For Jones fans, there are one or two familiar characters, but most of the cast will be new. I particularly enjoyed "What the Cat Told Me" because it so perfectly captures what a cat would tell you if it could only be bothered to. I also liked "Dragon Reserve, Home Eight," in which one catches a glimpse of a fascinating world worth a return visit.
Jones explains in her introduction that most of these stories were written while she was working on other things. I think it shows. Nothing is as fully explored as it could be and there is so much worth exploring. I kept waiting for an announcement to say that these stories would be continued in their own novels of the type that Jones writes so masterfully. "The True State of Affairs" especially leaves one with so many questions that the story feels unfinished.
Still, I would recommend the book to readers who enjoy Jones' work and to anyone eager for a few tantalizing glimpses into the fantastic, tragic, and fascintating other worlds she imagines.
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