Join thousands of book lovers
Sign up to our newsletter and receive discounts and inspiration for your next reading experience.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.You can, at any time, unsubscribe from our newsletters.
In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell . . . Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls...There Sophie meets Michael, Howl's apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones's unique combination of magic, humour and imagination.
A chaotically magical sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, from the bestselling children's author and 'godmother of fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones.Charmain Baker is in over her head. Looking after Great Uncle William's tiny cottage while he's ill should have been easy, but Great Uncle William is better known as the Royal Wizard Norland and his house bends space and time. Its single door leads to any number of places - the bedrooms, the kitchen, the caves under the mountains, the past, to name but a few.By opening that door, Charmain is now also looking after an extremely magical stray dog, a muddled young apprentice wizard and a box of the king's most treasured documents, as well as irritating a clan of small blue creatures.Caught up in an intense royal search, she encounters an intimidating sorceress named Sophie. And where Sophie is, can the Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer be far behind?
A magical Arabian Nights tale from the captivating creator of fantasy, Diana Wynne Jones. The dazzling sequel to Howls Moving Castle, now a major animated film.Far to the south in the Land of Ingary, lives a young carpet merchant called Abdullah. In his dreams, he is the long-lost son of a great prince. This dream is a complete castle in the air... or is it?Abdullah's day-dreams suddenly start to come true when he meets the exquisite Flower-in-the-Night, daughter of the ferocious Sultan of Zanzib. Fate has destined them for each other, but a bad-tempered genie, a hideous djinn, and various villanous bandits have their own ideas. When Flower-in-the-Night is carried off, Abdullah is determined to rescue her - if he can find her.
Everyone knows that orphanages are horrible places. But Earwig has a surprising amount of power over everyone else at St Morwald's Home for Children, and loves it there. So the last thing she wants is to be sent to live with the very strange Bella Yaga...Earwig was left at St Morwald's as a baby. Unlike the other children, she loves it there, mostly because she has the run of the place and seems to be able to persuade people to do as she wants. Then one day Earwig is chosen to live with a very strange couple: Bella Yaga, her new 'mother', is actually a horrible witch. Earwig will need all her ingenuity (and some help from a talking cat) to survive...
The childhood of Chrestomanci. Everything in this book happens at least twenty-five years before the story told in Charmed Life... Discovering that he has nine lives and is destined to be the next 'Chrestomanci' is not part of Christopher's plans for the future: he'd much rather play cricket and wander around his secret dream worlds. But he soon finds that destiny is difficult to avoid, and that having more than the usual number of lives is pretty inconvenient - especially when you lose them as easily as he does!Then an evil smuggler, known only as The Wraith, threatens the ways of the worlds and forces Christopher to take action...
A magical adventure from Diana Wynne Jones, set in the worlds of Chrestomanci!Conrad is young, good at heart, and yet is apparently suffering from the effects of such bad karma that there is nothing in his future but terrible things. Unless he can alter his circumstances - well, to be brutally honest, he is DOOMED. Conrad is sent in disguise to Stallery Mansion, to infiltrate the magical fortress that has power over the whole town of Stallchester, and to discover the identity of the person who is affecting his Fate so badly. He has to put an end to them, or he wont last the year. But can any plan really be that simple and straightforward? Of course it can't! And things start to go very strangely for Conrad from the moment he meets the boy called Christopher...
Read by Ursula Jones, the third title in the stunning Chrestomanci series. SOMEONE IN THIS CLASS IS A WITCHWhen the note, written in ordinary ballpoint, turns up in the homework books Mr Crossley is marking, he is very upset. For this is Larwood House, a school for witch-orphans, where witchcraft is utterly forbidden. And yet magic keeps breaking out all over the place - like measles!The last thing they need is a visit from the Divisional Inquisitor. If only Chrestomanci could come and sort out all the trouble...
The first of the Chrestomanci novels - full of magical adventure! Read by Tom Baker. Everybody says that Gwendolyn Chant is a gifted witch with astonishing powers, so it suits her enormously when she is taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Her brother Eric (better known as Cat) is not so keen, for he has no talent for magic at all. However, life with the great enchanter is not what either of them expects and sparks begin to fly!
Glorious new rejacket of a Diana Wynne Jones favourite, featuring Chrestomanci - now a book with extra bits!
Anthony Head reads this spellbinding story collection, featuring Chrestomanci and many familiar friends and worlds. Four stories featuring the marvellous, enigmatic and embroidered-dressing-gowned enchanter, Chrestomanci!Warlock at the WheelIn which the Willing Warlock (from Charmed Life) is exiled to a world without magic and meets a formidable opponent - a little girl and her dog!Stealer of SoulsIn which Cat (from Charmed Life) and Tonino (from The Magicians of Caprona) are pitted against an evil enchanter with a dastardly plan. Carol Oneir's Hundredth DreamIn which Carol, whose lucrative dreaming career is brought to an abrupt halt by a severe case of dreamer's-block, is sent to Chrestomanci in search of a cure. He takes on the case as a personal favour to her dad, whom he went to school with (in The Lives of Christopher Chant). The Sage of TheareIn which the Sage of Dissolution wreaks havoc, thereby threatening the existance of all the worlds that have ever been!
Read by Miriam Margoyles.Fact: A Goon is a being who melts into the foreground and sticks there...When the Goon turns up demanding "e;Archer's two thousand"e;, life turns upside-down. As Howard desperately tries to get to the bottom of this peculiar demand, he discovers that the town is run by seven crazy wizards (not all of whom live in the present!) and someone is trying to take over the world!Exciting, bizarre and truly hilarious! Listening fun for all the family.
The final book in the epic fantasy-adventure series from 'the Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones. Now back in print!
The third book in the epic fantasy-adventure series from `the Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones. Now back in print!
The second book in the spellbinding, epic adventure series from 'the Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones. For centuries, Dalemark has been a land divided by the warring earldoms of the North and South. Now, with the help of the Undying, the mysterious gods of Dalemark, four extraordinary young people must join forces to reunify their beloved land. After his father mysteriously goes missing Mitt joins a group of freedom fighters plotting to overthrow the tyrannical ruler of Holand. But when his assassination attempt against the earl backfires, Mitt stows away on board a ship heading out to sea. As the boat is battered by storms Mitt finds himself alone among his enemies - except for the figure of Drowned Ammet...
The first book in the spellbinding, epic adventure series from 'the Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones. For centuries, Dalemark has been a land divided by the warring earldoms of the North and South. Now, with the help of the mysterious gods of Dalemark, four extraordinary young people must join forces to reunify their beloved home. When twelve-year-old Moril's father is murdered by soldiers, Moril inherits his ancient cwidder - a musical instrument with a mysterious past. As Moril and his siblings embark on a dangerous journey to escape the evil forces around them, he gradually learns how to channel the cwidder's strange and powerful magic. But is it enough to protect those he loves from the looming threat of war?
The brand new and final novel from the magical pen of 'the Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones; co-authored with her sister Ursula Jones.How are you supposed to turn into a Wise Woman if your powers just won't show up? Aileen is convinced she'll never become as magical as her Aunt Beck.Then one day her aunt is set a seemingly impossible mission. She must go to the island of Logra and rescue the kidnapped High Prince from the enemy, and Aileen must go with her. They set off along with Ivar, Aileen's spoilt cousin, and Ogo his clophopping servant, recruiting on their way a huge and elusive cat, a monk with an uncannily wise parrot, and a boy inventor who keeps a pet lizard up his sleeve. But this is no band of mighty warriors, and the evil Lograns and their wizards have blocked their way with an invisible barrier in the sea. Aileen doubts that even with all the magic in the Islands of Chaldea, including Aunt Beck's, they will be able to penetrate it.But Aileen is about to discover that she could be more important to the mission than she realises. Perhaps it is her, above all, who is being drawn to Logra, and for a very special purpose...
Two quirky and hilarious stories from the bestselling Diana Wynne Jones. Two groups of children learn that while you can choose your friends, dealing with your family can make you wish you could choose a different one...THE FOUR GRANNIES. Two children are left alone for a couple of days, while their parents go away on a business trip. They have four very different grandmas - a mean one, a snobby one, an anxious one, and a delicate one. Erg (the boy) tries to make all the grannies leave him alone, but manages to turn them into one 'Super-Granny'...AUNTIE BEA'S DAY OUT. Annoying Auntie Bea always does things HER way. And when she decides to take the three children (Nancy, Debbie and Simon) to the seaside, despite what the signs say, she is determined that they will sit on the small, fenced off and isolated island. It turns out to be a magical island though, and whisks her & the children (and dog) around to different places trying to get rid of them...
A bestselling fantasy adventure from Diana Wynne Jones. The companion novel to the novel Deep Secret.The story is narrated by two very different teenagers, who each inhabit two extraordinarily different worlds.Arianrhod Hyde's world (or Roddy, as she prefers to be called) is very much the world of magic, pageantry and ritual. Not unlike Britain in King Arthur's Day, Roddy is daughter of two Court Wizards and therefore part of the King's Progress, travelling round the Islands of Blest and ready to take part in whatever ritual or ceremony is required, as it occurs. Presiding over all, the most important person is the Merlin, who is entrusted with the magical health of the Isles of Blest.Nick Mallory's world is much more familiar - at least, it starts off being our own. But it soon transpires that Nick's not quite the ordinary 15 year old he seems, as he slips sideways into something he thinks is a dream - but in fact is another world entirely. Now, Nick's been on other worlds before (although never alone) but he's a confident type. Maybe a bit too confident...In Roddy's world, the current Merlin expires and a new one takes his place. Yet something is wrong - the rituals have been upset and nothing is going the way it should. Roddy needs help, and certain powers indicate that Nick is to be the one to help her. And Nick is cool about helping her - in theory... but it's a bit worrying that she seems to mistake him for a magic-user.Their stories unfold, side-by-side, each part leading into the next, and the Merlin Conspiracy thickens as the tales swirl around each other - twining, meeting and affecting each other, yet never completely combining until the very end chapters when all is finally revealed.Compelling, howlingly funny in places, mind-boggling - this is going to WOW DWJ fans all around the world (and probably in other universes too).
A fantasy adventure about saving the universe one world at a time from Diana Wynne Jones. The companion novel to the bestselling The Merlin Conspiracy.Magids look after all worlds, steer them towards magic, and keep history happening. But Rupert Venables' mentor has just died, and as the junior magid on earth he has to find a replacement while also trying to find the lost heir of a collapsing empire, worlds away. Rupert interweaves the fate lines to get all the candidates together at a sci-fi fantasy convention, and havoc ensues as they all converge on a very strange hotel, where everything is always linked, the walls keep moving, people are trying to kill him, and nothing is as it seems...a magical, epic story from the Godmother of fantasy.
A hilarious adventure about a fantasy world in danger of destruction from that most vile of threats... tourism .Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature in 1999.A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy cliches - Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master - and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?
A hilarious fantasy sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm, set at the University after the 'fantasy world' tours have stopped, and centred around 6 students (one a Griffin) and the bumbling new University Head Wizard. From the 'Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones.The Year of the Griffin is the sequel to the Dark Lord of Derkholm, set in the same world several years after the abolition of commercial 'fantasy world' tourism from our world.The University now aims to produce competent wizards to repair the damage caused by the tours. It's broke, and out of date in terms of what it teaches. The new head, Wizard Corkoran, is obsessed with becoming the first man to visit the moon so is mostly preoccupied, and the new faculty is mostly inexperienced.Wizard Corkoran has selected children from wealthy families to fill his own first-year classes, hoping to beg for money. But his students turn out to be more than he expected in oh-so-many ways, and despite the incompetence of their teacher, it falls to them to save the university... and themselves...
"e;All I did was ask you for a role-playing game. You never warned me I'd be pitched into it for real! And I asked you for hobbits on a Grail quest, and not one hobbit have I seen!"e;Hexwood Farm is a bit like human memory; it doesn't reveal its secrets in chronological order. Consequently, whenever Ann enters Hexwood, she cannot guarantee on always ending up in the same place or even the same time.Hexwood Farm is full of machines that should not be tampered with - and when one is, the aftershock is felt throughout the universe. Only Hume, Ann and Mordion can prevent an apocalypse in their struggle with the deadly Reigners - or are they too being altered by the whims of Hexwood?A complex blend of science fiction and all sorts of fantasy - including fantasy football!!
A brilliant, intricate and magical novel from the Godmother of British fantasy.When Andrew Hope's magician grandfather dies, he leaves his house and field-of-care to his grandson who spent much of his childhood at the house. Andrew has forgotten much of this, but he remembers the very strong-minded staff and the fact that his grandfather used to put the inedibly large vegetables on the roof of the shed, where they'd have vanished in the morning. He also remembers the very colourful stained glass window in the kitchen door, which he knows it is important to protect.Into this mix comes young Aidan Cain, who turns up from the orphanage asking for safety. Exactly who he is and why he's there is unclear, but a strong connection between the two becomes apparent.There is a mystery to be solved, and nothing is as it appears to be. But nobody can solve the mystery, until they find out exactly what it is!
Discover Diana Wynne Jones' Magicians of Caprona - the second title in the Chrestomanci series, read by Nickolas Grace. In the worlds of Chrestomanci, anything can happen. This adventure takes place in the Italian Dukedom of Caprona, where spells are as slippery and as tricksy as spaghetti! Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi look after the magical business in the Dukedom of Caprona, watched over by its magnificent guardian statue, the Angel. The families have been feuding for years, so when all the spells start going wrong, each naturally blames the other. Then young Tonino Montana and Angelica Petrocchi disappear. Could the terrible rumours of a White Devil who threatens Caprona be true after all?
A powerful being fights for his life within the body of a humble, earthbound puppy.Sirius, immortal Lord of the Dog Star and infamous for his quick temper, cannot believe it when he is falsely accused of murder and banished to Earth. There he is reborn into the body of a puppy and learns that he has the life-span of that creature to recover the missing murder weapon. If he fails, he will die.He is adopted by Kathleen, who has no idea that her beloved Leo' is anything more than an abandonded stray. She is a loving owner, but an unwanted guest in a family who mostly resent her presence.Sirius soon learns that he has enemies amongst the humans as well as amongst the unearthly beings who sentenced him. How on earth can he clear his name without his special powers?
Diana Wynne Jones at her finest - family feuds and chaos, magic with hilarious results and some of the most original ideas ever to appear between the covers of a book.Casper, Johnny and Gwinny get a big shock when their mother marries the Ogre. The Ogre is large and stern and not at all interested in children, although this doesn't prevent him from adding his own two awful sons, Douglas and Malcolm, to the family mix. Now the five children and two adults are squashed under the same roof, which can lead to only one thing - war!Then the Ogre brings home the Chemistry Sets - one for Malcolm and one for Johnny. Not that Johnny is impressed by this very obvious bribe. At least, not until they accidentally discover the flying lotion. Then the real fun begins...
This is the story of Ayna and Ceri, who both had Gifts, and of Gair, who thought he was ordinary.Gair spent his time gazing out onto the Moor and brooding. Ayna could answer questions about the future, Ceri could find things which were lost. Gair seems to have no Gift and knew he was a disappointment to his jovial, heroic father - who is Chief. Perhaps his feelings of not fitting in was what made him so curious about these other different sorts of beings who lived on the Moor - the Giants and the Dorig. Certainly it was because he believed he was ordinary that he did his best to become wise, and to learn as much as he could abou the three great Powers of Sun, Moon and Earth. And when the crisis came, Gair found the knowledge he had gained was to help save not only his own life but those of all his people.
There seemed nothing odd about Luke to begin with - except perhaps the snakes. If they were snakes, that is... David wasn't sure."e;Just kindle a flame and I'll be with you,"e; says Luke. David thinks he's joking, but certainly, whenever he strikes a match, Luke appears immediately.But David's new friend seems to have some extraordinary friends and relations, and some very dark secrets. And when David enters into a bargain with the mysterious one-eyed Mr Wedding, life gets very hot indeed!
Sign up to our newsletter and receive discounts and inspiration for your next reading experience.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.