Oh No Witches

That does it!  I'm taking a quick packing break to do a quick ramble.  Why?  'Cause I desperately need to do something literary related and if I pick up a book I will probably not put it down until moving day.  Let's ramble about Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones.  Part of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci and the second story in my special volume, it made me as happy as the other ones have.  Lets get on with it shall we?  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

 This story again takes us out of Chrestomanci's home world and let's us explore an entirely new one.  This world is one where magic and especially witches (both male and female) are feared to the point that they are burned any time one of them is discovered.  Our story takes place in a boarding school where a significant portion of the student body are what are called witch orphans.  These are children that have been orphaned after one or more of their parents have been executed for being witches.  The school is thrown into turmoil when a teacher is slipped a note informing him that one of his students is a witch.  We are then introduced to a whole bunch of kids who belong to various social groups with in the school.  Nan Pilgrim is the descendant of a very powerful witch who was known for starting a rebellion. Charles Morgan an unpopular boy who uses his ferocious looks to keep people at bay.  Brian Wentworth, the son of the vice principle who is harassed by the popular group.  Theresa Mullett and Simon Silverson, popular and cruel.  And a whole host of other kids who make up this school.  Weird going ons start to happen all of which points to a witch among the students.  As the story progresses each child becomes suspicious of each other, and then of themselves as they realize that most of them possess some sort of mage.  It get's bad enough that the teachers call in the witch hunters to rid the school of whoever is causing the problem.  All of this eventually catches the attention of Chrestomanci who travels to this world to see what is going on.  He is confused as the profusion of magic should make this world embrace witches not fear them.  He discovers that this particular world experienced a schism at some point trapping all the witches on this side and all the embracing of magic on the other.  He uses the witch children to work some big magic, the worlds merge and it appears that people live happier ever after.

World Building - This world is full and slightly unsetteling.  There is the feel of a modernish day England boarding school that most British/Fantasy lovers will recognize.  There is also the feeling that something is slightly off about the whole thing...which considering the ending of the book makes this world feel very carefully built.  It is very different from Chrestomanci's open and pastoral world and really gives us the impression of being in a different place.  It was effective, appropriate and complete.

Story - The story had a beginning, middle and end.  It had layers and depth.  It made sense, we were given all the information we needed with out getting bored by a lecture.  Most off all I kept turning the pages.  I never once got bored with the story and wanted to finish it as fast as possible and at the same time was very sad when it was over.  It is very appropriate for the age group it is written for and as with all stories by this author it is just phenomenal.

Characters - Another strong point to this book, the characters were varied and interesting.  Each character stayed true to how they were written, while still being given the chance to change and grow.  The children and adults all interacted in believable ways.  I liked how the author gave us characters that originally fit into very stereotypical school niches, the popular kids, the bully, the loner, the teachers pet, the stranger, the head of the school, etc...but then gave them all a chance to become something else.  I also liked that not every single character chose the best path, that the author recognized that just 'cause you get the choice to do does not mean everybody does.

Editing - Props to the editor.  This book was readable and made perfect sense.  We get the information we need when we need it and the pacing was wonderful.  The book as a whole fits into the Chrestomanci world.  I feel this type of editing and pacing is perfect for the intended age group, which is the Middle Grade/Young Adult crowd.

The Kids - I loved the children as a whole in this book.  I loved the world with in a world that a bunch of children can create with their own rules, moral, code of conduct and way of thinking.  It is entirely different from the world of adults and I remember as a kid how when a group of us got together we lived a completely different life from the adults.  This book very much sends me back to those days and it is nice to see a children's author who seems to understand children.

The Spells - The various spells the kids used, both intentional and otherwise where very original and refreshing.  The way that a child's mind works to create spells is so different then a "logical and educated" adult and really adds a different dimension to this book about magic.  I also just found the results of the spells amusing...especially when the hundreds of shoes appeared and needed sorting, what a great visual.

The Solution - I very much appreciate that Chrestomanci used the kids to solve this worlds problems.  He recognized that they were the ones with the magic (for the most part) and that they were more open to a solution that involved magic.  Instead of going to the adults to talk or fight the problem, he used his best resources, the children and came up with a complete and elegant solution.

Overall Impression - I really really really wish I had known about this author as a kid.  I feel like these would have been some of my favorite books and this book in particular would have appealed to me.  I give it 8 out of 10 flying carpets and recommend it to any kid who needs a book to read, fans of British fantasy and anybody who just wants a fun read.  Happy Reading Everybody!

A Magicians Magician

Hola Readers!  Ready for some rambling?  Awesome!  Let's see, I'm starting to amass a stack of books to ramble about...Um...Let's go with The Magicians of Caprona by my lovely and much missed Diana Wynne Jones.  This is one of the entery's into the Chronicles of Chrestomanci and this time we get away from England and his castle.  This book was a great expansion into the world of Chrestomanci and gives a bigger glimpse into this wonderful and varied universe.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

This is a tale of two households, both alike in dignity...wait...wrong book...still...  Anyways in the Italianish city of Caprona, magic is part of everyday reality.  It is used to keep pests away, bridges intact and any number of other conveniences.  Most of the magic and spells are created by two families, the Montana's and the Petrocchi's.  At some forgotten point in history these two houses had a falling out and now they have a deep seated dislike of each other.  In Casa Montana we meet Paolo and Tonio two children who are trying to learn the family magic.  Paolo does a respectable job, but Tonio has problems remembering even the simplest of spells.  Tonio however is one of the very few in the house who can converse with the cat Benvenuto.  While we meet the family, we also learn that a mysterious enchanter is running around Caprona causing problems and both Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi have been admonished by the child like Duke to figure out just what in the heck is going on.  Eventually the idea that they need to find the original protection spell/song of the Angel who came so long ago and is now revered as an almost religious icon of Caprona.  All of this chaos is just added two when Tonio and Angelica (a young Petrocchi girl) are kidnapped and the blame put on the opposing family's, a huge fight breaks and the fighting threatens to end the city until Chrestomanci the great enchanter shows up and reveals that there is in fact a malevolent enchanter running around.  Back with Tonio and Angelica we find them trapped in a box and turned into Punch and Judy puppets for the amusement of the Duke and his friends.  Turns out his wife, the Duchess is the evil magician, hell bent on destroying Caprona. Tonio and Angelica find a way to combine both of their unique magics to all sorts of interesting results.  They are still in miniature form when they are rescued by the Duke, who is not as child like as he seems.  The Duchess has been keeping him in a sort of cloud.  The Duke uses everybody's assumption of his dimwittedness to sneak the kids out of the castle.   All kinds of confusion and fighting and angst occur and we find many of the Montana and Petrocchi kids teaming up to save Caprona.  Eventually six of them end up on top of the huge angel statue, able to read the words of the long forgotten song and save Caprona.  The story ends with a wedding between a Montana girl and a Petrocchi boy who start a new era of family ties and much magic between the two houses.

World Building - I always love reading Diana Wynne Jones in particular for her world building skills.  This book is no exception.  Caprona is a fully realized placed with it's own asthetic, layout, customs, politics and people. After reading this book I feel like I could actually go to Caprona (even though it doesn't exist) and live their comfortably.  She does a great job of blending places you may already be familiar with (Italy, Venice, Europe) and adding her own fantastical twist to make a world that is complete and amazing.

Story - In this book the story intertwines with the world building in a sublime way.  We definitely get a story with a beginning middle and end, but we also get a sense of history and a glimpse of the future of the families and city with which the story is told.  The story moves along at a great pace, with plenty of unexpected moments, humor, morals and magic.  The story is so clear and so entertaining...everything a great story should be.

Character - Again this author shows her chops when it comes to characters.  I feel her books are known for having a huge cast of characters, and yet I am never confused about who is who.  Every character has their own sort of story and their own contributions to furthering the book.  In this book in particular I liked the pairing of the Montana family with their counterparts in the Petrocchi family and how they were similar in some ways and complimentary in others...once they put aside their differences anyways.  I love how she makes you give a damn about the characters and you can actually cheer them on, or root for their downfall, or sympathize or whatever it is you are supposed to do.

Editing - This book fits in nicely with the series as a whole, with no errors or continuity issues.  The book was eminently readable to the point I did not realize how many pages I had read without realizing it.  A complicated book like this can be tricky to edit as you have to make sure that everything is explained while not boring the reader with to much exposition.  This book has the perfect balance of complexity and readability that I have to give the editor props for.

Chrestomanci - I always look forward to our great enchanters entrance into any of his stories.  This time his role is less prominent then in earlier books, but no less important.  I like how the author used him this time as more of a catalyst or helper then as a savior.  His compassion, limitations and ability to get people to help themselves while not over simplifying the situation is great to read.  His character is always one of my favorites, quietly powerful while still able to assess and adjust to a situation and retain his sense of humor.

New Places - I very much enjoyed taking a trip away from Chrestomanci's estate.  The first two books I read in the series took place on his home turf and were awesome, but getting a look at another place in the same world just adds even more flavor.  I liked seeing how this paticular world related to each other in the sense of how Caprona associated with England, how Caprona had issues with their fellow city states, how some things were similar to Chrestomanci's area vs their own regional flavor.  It was like a little travelouge into World 12 (Chrestomanci's world) and added even more dimension to this awesome universe.

Caprona Magic - Much of the magic done in Caprona is manifested in some sort of physical form.  We have songs, which I feel is the perfect medium for magic.  We see it written into special ribbons and papers (YEAH FOR THE POWER OF THE WRITTEN WORD).  The description of a long cherry colored strip stamped with a black leopard or a leaf green envelope bearing a silver winged horse evoke awesome images of corporal magic.  One of my favorite things about magic is how different authors have their characters use it in a myriad of ways and this book is no exception.

Overall Impression - Obviously I really enjoyed this book.  I feel like I haven't been able to successfully impart the complexity, yet readability of this book...I have that problem every time I try and ramble about this authors books.  These are the kind of books I like best, ones that get you completely immersed into the world, the story and the character, a book that sticks with you after you put it down, but does not require you to puzzle anything out.  Reading this book was a wonderful literary experience and I can't wait to read the next one.  I give it 9 out of 10 Punch and Judy dolls and recommend it to pretty much everybody!  Happy Reading Everybody!

So Ready For Spring!

I am usually not a warm weather person but I am SOOOOOO ready for spring!  I am ready to read outside on nice days, to open all the doors and windows and let the spring showers refresh the house.  I am ready to break out my Jane Austen and Diana Wynn Jones (my go to spring authors).

 I am ready for color and farmers markets and waterfalls and discovering new nooks and crannies to read in.  I am ready to climb a tree and read in the branches, I am ready to go hunt down some new faeries and see if they have any new stories for me.  Bring on the Spring!!!!!

Almost Anywhere's

Welcome to today's rambling part two of my rare double header series.  I am doing another rambling because it is the second book/story in a volume I just recently finished and everything goes together to well to put a gap in between.  Anyways today I ramble about The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones and the second story in the Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume 1.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Christopher Chant has discovered that he has an amazing ability, he can slip out of his body and go to a place he calls the Almost Anywhere's. The Almost Anywhere's appear to Christopher as a bunch of different places connected the The Place In Between a rocky valley like place.  Christopher frequently visits these places and the strange people that populate them.  On occasion Christopher is able to bring back a gift that he is given in an Anywhere.  Back at home Christopher's mother and father (an enchanter and sorceress)  are constantly at odds and at times use Christopher to get at each other.  Christopher is assigned a governess and becomes acquainted with his Uncle Ralph who finds out about Christopher's abilities.  He asks Christopher to meet a colleague of his named Tacroy to conduct some experiments in the Anywhere's.  Christopher agree's and has fun with his new friend.  While working with Tacroy, Christopher runs into a girl called The Living Asheth, or The Goddess, a girl about his own age who has powers of her own.  In exchange for a Temple Cat, the Goddess asks for books and Christopher agrees.  While leaving with the cat, soldiers catch Christopher and hurl a spear through his chest, but as Christopher wakes up in his own bed, he decides no harm no

foul.  Unfortunately for Christopher, the cat he brought back is crazy and knocks the curtain rod into Christopher's chest, but he appears to only be wounded.  Christopher is sent to boarding school where he makes friends and learns that he loves the game of cricket and finds he has no talent for magic as he cannot perform even the simplest of spells in magic class.  He continues to help Tacroy with the "experiments" which usually consist of loading mysterious packages onto a vehicle for Tacroy to take back to wherever.  All of this comes to a screeching halt when his is killed when he is smashed in the head with a cricket bat.  Christopher wakes up in the morgue and it is discovered that he has nine lives and is sent to the current Chrestomanci to be trained as his successor.  It is discovered that by removing all silver from his person, Christopher is capable of performing massive feats of magic.  All kinds of stuff happens and Christopher is feeling lonely in a castle full of fusty adults and only the crabby Chrestomanci to pay any attention to him.  He is told the the Wraith, a nasty gang, has been smuggling illicit magic ingredients from the Related Worlds.  Christopher realizes that the Related Worlds are what he calls the Anywhere's and that his uncle is the one smuggling in the dangerous items.  Tacroy is captured and turns out to be a man who works for Chrestomanci, but even while being questioned, keeps Christophers part in it a secret.  Uncle Ralph kidnaps the Chrestomanci and scatters his lives across the worlds.  Christopher becomes the interim Chrestomanci and along with the Goddess (who found a way to enter the world 12A) and the rest of the household find a way to trap Uncle Ralph.  Tacroy turns out to be a person from world 11 (only one world in that series) a mysterious and dangerous place.  They all travel to world 11 and get Tacroy freed and reclaim the Chrestomanci.  The Chrestomanci is grateful and realizes that Christopher needs to be around kids his own age and forms a bit of a magic school at the castle for him, and that is how Christopher Chant becomes the next Chrestomanci with only two lives left.

Again, a bit of a long synopsis, but again the author is stuffing it full.  In this story we get to learn a lot more about the Related Worlds, how they work, and what they mean to each other.  I think what I liked best about this book was seeing the Related Worlds from so many point of views.  We have Christopher who views it as a child would, with wonders and potential friends around every corner.  He is not even 100% sure if it is real or not and treats it as a wonderful dream.  Uncle Ralph and his cronies see the worlds as a place to get rich.  They harvest and pillage, and even murder for no other reason then to further their own means.  Chrestomanci and his crew see the worlds as counter parts to their own, places that need to be protected and mostly left to their own devices.  Christopher's inability to do magic when in contact with silver was a nice touch, reminding us that for all their power, these enchanters are still human.  As in the last book we have lack of communication being a huge factor in what goes down in this story, showing how little adults tend to trust children...even if it is the children who are the primary concern.  The whole 11th world, getting Tacroy back thing could have probably been left out...unless it plays into other books...which it might...but for this book it seemed different from the rest of the story, like it was part of another idea.  I liked this story a lot, and it has cemented my love of this author and I already have Volume 2 on my shelf.  I give it 7 out of 10 silly ladies!
What Related World would you like to visit?  Why don't adult's think kids can handle at least the basic truth?  Where does one apply to become a living Goddess?

Nine Lives Plus A Horrid Sister

Hello All!  Did you miss me and my long rambley rambles?  Well you are in luck, 'cause to make up for all my short skimpy posts that last week you are gonna get a double header!  Yep that's right. two ramblings in a row.  They are two books that have been combined into one volume and I liked them both so much that I didn't take a breather in between stories, so two ramblings it is.  Today's rambling is Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones and is the first story in the Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume 1.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Eric "Cat" Chant and his older sister Gwendolyn are left orphans after their parents drown in an unfortunate steamboat accident.  Gwendolyn survives because she is a witch and everybody know's witches can't drown, Cat survived by hanging on to Gwendolyn.  After some discussion, the children are placed in the care of a Mrs Sharp, a hedge witch who does the most minor of magics, but is well connected and gets Gwendolyn and her astounding talent some teaching by a man of not so good intentions.  Gwendolyn appears to have a vast amount of power, especially for one so young while Cat appears to have none.  Eventually both children are brought to Chrestomanci Castle, to live with the Chrestomanci and his family.  In case you have never heard the term before Chrestomanci is the term of office and title of the most powerful enchanter in World 12B (where magic is as common as music) and has the responsibility of keeping all the other magic users in line.  What is World 12A?  It is a world in a series of worlds that are all connected in some way, shape, or form and World 12A is where the Chrestomanci is in charge...at least of the magic.  Anyways our young friends are brought to Chrestomanci Castle to live with the Chrestomanci (also known as Christopher Chant), his wife Millie, his children Julia and Robert and other various magical staff members.  Cat is torn between excitement (he gets his own room with a shower) and wishing he was back with Old Mrs. Sharp.  Gwendolyn does not make things any better when she finds she is to be a mere student along with Cat and the other two children.  Gwendolyn feels that her immense talent sets her above everybody else and goes into rages when Chrestomanci won't even so much as look in her direction.  To attempt to get Chrestomanci's attention, Gwendolyn uses her magic to pull all kind of grotesque and trouble causing pranks.  This culminates in Chrestomanci taking her magic and forbidding the use of witchcraft.  Meanwhile, Gwendolyn has been in communication with her former teacher and with him and his dastardly group forming some kind of insidious plan.  After her magic is supposedly taken away Cat awakens to find that Gwendolyn has gone and in her place is Janet, another

"Gwendolyn" from one of the Related Worlds.  Turns out that Gwendolyn, using illicit dragon's blood and some sort of magic had gotten into a world where she is queen, the result is that all the other "Gwendolyns" from the other worlds all slid up one to fill the void, leaving Janet trapped in World 12A.  Cat is terrified that his sister will get in trouble (never mind that she abandoned him) and he and Janet get themselves into even more trouble trying to keep it a secret.   Eventually Janet and Cat discover a book of matches among Gwendolyns things and when Cat lights one, goes up in flames himself.  Chrestomanci finally tells Cat that it is he, not his sister that has the power, being one of the rare people who do not have counterparts in the Related Worlds, but instead have all the lives concentrated into one person.  This also makes a person one of the most powerful enchanters and next in line for the title of Chrestomanci.  Gwendolyn figured this out when Cat was a baby and leaned heavily on his power to augment her own.  Still leery of Chrestomanci and unable to fully believe his sister meant him harm, Cat and Janet get into Chrestomanci's secret garden and let in Gwendolyns old teacher and his cronies.  The nefarious group informs Cat that they must kill him to fully break the special garden of Chrestomanci's and take his power.  Cat is frightened but knows that he has a couple lives left so no biggie.  The group capture Chrestomanci with silver (which is his weakness) and go about tying Cat up.  Gwendolyn reappears to tell the group that Cat has multiple lives so that they will have to kill him several times.  Cat finally realizes what a heinous person his sister is and helps Chrestomanci (along with the rest of the household) vanqauish the bad guys.  Gwendolyn flees to another world causing Janet to reappear when she begs to be allowed to stay as the other Janet/Gwendolyn appears to be happy at her world.  Chrestomanci agrees at it appears that all the Gwendolyns are happiest in their new worlds.  Cat is to be taught magic and groomed as the next Chrestomanci and they all appear to be in good shape.

Soooo...that was much longer then intended, but so much stuff needed to be explained...also it might help with understanding the next rambling as well...maybe.  Anyways what did I love about this book?  Well I love this author in general, she also wrote my beloved Howl's Moving Castle and really knows how to write a book that is both complicated, yet easy to follow.  As you can tell from my synopsis a lot goes on in this story, yet I always felt I could follow along.  Part of this is that she doesn't over detail things, a quick description, a comment, a short lesson is all it takes to build this familiar, yet magical world.  I will say, it is a bit frustrating on occasion that the Related Worlds are not fully explained...or really explained at all, but the next story does a good job of remedying that.  I loved Gwendolyn and Cat and their twisted relationship.  Cat clung to Gwendolyn no matter how horrid she was towards him, and up until the very end she would actually treat him quit well on

occasion, playing with him when he was bored, comforting him when he was scared, getting him treats and so forth.  I thing that is what made so much more horrifying at the end when she was not only willing to kill him, but came back on purpose to make sure he lost ALL of his lives.  For a kids book this gets a little dark, I mean seriously could you imagine the psychological ramifications of your beloved sister turning on you like that?  At least if she had been horrid to him the whole time it would not have come as such a blow.  That being said, Gwendolyn was one of my favorite characters if for nothing other then the flavor she added to the book.  I liked the idea of Cat's various lives and the ways you could lose them without even realizing it.  Robert and Julia, Chrestomanci's children added a great perspective and dimension to the story as they come from a house of magic, that is both normal and controlled.  These are children who are taught to control their impulses (mostly...Julia can have a bit of a temper) and use magic to it's best potential.  Really the only thing that drove me crazy about this story was the deliberate lack of communication, so much of the bad stuff could have been avoided if the adults had just let the kiddo's know even a little bit of what was going on!  This is one of my biggest pet peeves...though I'll admit the author did attempt to put in a plausible reason for it, it still irritated me.  Overall I very much enjoyed this book, the characters, and the sheer amount of magic tidbits the author stuffed in.  I recommend it to anybody who likes magic, the English countryside or had a bratty big sister growing up.  I give this book 8 out of 10 fiddles turned cats.
What would you do with nine lives?  Did you have a bratty sibling growing up?  Do you think my siblings would classify me as a bratty older sister?

Fire Demons, Living Scarecrows And Moving Castles Oh My

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones makes me so HAPPY!!!!!!  I love everything about this book, every piece of it, every page of it, every word of it (in case you were wondering...I liked the book).  This is a case of a book that has it all, well developed characters, amazing world building, humor, magic, and the writing itself is pretty much flawless.  The only possible minor flaw (and that is if this sort of thing bugs you) is that the background of the plot skips around a bit and it may not bee 100% clear to everyone exactly what happens, but I will try and put it together the best I can.  WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

Our story centers around Sophie, the oldest of three daughters.  Her sisters are the beautiful, clever and headstrong Lettie and the happy and spirited Martha.  Sophie feels that as the oldest it will never fall to her to seek her fortune, but instead to stay at home and run her father's hat shop in the prosperous town of Market Chipping (A Victorian era type town).  Sophie is the main decorator of these hats and any hat she touches tends to take on a life of it's own, for example to a certain hat, she told it that it had a heart of gold and somebody in a high position would marry it.  Sure enough, a homely girl with no prospects bought the hat and ran of with a count the very next week!  Sophie's sisters have been apprenticed out, Martha was sent to Mrs.Fairfax to learn magic, and Lettie was sent to the bakery to be a shop girl.  Sophie decides to visit Lettie at the bakery and discover that the girls have switched places as it better suites their temperaments and likes.  On her way to and from the bakery Sophie has discovered that she has become very fearful of the faster 

pace of life outside her shop.  Back in the hat shop Sophie is on her own when the notorious Witch of the Waste comes in and places a spell on her, turning her into an old woman.  Deciding she has nothing to loose, she sets out to seek her fortune.  On the way she stumbles upon an upside down scarecrow, whom she sets back to rights and a poor dog tied to a stick stuck in the bushes.  Sophie untangles the dog and takes the stick for herself to use as a sort of walking stick.  Sophie ends up stumbling upon a patchwork castle that is slowly moving around the countryside.  This is Howl's castle, the dwelling of a well known dandy of a powerful wizard who is rumored to lure young girls to his castle and then eat their hearts.  Sophie is not to worried as she is now an old lady and just wants a warm chair by the fire.  Sophie gets into the castle and finds a chair, but the fire turns out to be a demon named Calcifer who wants her to break the contract between it and Howl, in return he will break her spell.  Sophie agrees but cannot get any more information about what the contract is or how to break it.  Howl's apprentice finds Sophie and decides to let her stay the night.  Sophie determined to stay in the castle becomes the cleaning lady.  Howl lets her stay and proves himself to be a most vain and impulsive, yet not unkind young man.  The majority of his time is spent either in the bathroom using various potions and powders to make himself attractive, or wooing young ladies and then loosing interest as soon as they fall for him.  Howl and Sophie have a bit of a love/hate relationship, the kind you have with somebody who you absolutely adore, but can irritate the heck out of you at any given moment. The castle door is very unique in that depending on which of the four colors you turn a knob, the 

door will open to one of  four places, including Wales where Howl is originally from.  The fouresome (Howl, Sophie, Michael and Calcifer) have a couple of adventures and mishaps, mostley with Sophie at the middle of them. Eventually it comes out that Howl has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste and when it comes true he will be compelled to go back to her.  Also along side all of this the Kings wizard is missing, along with the kings brother Prince Justin. The King wants Howl to become his new wizard and to find his brother, but Howl wants no part of it, so he changes his castle to open to new places, including the old hat shop where Sophie used to work, but now the group decides to sell flowers.  Eventually the Witch of the Waste catches up with Howl, and Sophie who discovers she has magic of her own, goes to try and save Howl.  Eventually the witch is defeated, but turns out she is not the big baddie.  The Witch had given her heart to a fire demon who was not as nice as Calcifer, and it was trying to take over Howl.  Sophie finially realizes what the contract between Calcifer and Howl is.  When Howl was younger he caught a falling star that was dying, instead of letting it go, he offered the dying star his heart in exchange for power.  Sophie retrieves Howl's heart from Calcifer and together they defeat the old fire demon.  Calcifer decides to stay and Sophie realizes her curse is broken.  Howl informs her that he knew she was cursed all along, but no matter how hard he tried he could not break it.  Turns out Sophie was hanging on to her guise as an old lady as a way to do what she wanted without having to worry about propriety or anything like that.  Once she no longer needed that disguise, the curse went away on it's own accord.  Howl and Sophie kiss and decide that they are about the only two who can stand each other for long periods of time and live adventurously ever after.

This summary can hardly do this book justice.  There are so many other characters and sub-plots and places that...well just go read the book already.  This book shows the gamut of human emotions, greed, vanity, kindness, charity, perseverance  fear, and love.  Love is it's own very special thing in this book because the author shows the full extent of all the different kinds of love out there.  So many times a book get's stuck on "true love" of the romantic variety and forgets all of the other wonderful ways to love that are out there.   There is family love, shown by Howl's love for his sister and her kids, even though she does not approve of what he does, and Sophie and her sisters, never once are they enemies, but united in love...even Martha who is only a half-sister.  There is love of friends, as when Howl takes in Michael and trains him and watches out for his best interest, or between Calcifer and Howl even if it seems lopsided on occasion, they are constantly watching each others backs.  There is parent/child love as seen when the King is willing to do anything to protect his young daughter (who he keeps with him at all times, even in the council chamber) or when Fanny, who is the step-mother to Sophie and Lettie and mother to Martha does her best to try and make life as 

good as she can for all three girls, not just her own daughter.  And yes their is romantic love as well, we see the silly love of Howl chasing after girls, until it is no longer fun, we see Michael doing everything he can to win Lettie's love, and we see the exasperating, irritating, comfortable, actually knowing somebody and loving them anyways flaws and all love that takes the whole book to develop between Sophie and Howl.  The author knows how to write humans, she knows how to make their emotions, actions and reactions genuine and believable all while setting it in this fantastic world of endless possibilities   With a flick of the knob, a change of color and you can potentially be anywhere in the universe.  All this does not even begin to describe the wonderful sense of humor that pervades the whole story.  It would be easy for a story like this to get very dark, but all of the characters keep a sense of perspective to it all that keeps the book very fresh and enjoyable, Sophie especially has some great lines as her old lady self.   There is a Miyazaki animated film version of this book that is story wise pretty different, but tone and style wise absolutely magnificent, I would highly recommend it.  I give this book a 10 out of 10 jewel encrusted tiaras, it is excellent and everybody should read it.

If you could have a door that led to four places, where would those places be?  Are my extreme ramblings ever making any sense whatsoever?  How many different worlds are out there do you think?