Diana Wynne Jones (born London August 16, 1934) is a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction. Some of her better-known works include the Chrestomanci series and the novels Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm.

Biography

Jones was born in London on 16 August 1934, the daughter of Marjorie (née Jackson) and Richard Aneurin Jones, both of whom were educators. When war was announced, shortly after her fifth birthday, she was evacuated to Wales, and thereafter moved several times, including periods in Coniston Water, York, and back in London. In 1943 her family finally settled in Thaxted, Essex, where her parents worked running an educational conference centre. There, Jones and her two younger sisters Isobel (later Professor Isobel Armstrong, the literary critic) and Ursula spent a neglected childhood in which they were left chiefly to their own devices. After attending the Friends School Saffron Walden, she studied English at St Anne’s College in Oxford, and where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien before graduating in 1956. In the same year she married John Burrow, a scholar of medieval literature, with whom she has had three sons, Richard, Michael and Colin. After a brief period in London, in 1957 the couple returned to Oxford, where they stayed until moving to Bristol in 1976.

Jones' books range from a broad, almost slapstick delight in the construction of absurd-yet-logical situations (especially evident in the endings of some of her books), to sharp social observation, to witty parody of literary forms. Foremost amongst the latter are her Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and its fictional companion-pieces Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998) and The Year of the Griffin (2000), which provide a merciless (though not unaffectionate) critique of formulaic sword-and-sorcery epics.

The Harry Potter books are frequently compared to the works of Diana Wynne Jones. Many of her earlier children's books were out of print in recent years, but have now been re-issued for the young audience whose interest in fantasy and reading was spurred by Harry Potter. [1]

Jones' works are also compared to those of Robin McKinley and Neil Gaiman. She is friends with Gaiman, and they are both fans of each others' work; she dedicated her novel Hexwood to him after something he said in a conversation inspired a key part of the plot. He repaid the compliment (somewhat cheekily) by dedicating his comic book mini-series The Books of Magic to "four witches", one of whom being Jones.

Charmed Life, the first book in the Chrestomanci series, won the 1977 Guardian Award for Children’s Books. Jones was runner-up for the Children’s Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. In 1999, she won two major fantasy awards: the children’s section of the Mythopeic Award in the USA, and the Karl Edward Wagner Award in the UK, which is awarded by the British Fantasy Society to individuals or organisations who have made a significant impact on fantasy.

Her book Howl's Moving Castle was adapted as a Japanese animated movie in 2004, by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. A version dubbed into English was released in the USA in 2005, with the voice of Howl performed by Christian Bale.

Her non-fiction work on clichés in fantasy fiction, The Tough Guide To Fantasyland, has a cult following as a reference among writers and critics, despite being difficult to find due to an erratic printing history. It was recently reissued in the UK, and has been reissued in the USA in 2006 by Firebird Books. The Firebird edition has additional material and a completely new design, including a new map.

In July 2006 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt from the University of Bristol.

Bibliography

Fiction

Chrestomanci series

In order of internal chronology:

1.      The Lives of Christopher Chant [1988: Carnegie Medal Commended]

2.      Conrad's Fate (2005)

3.      Charmed Life [1977: Carnegie Medal Commended; 1978: Guardian Award; Preis der Leseratten (ZDF Schülerexpress, Germany)]

4.      The Magicians of Caprona (1980)

5.      The Pinhoe Egg (2006)

• Mixed Magics (short stories of varying internal dates)
• Witch Week (separate from other books in series, but set in same era as Charmed Life) (1982)

Derkholm series

1.      Dark Lord of Derkholm [1999: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award ] See also Jones' remarks on winning the award.

2.      Year of the Griffin

Dalemark Quartet

1.      Cart and Cwidder (1975)

2.      Drowned Ammet (1977)

3.      The Spellcoats (1979)

4.      Crown of Dalemark (1993)

Castle series

1.      Howl's Moving Castle 1986: Honor book for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award

2.      Castle in the Air 1992: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, nominated

Magids series

• Deep Secret (marketed to adults)
• The Merlin Conspiracy

Short Stories

• "Chair Person" in Stopping for a Spell
• "The Four Grannies" in Stopping for a Spell
• "Little Dot" in Firebirds
• "I'll Give You My Word" in Firebirds Rising
• "Who Got Rid of Angus Flint?" in Stopping for a Spell

Miscellaneous

• Archer's Goon [1984: Boston Globe - Horn Book Honor Book; World Fantasy Award for Best Novel nominee]
• Black Maria (UK Title) / Aunt Maria (US Title)
• Changeover
• Dogsbody [1975: Carnegie Medal Commended]
• Eight Days of Luke (1975)
• Fire and Hemlock [1986: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, nominated]
• The Game (Novella) (2007)
• Hexwood
• The Homeward Bounders
• Minor Arcana (short stories) [1996: British Fantasy Award, nominated]
• The Ogre Downstairs
• Power of Three [1977: Guardian Award Commended; zilveren griffel (Netherlands)]
• Puss in Boots
• A Sudden Wild Magic (marketed to adults) [1996: British Fantasy Award, nominated]
• A Tale of Time City
• The Time of the Ghost
• Wild Robert
• Wilkins' Tooth (UK Title) / Witch's Business (US Title)
• Yes, Dear (picture book)

Collections

• Believing is Seeing
• Everard's Ride
• Fantasy Stories (editor)
• Hidden Turnings (editor)
• Minor Arcana
• Stopping for a Spell
• Unexpected Magic
• Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories (contains two Chrestomanci stories, both also in Mixed Magics)

Non-Fiction or Poetry

• "A Slice of Life" in Now We Are Sick
• The Medusa article in which Jones discuss her opinions of adult literature as opposed to children's literature.
• "The Shape of the Narrative in The Lord of The Rings" in the collection Everard's Ride
• The Skiver's Guide
• The Tough Guide To Fantasyland [1997: Hugo Award for Nonfiction, nominated] World Fantasy Award Finalist

Books About DWJ

• Rosenberg (ed.), Teya, et al. (2002). Diana Wynne Jones - An Exciting and Exacting Wisdom. Peter Lang. ISBN 0-820-45687-X. 
• Mendlesohn, Farah (2005). Diana Wynne Jones: Children's Literature and the Fantastic Tradition. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97023-7. 

External links

• Diana Wynne Jones official website
• Bibliography on SciFan
• Diana Wynne Jones Wiki (no connection with Wikipedia)
• An interview with the BBC
• Diana Wynne Jones at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Charmed Life is a 1977 novel by British children's author Diana Wynne Jones. It was the first book in the Chrestomanci series of novels to be written. The series name comes from the way the plots, involve a series of powerful nine-lived enchanters who carry the title Chrestomanci. Carriers of the title are essentially government administrators who supervise the use of magic on Earth.

Plot summary

Charmed Life opens with the orphaned Eric and Gwendolen Chant, a brother and sister, being summoned to Chrestomanci castle after Gwendolen writes a letter to the Chrestomanci, presumably begging him to take them in. Gwendolen is something of a magical virtuoso, spoiled by neighbors (and her parents when they were alive), but her brother Eric (nicknamed Cat) is rather a slouch in that department, preferring to play the violin (at which he is also lamentably mediocre). Upon arriving at the castle, which is maintained by the suave and charming but always authoritative Chrestomanci, they are taught by a private tutor in a small class with Chrestomanci's two children Julia and Roger. Unfortunately, Julia and Gwendolen immediately butt heads, and Cat appears to have no magical skill at all. Gwendolen is also furious that she is expected to start her magical training at an elementary level again. She takes out her anger on Chrestomanci in increasingly complex ways, eventually leading to the removal of her magic powers. But the next morning, Gwendolen is gone, leaving a clueless lookalike named Janet in her place.

Characters

The character of Christopher Chant (the Chrestomanci in this novel) appears as a young boy in The Lives of Christopher Chant and as a teenager in Conrad's Fate.

Eric "Cat" Chant: Cat is the protagonist of the series. He is a kind boy, but he follows a bit more than he should. His sister, Gwendolen, technically rules him. Although he had been quite terrible at the violin, he had loved it. Cat has a car-sickness; every time he enters a car, he always ends up feeling a bit sick afterward. He has three lives remaining: he had lost his first life when he was born as a baby, his second when he drowned in the flood that had killed his parents, the third when Gwendolen had put his lives into a box of matches, the next when Gwendolen had taken his life and turned his fiddle into a cat (also named Fiddle), the fifth when Gwendolen had taken one of his lives to take her into her new world where she reigned as queen, and the sixth when he burned one. The matchbox is his main weakness. Cat is training to be the next Chrestomanci.

Gwendolen Chant: She is the main antagonist of the series. She is a witch, although it is possible she did not have any witchcraft in the first place. Gwendolen had borrowed magic all her life from Cat. She likes to play "pranks" on people. Although she was very motherly to Cat in the past, she became rather nasty and bossy to him as the story progressed. During the flood, she survived because she was a witch, and witches could not drown. Cat had believed he had survived the flood by holding on to Gwendolen. She was one of the most gifted witches in their neighborhood. She contained a mix between admiration and hatred of Chrestomanci, partly because he had such powerful magic, and partly because he had supposedly not recognized her prowess.

Janet Chant: Janet is the other world equivalent of Gwendolen. She had lived in a nice, ordinary home in a world similar to ours. Everything that had happened in her world was the opposite of what had happened in Cat's world. For example, if there was a war between the French and the Spanish, if the French had won in Cat's world, the Spanish would have won in Janet's world. While Gwendolen was bossy and bold, Janet was quite shy and jolly. No one was to know that Gwendolen had spirited away to another world, so Cat and Janet had to pretend Janet was Gwendolen. When they were trying to keep it a secret, it is later revealed that Chrestomanci had known about it all along. She later decides to stay in Cat's world and becomes Chrestomanci's ward.

Julia Chant: Julia is one of Chrestomanci's two children. She is quite fat, and is normally quite nice, but can get mean. Julia's magic seems to center on a handkerchief. When Gwendolen had played a trick on her, Julia countered the attack by tying a knot in her handkerchief. However, her magic is lesser to Cat's. She had turned Janet (thinking she was Gwendolen)'s food into bugs, but when Cat traded bowls with Janet, the bugs changed back to food, resulting in a very confused Cat and an infuriated Julia.

Roger Chant: Roger is Julia's brother and the other child of Chrestomanci. He seems to be laid back and not as hot-tempered as his sister. Roger is more inclined to cooperate with Cat and to entertain him. He likes to play toy soldiers with Cat, but Cat's soldiers kept on running away.

The Pinhoe Egg is a novel by Diana Wynne Jones published in 2006. It revisits Chrestomanci Castle and the character of Cat Chant from her first Chrestomanci book, but also introduces the character of Marianne Pinhoe, who lives in the village near the castle and whose family practices a rather different sort of magic from any that Chrestomanci or his charges have encountered.

Plot

Marianne Pinhoe's family tries to keep their magic a secret. They don't want the "Big Man," or Chrestomanci, interfering, as he tends to do when people misuse magic. And the Pinhoes certainly are guilty of that. Gammer, the head of the Pinhoe clan, has ostensibly gone mad, but Marianne doesn't believe that she's completely 'round the twist. She's sure that Gammer's the one sending plagues to the Farleighs, a related clan that also wishes to stay out of the sights of the "Big Man." Until recently, the Farleighs and the Pinhoes had been working together, but it seems that Gammer has started a war, and it'll be hard to keep their operations under wraps for long.

Meanwhile, up at the Castle, Cat acquires a horse. He also meets the man who was bootboy at the Castle when the current Chrestomanci was a lad, Jason, and helps him and his new wife choose a house. They finally settle on Woods House, Gammer's old place, and Marianne, while showing Cat around, gives him an old egg from the attic. An egg with strong "Don't Notice" spells placed on it. An egg that is sure to arouse the interest of the "Big Man" up at the castle––something the rest of the Pinhoe clan, and Gammer in particular, doesn't want at all.

Characters

Marianne Pinhoe: Marianne is the main protagonist of the book. She is set to be the next Gammer of the Pinhoe clan, but that isn't what she wants at all. She has very strong magic, but, like many of Jones' characters, doesn't know it. She is an enchantress, although her mother trains her up to be a witch. She seems to have a lot of "dwimmer," which is a sort of magic.

Joe Pinhoe: Marianne's brother is sent to work as a bootboy (and spy) up at Chrestomanci Castle. He isn't really interested in the work, however, and mostly idles about. He is a disappointment to the family, but he'd fixed it that way on purpose. He likes to fix up contraptions using magic and machinery, and he and Roger try to turn it into a lucrative business scheme.

Eric "Cat" Chant: In the first Chrestomanci book, Cat is a very lonely character, clinging to his older sister and, later, to Janet, and distrusting the adults of the Castle. In this book, we see that he has not only grown to like and trust the people of the Castle, but he forms many new friendships, both with characters older than himself (Jason the former bootboy and his wife, Irene), and characters of his own age (Marianne). He acquires a horse (Syracuse) whom he has an intimate friendship with, and a griffin (Klartch), although Klartch had been a mistake, hatched from an egg Marianne had given him.

Roger Chant: Roger is one of Chrestomanci (Christopher Chant) and Millie (the Living Asheth from book 2)'s children. He, like his sister, is quite fat. Instead of wishing for a horse, he acquired a bicycle. He makes quite good friends with Joe Pinhoe, and together create a flying machine, which they work on in secret.

Julia Chant: Julia is the other child of Chrestomanci and Millie. She caught the horse fever from Janet, and tried to ride Syracuse, but found she couldn't deal with his temperament, so he became Cat's horse. She used to have a crush on Jason, and is upset that when she learns that he is married.

Janet Chant: Janet is the other world equivalent of Cat's sister, Gwendolen. She used to live in the normal world (suspected to be the real world) and got to Cat's world by the works of Gwendolen. Although she can get fiery sometimes, she is usually kind and sympathetic. Janet is one of those people afraid of horses. She, like Julia, had been infatuated with Jason, but was much more devastated than Julia when he showed up married, seeing as she had been planning to marry him in the future.

Irene: Irene is the woman who married Jason. She is described as having an "Egyptian profile, with dark hair." She, by her faithful gardener and Marianne, is called "Princess Irene." She is the kind of woman that most people end up liking, even Janet and Julia. She is a Pinhoe, and ends up buying Gammer's old house. It is strongly implied that she will become the next Gammer, seeing as she has a lot of dwimmer.