The Pinhoe Egg

Diana Wynne Jones does so much with The Pinhoe Egg and makes it look so simple and easy. I think that must be her special gift as a writer: exploring dark themes and complex messages within the pages of children's fantasy novels that remain bright and fun despite the darkness and disorder lurking be......more

So it works like this: I think the Chrestomanci books that are about Chrestomanci (Charmed Life, The Nine Lives of Christopher Chant) are better books, but I think that the books that just feature Chrestomanci are often more interesting (Witch Week, Magicians of Caprona). And I didn't care for Conr......more

The Pinhoe Egg, or, DWJ Learns to Write Endings. I don't mean that in a snarky way; I speak with genuine delight. Cat was totally adorable in this book, and I loved getting to hang with Chrestomanci again.......more

This apparently is the last of the Chrestomanci series of which I have read a few of the earlier ones so I wasn't as lost as perhaps I might have been afterwards, at least knowing about Chrestomanci, the castle, Cat who is the nine-lived enchanter understudy to be the next Chrestomanci, Millie, Chre......more

Because Jones opened this story with tensions between two local extended families - neighbors, and none too fond, of Chrestomanci Castle - I thought at first it was going to be another riff on cliches a la The Magicians of Caprona, but the narrative sidesteps that trap soon enough, and branches into......more