Castle in the air

Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 7-12. This ebullient follow-up to Howl's Moving Castle [BKL Je 1 86] lives up to its predecessor's wacky humor and mysterious goings-on. Here, the protagonist is a young carpet merchant called Abdullah, who spends much of his time creating a richly developed daydream in which he is the long-lost son of a great prince, kidnapped as a child by a villainous bandit. Lately, however, the daydream has focused on the princess to whom Abdullah imagines he was betrothed at his birth. Acquiring a rather threadbare, self-centered magic carpet, Abdullah embarks on a string of adventures that begin when the carpet flies him to the garden of the princess of his dream, Flower-in-the-Night. It's love at first sight, and when Flower-in-the-Night is carried off by a mighty flying djinn, Abdullah determines to find and rescue her. He soon finds himself in the hands of the very villain of his dream and then lost in the hot desert wilds with an irascible genie in a bottle. "`It seems that Fate has decreed that I live through my entire daydream in reality!' he croaked." And so indeed it goes. Feisty Sophie and the Wizard Howl (from Howl's Moving Castle) do not become apparent till late in the story, but their fortunes do link up with those of Abdullah and his love. Jones maintains both suspense and wit throughout, demonstrating once again that frequently nothing is what it seems to be. Readers of the first book will welcome the sequel with glee. ~--Sally Estes

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Abdullah the rug merchant leaves his humdrum life far behind when he purchases a threadbare magic carpet from a mysterious stranger. Almost immediately, Abdullah is whisked off on a series of adventures that bear an uncanny resemblance to his own daydreams. He meets the love of his life only to have her kidnapped by a fierce djinn. With the help of the magic carpet--and an ornery genie--Abdullah sets out to rescue his bride-to-be. His travels take him to the fairy tale land of Ingary, the setting of this novel's predecessor, Howl's Moving Castle. As usual, Jones has constructed a wonderfully complicated plot, chock-full of magical mayhem. However, while her other interconnected novels ( Charmed Life , The Magicians of Caprona and The Lives of Christopher Chant ) can be read on their own, the final third of Abdullah's story is likely to confuse readers not already acquainted with the characters introduced in the first book. Those familiar with Ingary will welcome the chance to return and catch up on the doings of its exuberant inhabitants. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 6 Up-Jenny Sterlin is the perfect narrator for Diana Wynne Jones's companion book (2001) to Howl's Moving Castle (1986, both Greenwillow). It features a cast of colorful characters set in fantastic locations such as carpet bazaars, exotic palaces and gardens, arid deserts, dreary prisons, and ultimately a castle in the air (belonging to the infamous Howl and his wife Sophie). Abdullah, a simple carpet dealer, purchases a magic carpet which takes him to places that replicate his dreams, including a fantastic garden with a beautiful princess. When she is snatched away by a wicked djinn before he can declare his love, he sets off to rescue her, aided at times by a crusty soldier, the unreliable genie, and a independent-minded cat. Sterlin's British accented voice is at turns richly cultured, for those of wealth and privilege, and harshly pedestrian, for those less educated and more brawny. She is particularly effective in bringing to life a disgruntled genie who tries his hardest to thwart every request he receives. Sterlin downplays the author's subtle humor, letting it flow naturally into the dialogue and adding to the surprises for both Abdullah and listeners as the plot twists and turns to its fortuitous conclusion.-Edith Ching, Washington Latin Public Charter School, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

A young rug merchant buys a magic carpet, has his new-found princess stolen by a djinn, and finds his life further complicated by an ill-natured genie. The author has managed to combine an Arabian Nights fantasy with the characters and even the castle from 'Howl's Moving Castle' (Greenwillow) in this cleverly written, amusing story. From HORN BOOK 1991, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

In a sequel to the ebulliently inventive Howl's Moving Castle (1986), a wicked djinn (with the aid of his more benevolent brother, whom he's managed to enthrall) has captured more than a hundred princesses in the hope of wedding them all. Young Abdullah, a rug merchant enamored of one of them, discovers that his dreams and nightmares are being precipitately realized as he endeavors to rescue her. A strange merchant sold him the carpet, threadbare but magical, that first wafted him to ""Flower-in-the-Night""; he is soon also equipped with a comically cranky genie that does its best to subvert Abdullah's attempts to get out of his increasingly elaborate predicaments with the use of his daily wish. The quest takes him from the deserts near his native ""Zanzib"" to Britain-like Ingary (see Howl) and thence to the sky-high Castle, now considerably inflated by the djinns who are keeping the princesses there. True to form, Jones provides delicious personalities even for the carpet (it's lazy but susceptible to flattery), and slips in some double identities that should surprise even fans familiar with her bottomless bag of tricks. This hasn't quite the intellectual pyrotechnics of The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988), or as many wheels within thematic wheels; it will stand alone, but is even more fun if the familiar characters (who do finally turn up) are already known. A bewitching romp, gratifying to mind, imagination, and funny bone. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Castle in the Air Chapter One In which Abdulla buys a carpet Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, a young carpet merchant called Abdullah lived in the city of Zanzib. As merchants go, he was not rich. His father had been disappointed in him, and when he died, he had only left Abdullah Just enough money to buy and stock a modest booth in the northwest corner of the Bazaar. The rest of his father's money, and the large carpet emporium in the center of the Bazaar, had all gone to the relatives of his father's first wife. Abdullah had never been told why his father was disappointed in him. A prophecy made at Abdullah's birth had something to do with it. But Abdullah had never bothered to find out more. Instead, from a very early age, he had simply made up daydreams about it. In his daydreams, he was really the long-lost son of a great prince, which meant, of course, that his father was not really his father. It was a complete castle in the air, and Abdullah knew it was, Everyone told him he inherited his father's looks. When he looked in a mirror, he saw a decidedly handsome young man, in a thin, hawk-faced way, and knew he looked very like the portrait of his father as a young man, always allowing for the fact that his father wore a flourishing mustache, whereas Abdullah was still scraping together the six hairs on his upper lip and hoping they would multiply soon. Unfortunately, as everyone also agreed, Abdullah had inherited his character from his mother-his father's second wife-who had been a dreamy and timorous woman and a great disappointment to everyone. This did not bother Abdullah particularly. The life of a carpet merchant holds few opportunities for, bravery, and he was, on the whole, content with it. The booth he had bought, though small, turned out to be rather well placed. It was not far from the West Quarter, where the rich people lived in their big houses surrounded by beautiful gardens. Better still, it was the first part of the Bazaar the carpet makers came to when they came into Zanzib from the desert to the north. Both the rich people and the carpet makers were usually seeking the bigger shops in the center of the Bazaar, but a surprisingly large number of them were ready to pause at the booth of a young carpet merchant when that young merchant rushed out into their paths and offered them bargains and discounts with most profuse politeness. In this way, Abdullah was quite often able to buy best-quality carpets before anyone else saw them, and sell them at a profit, too. In between buying and selling he could sit in his booth and continue with his daydream, which suited him very well. In fact, almost the only trouble in his life came from his father's first wife'srelations, who would keep visitinghim once a month in order to point out his failings. "But you're not saving any of your profits!" cried Abdullah's father's first wife's brother's son, Hakim (whom Abdullah detested), one fateful day, Abdullah explained that when he made a profit, his custom was to use that money to buy a better carpet. Thus, although all his money was bound up in his stock, it was getting to be better and better stock. He had enough to live on. And as he told his father's relatives, he had no need of more since he was not married. "Well, you should be married!" cried Abdullah's father's first wife's sister, Fatima (whom Abdullah detested even more than Hakim). "I've said it once, and I'll say it again -- a young man like you should have at least two wives by now!" And not content with simply saying so, Fatima declared that this time she was going to look out for some wives for him-an offer which made Abdullah shake in his shoes. "And the more valuable your stock gets, the more likely you are to be robbed, or the more you'll lose if your booth catches fire. Have you thought of that?"nagged Abdullah's father's first wife's uncle's son, Assif (a man whom Abdullah hated more than the first two put together). He assured Assif that he always slept in the booth and was very careful of the lamps. At that all three of his father's first wife's relatives shook their heads, tut-tutted, and went away. This usually meant they would leave him in peace for another month. Abdullah sighed with relief and plunged straight back into his daydream. The daydream was enormously detailed by now. In it, Abdullah was the son of a mighty prince who lived so far to the east that his country was unknown in Zanzib. But Abdullah had been kidnapped at the age of two by a villainous bandit called Kabul Aqba. Kabul Aqba had a hooked nose like the beak of a vulture and wore a gold ring clipped into one of his nostrils. He carried a pistol with a silver-mounted stock with which he menaced Abdullah, and there was a bloodstone in his turban which seemed to give him more than human power. Abdullah was so frightened that he ran away into the desert, where he was found by the man he called his father now. The daydream took no account of the fact that Abduffah's father had never ventured into the desert in his life; indeed, he had often said that anyone who ventured beyond Zanzib must be mad. Nevertheless, Abdullah could Castle in the Air . Copyright © by Diana Jones. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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