Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors
Review: Rupert Venables has some real trouble. All throughout the linked worlds of the Multiverse, magic is controlled by powerful magicians known as Magids, and Rupert is the Junior Magid assigned to earth (one of the magically negative worlds, where magic is hard to do and people tend not to believe in it) and to the Koryfonic Empire (magically positive, a place where creatures like centaurs can and do exist). The Empire is in revolt, the old emperor having died without appointing a successor, and Rupert needs to keep things from falling apart entirely until the right heir can be found. Meanwhile, back on earth, he needs to find a successor of his own, as the Senior Magid has died and left him in charge and in need of a Junior. He arranges to have all the likely candidates meet at, of all places, a science fiction convention. Things are pretty chaotic for Rupert, dashing back and forth between his two worlds, but when the magic from one world starts leaking into the other, that's when things really get crazy... Diana Wynne Jones again spins an absorbing, amusing, and oddly touching fantasy in which the magical and the all too real exist side-by-side. This book, unlike many of her earlier titles, is targeted at an adult audience, but her older characters are just as complex and engaging as the younger ones from her children's and young adult novels.The plot is a bit convoluted, but all of the elements eventually come together, and on the whole the book makes for a fun but thoroughly satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Diana Wynne Jones
Review: Rupert Venables is Earth's junior Magid, responsible for the gentle and secret use of magic to make things better on Earth. He's also responsible for a group of worlds known as the Koryfonic Empire, where his role is a bit more public. Almost simultaneously, another Earth Magid dies (and Rupert must select his replacement) and the Empire is thrown into chaos by the assassination of the Emperor--and the heir cannot be found. It falls to Rupert to straighten all this out, and he influences the likely replacements to meet at a science fiction convention. I should add that Jones' depiction of a SF convention and its inhabitants is the best I've read, with the possible exception of "Bimbos of the Death Sun". The rather straightlaced Rupert is at a bit of a disadvantage, but soon rallies. This is far from a comedy, though. Rupert makes mistakes. Others pay with their lives for the mistakes, and Rupert is guilt-stricken. As she is wont to do (see the attempted poisoning of the stepfather in The Ogre Downstairs for an example), Jones ignores the conventions as to who should live or die in a book--and she does it to good effect, as the deaths are necessary to the plot. This is an intricately painted novel. You could almost believe that there were Magids, and an Empire, and a mystical place called Babylon. A number of chapters are told from the point of view of Maree Mallory, one of the candidates to be the replacement Magid. She and Rupert start off hating each other--and well, you know the rest. A final chapter is told from the perspective of a third character, and fills us in on events during the course of the novel that Rupert had no opportunity to witness. The book is slow-starting, and it can take a new reader a number of pages to figure out what is going on. The first "Maree" chapter adds to the confusion a bit, since we do not know of her yet. However, the book quickly takes off. Another original masterpiece by Jones. How can she be so overlooked and Rowling so admired? The fluff of the Harry Potter books is far worse than the solid, fascinating works that Jones turns out.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Diana Wynne Jones
Review: Rupert Venables is Earth's junior Magid, responsible for the gentle and secret use of magic to make things better on Earth. He's also responsible for a group of worlds known as the Koryfonic Empire, where his role is a bit more public. Almost simultaneously, another Earth Magid dies (and Rupert must select his replacement) and the Empire is thrown into chaos by the assassination of the Emperor--and the heir cannot be found. It falls to Rupert to straighten all this out, and he influences the likely replacements to meet at a science fiction convention. I should add that Jones' depiction of a SF convention and its inhabitants is the best I've read, with the possible exception of "Bimbos of the Death Sun". The rather straightlaced Rupert is at a bit of a disadvantage, but soon rallies. This is far from a comedy, though. Rupert makes mistakes. Others pay with their lives for the mistakes, and Rupert is guilt-stricken. As she is wont to do (see the attempted poisoning of the stepfather in The Ogre Downstairs for an example), Jones ignores the conventions as to who should live or die in a book--and she does it to good effect, as the deaths are necessary to the plot. This is an intricately painted novel. You could almost believe that there were Magids, and an Empire, and a mystical place called Babylon. A number of chapters are told from the point of view of Maree Mallory, one of the candidates to be the replacement Magid. She and Rupert start off hating each other--and well, you know the rest. A final chapter is told from the perspective of a third character, and fills us in on events during the course of the novel that Rupert had no opportunity to witness. The book is slow-starting, and it can take a new reader a number of pages to figure out what is going on. The first "Maree" chapter adds to the confusion a bit, since we do not know of her yet. However, the book quickly takes off. Another original masterpiece by Jones. How can she be so overlooked and Rowling so admired? The fluff of the Harry Potter books is far worse than the solid, fascinating works that Jones turns out.
Rating: 
Summary: Infectious and Absorbing Alternate Worlds Fantasy
Review: Seldom recently have I simply enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret. Jones employs a mixture of engaging characters, interesting fantasy concepts, and a light touch with serious undertones, to create a novel that is infectious and absorbing. Right from the beginning we know something is up, as narrator Rupert Venables is called away to the Koryfonic Empire, to give his stamp of approval as a Magid to a legal preceding there. Koryfonic Empire? Magid? We are told that the Multiverse consists of worlds arranged in a sort of infinity figure, with one half (including Earth), negative magically (this is the Naywards half). These worlds tend not to believe in magic, and magic is harder to do there. The other (Ayewards) half are positive magically, and creatures such as centaurs can exist there. The Koryfonic Empire is somehow very important, and it occupies the exact middle of the infinity sign. And Magids are some variety of wizard, with the duty to subtly influence events on whatever worlds they are responsible for in the appropriate direction. Rupert is Earth's junior Magid, and he is fresh from helping out in Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, when he gets sent to the Empire. This is a bit of a complicated setup, but it's not really necessary to worry about it too much. Rupert is soon engaged in two succession problems. His mentor has died, and he must select a new Magid from among several human candidates. In addition, the Koryfonic Emperor is assassinated, and he has to try to track down the proper heir: a process complicated by the previous Emperor's paranoia, which caused him to hide away his heirs so they wouldn't try to take over before their time. An alternate narrative path starts to follow Maree Mallory, one of the Magid candidates (which ought to be a clue to any reader). The action converges at a Science Fiction convention. Much of the action is superficially light in tone, including some funny bits involving the difficulty of navigating the hotel's corridors, which reminded me of stories of real world conventions. But at the same time the concerns are deadly serious, and Jones doesn't cheat us there: real mistakes are made, people are really hurt and killed. So it's not just a light-hearted romp, and though it's often funny, Deep Secret is not a comedy. What it is, is a thoroughly involving book. Jones is one of those natural storytellers: her books compel reading. The characters are real, and very likable. The plot is exciting, and resolved logically. The magical system is lightly sketched, but what we see is interesting and well drawn. The resolution is largely what we expect, but it also involves satisfying surprises. This book kept me up late at night reading, and made we eager for each chance to read another chapter. It's not perfect: the overall setup, though interesting, is a bit strained, and a bit too lightly sketched, which for me reduced the immediacy of some of the events. And structurally there is a slight burp: the book ends, more or less, and then there is an odd sort of coda, which really fills us in on an event from the earlier of the book that we had missed. But Jones finds a way to round up that coda nicely, without causing a muffled end to things. And I came away from this book a satisfied customer. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply Satisfying
Review: This book got to me at a deeper level than most books do. It has all the ingredients of a good book: a tight, strong plot, characters which are entirely believable, being both flawed and admirable, and a deft mix of fantasy and reality (her portrayal of a fantasy convention being, I'm reliably informed, utterly realistic). But in addition it has that something extra which speaks to the soul - I think it is the sense of deep longing, and of journey and destiny.
Rating:
Summary: What a Romp!
Review: This books main actin takes place in and around a SF/f convention and is just plain fun. It makes you want to read more by her (and I have). Rupert Venables is a Magid charged with helping earth become more magically accepting and in general a better place. But he's now got to find a new Magid trainee as his mentor has died, this book made me wonder if Ms Jones had ever had to hire people.... All I can say is I really don't expect to see anyone disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: YA Edition - beware
Review: This edition has a gorgeous cover by Charles Vess, but - alas -
the text has been edited for a YA audience. Our hero Rupert is
no longer referred to by his brothers as scatalogically as in
the unexpurgated text... but the deaths mentioned by another
reviewer remain just as graphic. Weird editing decisions... why
cut a rude word and leave the really scary stuff? There are some
other minor fixes. This isn't nearly as disastrous as the Really
Bad Edition of DWJ's _The Ogre Downstairs_, but I was
disappointed to find alterations in what is a marvellous story.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful book
Review: This is a wonderful book written by an extraordinary author (anyone who has read "charmed life" will fully agree with me). Though some of her books are frustrating to read, "deep secret" is most definitaly not one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Fantasy Novel
Review: This is an entertaining book from the prolific Diana Wynne Jones. Set in her multiverse universe, a set of parallel worlds with varying predominance of magic and/or science. This universe is influenced by Magids, powerful magicians charged with the task of acting as benign guardians of different worlds. This novel concerns a succesion crisis on one set of worlds, the search for a replacement Magid on Earth, and a set of complex shennigans at a Science Fiction Conference on Earth. This is an entertaining and generally humorous novel. This is not, however, the strongest of Wynne Jones' books. Readers expecting something as good as The Spellcoats or Dogsbody will be somewhat disappointed.
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