Rating: 
Summary: A must read for anyone that can read!
Review: The first book I read by Diana Wynne Jones was 'Dogsbody'. I picked it up at a local bookstore, thinking it sounded "okay". This was a HUGE understatement. Immediately when I was finished,I logged on to "amazon" serching for more of her books. When I began 'Howl's Moving Castle', I thought,"oh boy, a story about the eldest child of three. wow, she sells hats,how exciting. This book doesn't hold a candle to 'Dogsbody'." I've never been more wrong in my life!! A day or so later, you couldn't pry me away from this book with a crowbar! The characters are all so different, it gives the story a wonderous flair. It is about Sophie, the eldest child, who is cursed by the Witch of the Waste. She enters the moving castle, meeting a slightly timid apprentice, the powerful sorcerer Howl, and, my favorite character, Calcifer a fire demon. Many other characters enter the story, but I will not give away another word of the story. IF YOU ONLY READ ONE PART OF MY REVIEW, READ THIS: HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE HAS BUMPED ITS WAY TO MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME!!ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN, IT DESERVES A TWENTY!!
Rating:
Summary: Um, YEAH!
Review: Well then. Since you are reading this review, I can only assume that you are on the book's page. My advice to you is: Scroll up, add it to you cart, and buy immediately! I got it at the library a couple of days ago, along with Castle in the Air, knowing by now that it's best to get any Diana series all at once or you will be itching for the next one as soon as you're done with the first. I swear to you, I have not laughed so hard or read so avidly over a book in a LONG time. The humour is perfectly placed to make you give a shriek of laughter at just the right moments. My family was looking at me rather strangely by the time I had finished. I liked the atmosphere of Howl's Moving Castle, and the characters just seemed to mesh so well with the surroundings and plot that if it weren't for the regrettable nessecities of meals and sleeping, it's quite probable that any reader would jump into the book headfirst and not come up until it's over. Anyone who liked Charmed Life or any other of the Chrestomanci books will love this and the sequel!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun! Hilarious! Cool!!
Review: For those of you that are interest in Harry Potter or Narnia or any young reader fantasy books, "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones is something you don't want to miss. What can we say about Howl's Moving Castle? Well, its got action, where many battles between Howl the wizard and the Witch of the Waste. Its got humour, consider a fire demon is afraid of the old lady Sophie. It is cool, great characters and surprising events you won't expect. This is one of the book I was reading during the disaster of September 11, and the book really cheered me up. Believe me, if you live 6 blocks away from the World Trade Center and can't get back to your apartment for 14 days, you wouldn't like to get any more depress than that.A surprising news is that an Animation Studio in Japan called "Studio Ghibli" (the same studio that made Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service), they have got the right from Diana W. Jones to make an animated motion picture adoption of the novel. Something there to get you reading!
Rating:
Summary: Middle Ages and Modern Times mixed well
Review: I wouldn't have encountered this novel if Hayao Miyazaki had not made it an animation film in Japan. But the story flows differently between original story and the film. In the book you can expect a frightful but reassuring tale unfolded. Really good yarn!
At the very start of this story, Sophie Hatter is transformed into 90 years old lady by Witch of the Waste. I couldn't understand why. This is really a good hook to lead the readers into Diana Wynne Jones world of sorcerers. But the real world is also woven into the story and connected with Howl's castle. In the real world, Howl is Howell Jenkins, and Howl's nephews are playing video games! I was really flabbergasted by this passage because I believed that Howl's moving castle was drifting over the feudal world of kings and farmers in the Middle Ages.
Howl is considered as a wicked sorcerer, but the reality is yet to be determined by reading the sequel of this book: A Castle in the Air!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Sophie Hatter is the eldest of her sisters and in the land of Ingary, if you were born first, you would be destined to fail first. One day, Sophie's mother decides that she would have to settle all of her three daughters in apprentichip somewhere since there father had died and they were running low on money. She set's up Martha with the local witch to learn magic because Martha is the youngest and her fortune will most likely be grander if she learns from a witch. She than sets up Lettie in a bakery where she would be bound to "meet handsome young apprentices and live happily every after". That leaves Sophie, the eldest and least likely to succeed. Mother decides to take Sophie in as her own apprentice for her Hat Shop. At first, Sophie tries to make herself happy by puting all her energy in making and decorating hats but soon, she begins to feel very depressed at how dull her life is looking. She believes that she will never leave the hatshop and will grow old and withered without having any adventures of her own. She begins talking to the hats she makes and as the days pass, she becomes more and more of a recluse. However, one day, a powerful witch enters her Hat Shop and for some reason or other curses her and she becomes an old lady. This event sets Sophie on a new path, in which she encounters more magic and adventure than she thought an eldest daughter could ever have.
Diana Wynne Jones writes out the very funny, odd, magical adventure of Sophie as she determines to seek out her fortune and break the curse before it is too late. This book was a startlingly interesting read for me, as I thought this book would be boring since it seemed to be written for a younger reader. However, I found this book surprisingly and uniquely fun and I throughly enjoyed Sophie's wonderfully entertaining adventure. I especially liked the character of Calcifer and Howl, and there strange bargain of a relationship. I definitely recommend this book, to readers everwhere. If I couldn't help but read the book at in one sitting, it must be pretty enthralling. So read it!
Rating:
Summary: Hitch a ride on a castle
Review: Fairy tales, by and large, adhere to some very strict and undeniable rules. Amongst these is the rule of three. If a household contains three children and there is a fortune to be made, that fortune will be attained not by the first or second children (who are doomed to fail simply due to their birthdates) but by the third. Fairy tales are filled to overflowing with stories about third children. It doesn't take too much imagination to see how much more interesting it is to read a story about a first child instead. In "Howl's Moving Castle" author Diana Wynne Jones pays tribute to the great folktales of the past by turning them topsy-turvy upside-down. The book is an amusing picaresque mystery tale about a girl's attempts to remedy her newly ancient state.
Sophie did not mean to upset the Witch of the Waste. It's just one of those things that happens. After working in her stepmother's hat shop for months on end, Sophie's somewhat remarkable workmanship attracts the unwanted attention of a very nasty sorceress. For what appears to be no reason at all, the Witch enchants Sophie to become the age of ninety, or so. With a newfound sense that she no longer need worry about what people think of her, Sophie blossoms in her new state. Just the same, she'd like to get her old body back, and so it's off to the Wizard Howl (a man reported to eat the hearts out of young girls) for a cure. Hopping a ride on Howl's remarkable moving castle (hence the book's name) she befriends the not-so-evil but undeniably vain sorcerer, his apprentice Michael, and their snarky fire demon, Calcifer. What follows is a race to escape the witch, free Calcifer, and figure out just exactly what Howl does or does not know about his new senior citizen servant.
The book's a remarkable combination of styles. You have your fantasy, your fairy tale, your mystery, and your subdued but nonetheless present romance. Jones has always been a fan of fantasy stories in which the tale will suddenly produce one heckuva twist 80% of the way through. "Howl's Moving Castle" is no different, and the twist (while something anyone other than myself could probably have seen coming a mile away) is a shocker. The best thing about the book though is the easygoing relationships between the characters. Once Sophie settles down and makes the castle her home (while she tries to find a way to get her old body) she develops a wonderful relationship with Howl, Michael, Calcifer, and any other random people who might stop by (like a dog-man or an enchanted scarecrow, perhaps). Like many of Jones' heroes and heroines she's completely unaware of her own remarkable abilities. If there's any continual theme present throughout Jones' works, it's the idea of knowing oneself. Sophie doesn't, and until she discovers the extent of her own remarkable qualities, she's doomed to putter about.
It's a great idea too, making the heroine of a tale sixty or seventy years older than she should be. Howl, for his part, is a great character if a little dodgy at times. He's as vain as a peacock, often appearing as a slightly wittier version of Gilderoy Lockhart from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". His transformation by the book's end was, needless to say, straining the boundaries of credulity. Just the same, you can't help but fall in love with this story. Yes yes, it kinda falls apart near the end with so many subplots, red herrings, and sudden characters cropping up here and there that you either lose track of what's going on or reread every paragraph three times over just to get your bearings. Jones has a tendency to rush her endings, and the ending of "Howl's Moving Castle" works at a breakneck speed. I wish she'd lingered a little longer over the happy ending too. Once the danger of the book has passed, everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow quicker than you can spit. I would've liked a little luxuriating in the characters' newfound happinesses, but you go with what you've got.
All in all, "Howl's Moving Castle" is bound to please both those Diana Wynne Jones newbies out there who've never so much as glanced at a word of hers before, and those tried and true stalwart fans who methodically gobble her books up like so many Pac-Man pellets. I wouldn't name this as my favorite of her stories (hats off to "Archer's Goon" for that honor) but I did have a wonderful time reading it. If you'd like a book that is a joy to read and won't do anything but please you, select this one immediately. It inspires movies, it entrances children... it is a spectacular tale.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Read
Review: Howl's Moving Castle has been my favorite book for quite some time. The book is a delightful combination of memorable characters, convoluted plot, and sharp humor. Younger children should have no trouble keeping up, and adult readers will catch new details at every turn. Diana Wynne Jones is among my best-loved authors, and this book is largely responsible.
Howl's Moving Castle casts Sophie, the meek hatter's daughter, as our unlikely heroine. Sophie goes through a bit of a transformation, and stumps off into the heather of Ingary to seek her fortune. She encounters all kinds of characters, every one believably written and amusing. The plotline of Sophie's adventure is much more complicated than it seems. There are numerous references to characters that we may have discounted earlier, and subtle passages that warrant a second or third read. Howl's Moving Castle remains the book that I have read more times than any other, and that's not without good reason. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone willing to give it a chance.
Rating:
Summary: Good even for the not-so-young
Review: This was a really good book, and I think its obvious why such a talent as Miyazaki would be attracted to it. It did remind me of his films, especially with its subtlety. Ok, it's not deep reading for adults, but the characters really stick with you. I am in graduate school right now, and I can honestly say this is probably the most fun I've had reading in months.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I started searching for this book because Hayao Miyazaki is releasing his new animation based on it. After reading some of the reviews from this website I decided to give a try and bought the book. Before I open the book, I only thought of it as a guide for the movie that I want to see. But after reading the first chapter, I couldn't put the book down and finished it in one day. Jones is a wonderful story teller that gave her characters life and personality within the story. The characters are far more interesting than the Harry Potter series and they made me laugh so hard while reading it. It's easy reading aiming at the teen group, but as an adult myself, it's a great short reading to escape from the busy reality. However, I do agree that the ending is a bit abrupt.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting Adventure
Review: Howl's Moving Castle is an excellent fantasy story. It deals with Sophie, the oldest of three sisters. She believes, as the oldest of the three, she is doomed to a bad fate. One day her father, a hat seller, dies and leaves the girls with their step-mother. The youngest goes to live with a witch to learn magic. The second sister goes to work at a bakery. Sophie is stuck with the hat shop. One day, an evil witch, the Witch of the Waste, comes in and without explanation turns Sophie into an old woman. Sophie decides to leave the hat shop and find her own destiny. After leaving the town, she runs into a huge moving castle. This castle belongs to Wizard Howl who is know to steal the souls and eat the hearts of young girls. Believing herself to be too old for Howl's morbid tastes, she decides to enter the castle. Perhaps Wizard Howl can lift the spell she is under. This begins Sophie's adventure. For fans of fantasy, this is an excellent book. Diana Wynne Jones is an excellent storyteller. Also, for fans of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki's next film will be based on this book. Be sure to read this before watching the movie. I'm sure you'll love reading it as much as I did.
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