Rating: Summary: DWJ... when she is good, she is very very good Review: But this, I'm afraid, is not among her best. Tying off the Dalemark series years later, long after the original readers (this one included) had grown up, this book is a little weaker than the others. One reads it more out of loyalty to Jones than out of a desire to keep turning the pages. Things are not really tied together. You have to read it, of course, because it's a Diana Wynne Jones book, but don't get your hopes up too high. Buy the paperback.
Rating: Summary: enter the world of Diana Wynne Jones- you'll want to stay Review: Diana Wynne Jones has the ability to draw you completely into her world, engage you absolutely with her characters, and carry you along on her story, so that, reaching the end, you return unwillingly to real life, realising that it is 4am, you have work, college or school tomorrow, and you want to read it all over again. Her books have always had this effect on me, since I first stumbled over "the ogre downstairs" at the age of 11. 23 years later and she's still doing it, and this is her best(yet). A tremendous story, that stands alone, but is the superb culmination to a quartet of real enchantment. I dare you try to put it down once open!
Rating: Summary: This is undoubtably the best book in the series! Review: I absolutely adore this book. The series itself is kind of weak, but this as a concluding volume brings back all the characters from the previous three and introduces Maewen, a girl from modern-day Dalemark who is jerked back in time to fill the place of Noreth. OKay. Dalemark is divided down the middle--North and South. Mitt and Navis are from the South, but now they are refugees in the North (they're from Drowned Ammet, and Mitt is in deep trouble: he has to kill someone. She's Noreth, a girl who firmly believes that she's the daughter of the One, one of the Undying, which are Dalemark's gods, and she also firmly believes that she is born to unite Dalemark and become their queen. And so Mitt(who is fifteen) and Navis (who is grown up) join her party. Only: Noreth disappears just before the start and Maewen takes her place. So Maewen (not really having any choice) fills in for her. They are joined by Moril and Hestefan the Singers (Moril's twelve or so and he's from Cart and Cwidder and his cwidder--that's a kind of lute--can do magic). On their ride to Kernsburgh, the ancient destroyed capital city, Maewen learns a lot about her country's history, meets some of the Undying (some people in Dalemark aren't gods--they just never die), and learns that she must get the Adon's gifts (the Adon was a legendary hero), and gets them. Noreth claimed she talked to the One, and Maewen hears a voice guiding her. There are also several attempts on her life, and she falls in love. But by the time they reach Kernsburgh, everyone knows who she truly is, and as they search for the lost crown of the great King Hern, they realize who the real king is. This is a brilliant and moving story and I recommend it to everyone (but read the other three first).
Rating: Summary: This book is so great Review: i finished this book about a year ago and since then i have re-read it at least five times. in fact i have read just about every diana wynne jones book and she is one of my favorite authors because there are such great images and feelings that everyone can relate to, as opposed to most fantasy books. i just wish she would write one more book about what happens to maewen even though i love the way the book ends.=) peace out
Rating: Summary: wonderful! Review: i just finished this book this morning. i was so upset when i got done because i wanted to keep on reading. i read all the series. i read cart and cwidder in 5 days. i read drowned ammet in 4 days. i read the spellcoats in a week. and i read the crown of dalemark in a week and 2 days. i highly recommend this book. it has to be one of the best since the golden compass. (i cant wait to get the third book to that one) diana wynne jones is great at describing things. i had a picture in my head the whole time. everyone must read these books.
Rating: Summary: it was fine untill maewen is sent back to her own time. Review: I liked most of the book, but I wish the author had writen another one to tell us what happened to Maewen. Some of the questions that the book left me asking were: did maewen ever see mitt again, did she find cenoreth, would cenoreth help her and send her into the past again to stay with mitt, is maewen of the undying? I think that questions like these should be answered ni another book if the author is any good.
Rating: Summary: THIS IS BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review: I read this book two months ago, and I am still rereading it over and over. It is the saddest, sweetest, funniest, adventurest book I have ever read. This was the first book that made me cry. I think that it has changed my life and that it will be one of my favorite books of all time and on my list, it's tied with Harry Potter. Please read these books, they will change the way you look at life- Claire Tuley age 12
Rating: Summary: Love the Book -- not the ending Review: I thought that this book was an amazing conclusion to the Dalemark series, but the last chapter was rather disapointing. It gets you all hyped up about some huge battle with kankredin (the mage of mages) but he pretty much gets beaten in a second. Then you get all excited about Maewen and Mitt reuniting, but that never happens either (or does it?? it ends before you find out) It seems that there should be more to the end. Some questions are left unanswered such as:
1)Does Mitt still love Maewen?
2)Does Maewen even find Mitt again?
3)Is Maewen one of the Undying too?
4)Does Cennoreth help Maewen get back together with Mitt???
I just wish that some of these things were answered, and maybe the book had a few more chapters -- or and epelogue would be nice.
Rating: Summary: The Best One Review: I thought The Crown of Dalemark was easily the best book in the Dalemark quartet. But dont get me wrong, they are all very good. This book has lots of adventure, and lots of wit. Mitt might be one of my favorite characters ever! If you are thinking about reading this book (which you should) you should definitely read the first three books in the quartet (Cart and Cwidder, Drowned Amment, The Spellcoats) to understand what is going on, but I think you can still understand it without reading the third. Try Diana's other books to, but this one, in my opinion, is the best!
Rating: Summary: Impressive Review: In my mind, a good book is one that's hard to forget, one that you think about long after you finish it. If you agree and enjoy fantasy, then this book is definitely one you will want to look into. I read the first three Dalemark books before this one, so by the time I got to it, I was almost in a frenzy to finish it. When I did, I had to sit around for a long time afterward, just thinking about what I'd read. I always say that any book that can be described as "heartbreaking" is not for me, but I really, really liked this book, though that description is still apt. (I cried when I read it, but hey, that's me.)Another thing I really enjoy about Diana Wynne Jones' books is that they are like giant puzzles, and they don't quite fit until the very end, and everything just locks into place. In this respect you can liken them to the Harry Potter novels, so if you have read them but are unfamiliar with Diana Wynne Jones you may want to try this. Though the size of the book is formidable, it is one that makes you want to read it more than once, and one that is just as impressive, just as heartbreaking, and just as wonderful every time. Read this quartet. And then read all her other books. You'll be doing yourself a favor.
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