Rating: 
Summary: Another DWJ knockout!
Review: Original review follows, under the asterisks, but I had to amend this after reading another DWJ book called "Deep Secret." The Nick of "The Merlin Conspiracy" is the same Nick from "Deep Secret." The storyline in "Deep Secret" predates "The Merlin Conspiracy," but not by much - you could surmise that maybe six months of Nick's life have passed between the two books. Given Nick's very large role in the first book, you might expect, in the second book, some references to the happenings in "Deep Secret." At the beginning of "The Merlin Conspiracy," Nick gives us his full (Korfyonic) name, and mentions in an internal monologue that he has abdicated the throne in favor of his brother Rob - but that's about all the history of the previous book that is given.
Now, "The Merlin Conspiracy" is in no way a sequel to the other book. But after reading "Deep Secret" I'm more than a little amazed, and somewhat disappointed, that Nick's internal monologues don't include such topics as how his sister/cousin Maree is doing in her new Magid lifestyle or what it's like to have a centaur/Emperor as a brother. In fact, the character of Nick in "The Merlin Conspiracy" could have been written as an entirely new DWJ character. Maybe it should have been.
In any case, I'd read "Deep Secret" first if you're interested in both of them; that way, the few cryptic comments referring back to it will make some sense to you when reading "The Merlin Conspiracy," instead of just seeming like typical fantasy book backstory/filler).
**
It seems that a lot of authors have sprung on the "English boy who doesn't know he's got magic powers" bandwagon after the success of you-know-who (er, I don't mean Voldemort!). However, Diana Wynne Jones has been writing this sort of thing for a long time and "The Merlin Conspiracy" is one of the better books she's written. Dealing as her books usually do with the many-worlds theory, it begins with one young girl who travels with the King's court in the England of her world (called Blest rather than England), and continues later with Nick, a boy in a different version of England who knows about magic powers but doesn't believe he has any. The story is written in alternating chapters, first one by Roddy (the girl), then one by Nick, and so on.
Where this book differs from some of the more "heavy magic" books is in its humor. A circus elephant gets lost in the paths between worlds and ends up playing a supporting role - the fact that her name is "Mini" seems like forced humor, but it's the only example of forced humor I can remember in the book. (An interesting question: when Mini speaks her name, why does Nick understand it to be "Mini" and not "Minnie"? I'd argue that anyone hearing that word pronounced as a name would visualize the name "Minnie" and not the other word. But this is a minor point [pun intended].)
Anyway, this is an enjoyable a read as I've had in some time. Fans of HP, Artemis Fowl, and the Bartimaeus Trilogy will probably enjoy this, as well as most of Ms. Jones' other works.
Rating:
Summary: A cross world adventure in magic
Review: Roddy and Grundo live in Blest and are the children of court wizards who are in perpetual progress around the country with their king. They are also the only people to escape being caught in plot by some evil court wizards to gather all the magic in Blest to themselves. Nick lives on earth with his step-dad, though his real home is in another universe entirely. Nick desperately wants to travel between the worlds but has been unable to summon the magic to do it himself till one day he finds himself suddenly somehow shoved into the dark paths between worlds where he must help 3 people to escape. One of those people who asks for his help is Roddy. This is an enjoyable novel for both younger and older readers, that follows the adventures of Nick, Roddy and Grundo as they try and get the adults of their worlds to believe in the conspiracy that only they seem to know about. It's told from the point of view of both Nick and Roddy and the narrative is split between them and it holds you easily until the end of the book and leaves you wishing there was sequel where you could get to know more about these characters.
Rating:
Summary: A cross world adventure in magic
Review: Roddy and Grundo live in Blest and are the children of court wizards who are in perpetual progress around the country with their king. They are also the only people to escape being caught in plot by some evil court wizards to gather all the magic in Blest to themselves. Nick lives on earth with his step-dad, though his real home is in another universe entirely. Nick desperately wants to travel between the worlds but has been unable to summon the magic to do it himself till one day he finds himself suddenly somehow shoved into the dark paths between worlds where he must help 3 people to escape. One of those people who asks for his help is Roddy. This is an enjoyable novel for both younger and older readers, that follows the adventures of Nick, Roddy and Grundo as they try and get the adults of their worlds to believe in the conspiracy that only they seem to know about. It's told from the point of view of both Nick and Roddy and the narrative is split between them and it holds you easily until the end of the book and leaves you wishing there was sequel where you could get to know more about these characters.
Rating: 
Summary: you don't want to miss this
Review: This is Diana Wynne Jone's lastest book....The book is fast moving with funny characters, especially Mini the elephant. Some may say the ending was rushed, but it just seems to me it could to have another book after it. That doesn't take anything away from this story. I hope there is another book with Roddy, Grundo, and Nick. I would get it as soon as I can if there was. Overall you don't want to miss this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Merlin Conspiracy....sounds like a cool book, right?
Review: To start out with, it's not nearly as good of a book as it sounds like. I got the book thinking that it would be awesome, but, once again, I was wrong. The book is very hard to follow, switching through two different, yet very much alike, stories with little explanation of why until very late in the book. The story starts out kind of boring, then builds up, and just when it seems like it's going to get really cool, it drops back to boring. To put it bluntly, this book is nothing great.
Rating:
Summary: The Merlin Conspiracy....sounds like a cool book, right?
Review: To start out with, it's not nearly as good of a book as it sounds like. I got the book thinking that it would be awesome, but, once again, I was wrong. The book is very hard to follow, switching through two different, yet very much alike, stories with little explanation of why until very late in the book. The story starts out kind of boring, then builds up, and just when it seems like it's going to get really cool, it drops back to boring. To put it bluntly, this book is nothing great.
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