Hayley has lived with her grandparents in London ever since she was little and her parents disappeared. She is homeschooled by her strict grandmother. She is not allowed to be frivilous in anyway. Her not so strict grandfather allows her to occassionally visit him in his study where he tachers her about the mythosphere and constellations and things her grandmother wants her to know nothing about. On one of her outings to the market with the Martya the newest maid Hayley meets two musicians who will change her life.

It is upon speaking to her granmother about her trip to the mythosphere that Hayley his sent off to stay with her aunt in Ireland. Until her arrival at her aunts, she had never realized how lonely she was. She has met more relatives in a short time than she had in her own life. They invite her to play hide-n-seek. She sits and watches as she has never played the game before. She had never been allowed to play at all. Her aunts and cousins take the next few days to play "The Game". It must remain a secret. However, when Tollie her youngest cousin doesn't win the game he tells his uncle. Now they must run for their lives from their dreaded Uncle Jolyon. During their fantastic and magical escape Hayley finds out what really happened to her parents and with the help of others she sets out to make things right.

This was another book that held my attention the who way through. My only problem was with the language. As an English teacher I had a difficult time with the terminology that comes from living in Great Britain. I had to re-read parts. I feel that eventhough this is a great story, some of my students might have trouble with the language. I had no idea what treacle pudding was so I know my students will struggle with that. The plot is well written and the characters are fairly well developed that it can stand on its own. I know I will be looking for more of her books. ( )

This was a very cute and entertaining book. The main character, a younger girl named Hayley, is sent away from her grandparents to live with her Aunt. Once there, she discovers secrets about her family. The basis behind the story is yet another take on myths. It reminded me a lot of The Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden, except I enjoyed The Game much more. Hayley is an endearing and fun character -- you immediately care about what happens to her. And the situations she's in, as well as the family who befriend her, become believable in the context of the novel, unlike in Golden's book, where you have to work far too hard to believe him. Diana Wynne Jones is an excellent author and her books rarely disappoint. The Game is no exception. ( )

Hayley is packed off to Ireland to visit with her aunts and finds chaos, quite unlike life with her Grandma and Grandpa. There she also finds "the Game" where her cousins and herself find themselves in the Mythosphere, where the stories live and grow.

It's full of interesting aspects of legend and a mix of modern and ancient legends and all about growth and life. Well worth a read but sometimes it seems to try to hard to make legend and modern life mesh. ( )

The first book I've read by this author - and as an adult reading an older child's book, I enjoyed it thoroughly especially as I have a basic familiarity with Greek and other myths. I felt a child might feel a bit lost with all the mythology, although there is a helpful section at the end to tell you who all the main characters are.
The plot started off classically with young Hayley who hasn't seen her parents since she was tiny, sent off in disgrace by her grandmother to live with her aunts and cousins in Ireland who turn out to be wonderfully eccentric. So far so normal - then she gets to take part in a rather special game where all the cousins are able to travel into the mythosphere and race to collect various objects from the stuff of legend. Naturally this leads to problems, not least with Uncle Jolyon, and adventures in the this supernatural world before everything gets resolved tidily and ends happily ever after.
This book was very clever, but seemed rather short and hurried, when more development and explanatory fun in the mythosphere could have helped. An intriguing read that does make me want to read more of her work. ( )

Diana Wynne Jones on a bad day is still a wonderful treat - and this is not a bad day!
This is a delightful romp through mythology, touching stories from many different eras and traditions, but with a modern twist - the office work scene was hilarious. This reminded me quite a bit of The Eight Days of Luke, it had a similar sense of characters speeding down inevitable paths, yet doing things because they choose to, not because they are destined to. There are so many lovely touches, but they are difficult to describe without spoiling the story. The only off note was the ending, which while it resolved the story, it seemed a little rushed and abrupt emotionally. ( )