Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Castle) (original 1986; edition 2012)

When an evil Witch transforms Sophie into an old woman, the meek shop girl finds that old age becomes her. To find a way to break the curse, Sophie hires herself as a cleaning lady for the Wizard Howl, a rogue who has a reputation for stealing hearts.

This is one of my favorite fantasy novels by one of my favorite fantasy writers. Sophie is hilariously liberated by being an old woman instead of a young one, and finds she has more power than she knew. Howl is an irresistible leading man - even his vanity is somehow appealing. The supporting characters are lovable, too, from the fire demon Calcifer to the wizard apprentice Michael. Almost everyone in the story is cursed or in disguise, and all these secrets lead to a chaotic and rapid denouement.

There are several sequels, including Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways, but they only have cameos by Howl and Sophie. For more of a character who is every bit as charming as Howl, try the Chrestomanci series. Chrestomanci is an incredibly powerful magician who is also something of a dandy. (Try Charmed Life first, it's wonderful.)

I can’t end without mentioning the gorgeous animated adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle by director Hayao Miyazaki, which is one of my all-time favorite films. It's true to the spirit of the book, and has a magic of its own.

5Q, 5P

A charming little book, which sounds like damning with faint praise, but I swear it isn't. The last ten-to-fifteen pages were *incredibly* rushed and left me unsatisfied (I still don't understand why Sophie and Howl got together). That said, there's a gentle wit to this and a willingness to play with fairytale logic that I like a lot. Michael is a delight, Calcifer deserves an entire book on his own, and I love that Sophie can make things happen by talking reality into it. ( )

A brand of fairy tale as precious as it is rare, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE picks details that delight young readers and adults equally. ( )

Another reread review. Howl's Moving Castle isn't one of the books I go back to again and again, partially because I haven't owned it that long. I saw the movie first, which has rapidly become one of the movies I put on whenever I'm sad or bored or just need a pick-me-up. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it because I've seen it so many times. However, reading the book again reminds me of how limited the movie is. There's so many subplots that just get cut out of the movie, so many that you wouldn't think that they could've fit into the relatively short book either. Michael's girlfriend, the Martha/Lettie switch, Wizard Suliman/Prince Justin, Miss Angorian, Howl's origins in Wales... The book and the movie are really entirely different entities, with different conflicts and different resolutions, although at the heart of the story there's still Sophie's artificial aging and Howl's contract with a fire demon.

Anyway, in terms of the book alone, I always find Diana Wynne Jones' writing very... quick. In that I can breeze through one of her books very quickly, and yet there is a lot in there. In a way, one could wish for more world building, but for an easy-to-read fun book I think she's got it down quite well. I like the POV of the book, which is third person limited. Sophie's head is quite a fun place to be, really. The chapter titles are a particular favourite thing, too, for example, "In which Howl expresses his feelings with green slime".

One could complain that there's not that much development in the Howl-and-Sophie relationship. Reading the book, I didn't really get how they were going to get together in the end. But somehow the ending made me squeal, anyway, so that's alright.

I can't really explain how I feel about this book. It's fun to read and I enjoy it, but sometimes I feel it's lacking some development or world-building, or some final piece of plot, that would make me wave it around and declare it one of the best books ever.
( )

I admit I caught this book after watching the anime. I really love this book, even if it's meant for younger audiences, and it started me on reading [author: Diana Wynne Jones]. The humor- the story, it's all just lovely and magical. It has some very funny moments, and I couldn't help but love Howl's character. I've read it once and again since I have it, I just can't get tired of it. ( )