![The Land of Ingary Trilogy (includes Howl’s Moving Castle)](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441506215l/24122649._SX98_.jpg)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"The Land of Ingary Trilogy" comprises "Howl's Moving Castle", "Castle in the Air" and "House of Many Ways". I'll review each book separately.
"Howl's Moving Castle"
Sophie Hatter lives with her father, stepmother Fanny, and two sisters, Lettie and Martha, in the prosperous town of Market Chipping, where they keep a ladies' hat shop. After Mr Hatter dies suddenly, Fanny informs the girls that he has left them heavily in debt, and that they will all have to leave school. She arranges for Lettie to be apprenticed to a pastry cook in the town, and Martha is sent to Kingsbury to become a witch's apprentice. Sophie, as the eldest, is kept on as Fanny's apprentice, with a view to one day inheriting the shop. Sophie had been expecting this outcome and is resigned to her fate.
Meanwhile, the King's personal wizard, Wizard Suliman, is missing, presumed to have fallen foul of the Witch of the Waste. Also, the King and his brother, Prince Justin, have quarrelled, and the Prince has gone into exile. And in the hills above Market Chipping, a mysterious moving castle has appeared, belonging to the Wizard Howl, who is rumoured to be even worse than the Witch because he collects young girls and sucks their souls from them.
Then one day, when Sophie is alone in the shop, the Witch comes calling and puts a curse on her, turning her into an old woman. Sophie, being a practical kind of girl, is quite calm about this, even though she has no idea what the Witch would have against her. Deciding she can't stay in Market Chipping, she leaves her home and sets off across the hills. As night draws in, she grows cold and tired, and, seeing the moving castle approaching, decides to take her chances with Wizard Howl.
In the castle, Sophie meets Michael, Howl's apprentice; Calcifer, the fire demon, and eventually, Howl himself. She makes herself invaluable to the trio: cooking, cleaning, and generally keeping them all in line. Howl is handsome and a brilliant wizard, but also self-centred and vain, but Sophie doesn't put up with any nonsense!
As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Sophie is not the only one who has been cursed by the Witch. There's lots of humour, magic, romance, and mysteries to be solved. The interactions between Sophie, Howl and Calcifer are great fun, and there are twists and turns galore.
If you've only ever seen the Studio Ghibli movie (which is wonderful, but differs from the book quite substantially), do yourself a favour and read the book. There's so much more to the story! It's definitely one of my favourites.
"Castle in the Air"
Abdullah is a young carpet merchant in the city of Zanzib. After his death, his father leaves him a modest booth in the Bazaar, while the rest of his father's money, and his large carpet emporium go to the relatives of his father's first wife.
Abdullah is a dreamer, like his late mother. He invents an elaborate fantasy for himself where he is the long-lost son of a prince (who was kidnapped by bandits as a toddler) and betrothed to a beautiful princess.
One day, a stranger sells Abdullah a flying carpet. When Abdullah falls asleep on the carpet to stop his valuable purchase from being stolen, he wakes up in a strange garden. Here he meets Flower-in-the-Night, the daughter of the Sultan of Zanzib and the girl of his dreams.
When a djinn kidnaps Flower-in-the-Night before Abdullah's horrified eyes one night, he is determined to find where she has been taken and save her. But soon he has other problems, as more of his fantasy begins to come true. He encounters an angry Sultan, wicked bandits, a disgruntled genie, an old soldier, enchanted cats, wizards and witches!
The djinn, Hasruel, is kidnapping princesses for his brother, Dalzel (who wants to marry one) and holding them prisoner in the castle in the air. Dalzel has hidden Hasruel's "life" and so has a hold over his brother, who must do whatever Dalzel commands. However, both djinns soon discover that a bunch of strong-willed, intelligent princesses is not so easy to control!
There is magic, humour, some sweet romance, and the reappearance of some familiar characters in very surprising ways! I particularly enjoyed Abdullah's convoluted dialogue, which was always entertaining. A delight from start to finish, and a very enjoyable read.
"House of Many Ways"
Charmain Baker's parents don't allow her to do anything which isn't "respectable". So when her Aunt Sempronia volunteers her to mind Great Uncle William's house while he is ill, she sees it as an opportunity to have some independence. The fact that Great Uncle William is a wizard doesn't bother her, but she is a little concerned that she doesn't know anything about magic!
Charmain loves books, and dreams of assisting the King in his Royal Library, so just before she leaves for Great Uncle William's house, she writes to the King to apply for the position of library assistant, not really expecting anything to come of it.
After she arrives at the wizard's house, and the elves have taken him away to cure him, Charmain discovers that the house is very peculiar indeed. Doors lead to different rooms, depending on whether you turn right or left, and space and time also bend within the house. Fortunately, Great Uncle William has left a spell on the house so she can ask questions and he will answer her, together with a suitcase which contains a "key" (map) to the house, and a larger, detailed map with more complex directions.
Using one of the wizard's spell books, "The Boke of Palimpsest", Charmain tries to use a spell to make her fly. Unknowingly, she mixes it up with other spells. As nothing happens, she doesn't think that it's worked, and goes outside to explore the grounds. While she's exploring, she is confronted by a terrifying creature called a lubbock, which is basically a purple, man-sized insect that kills, eats and also LAYS EGGS in humans! Ewww. She only escapes by tumbling off the cliff edge, where her spell saves her from certain death.
The lubbock isn't the only creature around though. There are also kobolds: small, blue gnomish people who have helped the wizard with his garden and household chores in the past, until a recent falling out.
Charmain soon finds she won't be alone in the house. The wizard has left behind a small dog, Waif, and soon after Charmain settles in, a boy called Peter arrives, claiming to be the wizard's apprentice. Between them, Charmain and Peter manage to mess up quite a few spells, but they fix things eventually!
Meanwhile, to her surprise, Charmain is invited to the palace to help the King sort out his papers in the Royal Library. She discovers that the kingdom is poor, and that the King has been forced to sell paintings and other valuable artifacts to keep things afloat. The King is convinced that amongst the papers in the library is a clue to where the lost gold of the treasury has been hidden, and he has also called in some outside magical help - from Howl, Sophie and Calcifer. But Howl is not quite - himself. And Sophie is not at all happy with him!
There are some very nasty villains (lubbockins - children of the lubbock), lots of magic, betrayals and hilarious dialogue (particularly from Howl's "alter ego"). Everything is resolved very nicely, but not without some danger to the good guys!
This last book is just as wonderful, funny and magical as the previous two, and this trilogy is one I will return to time and time again. Some books are just like that, aren't they? I love the characters, the stories, the humour, and the brilliant way everything is resolved in each one. Howl would more than likely drive you bonkers in real life - but it would probably be worth it!
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