Deep Secret - Book Review

Deep Secret (Magids #1)
by Diana Wynne Jones

What is it about:
All over the multiverse the Magids, powerful magicians, are at work to maintain the balance between positive and negative magic, for the good of all.

Rupert Venables is the junior Magid assigned to Earth and to the troublesome planets of the Koyrfonic Empire. When the Emperor dies without a known heir, Rupert is called into service to help prevent the descent of the Empire into chaos. At the same time, the senior Magid on Earth dies, making Rupert a new senior desperately in need of a junior. Rupert thinks his problems are partially solved when he discovers he can meet all five of the potential Magids on Earth by attending one SF convention in England. However, the convention hotel sits on a node, a nexus of the universes. Rupert soon finds that other forces, some of them completely out of control, are there too....

What did I think of it:
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones is one of my all time favorite books, so when I was asked if I wanted to read and review Deep Secret I jumped at the chance.

And this is a really fun book.

It is clear Jones must have loved the idea of multiverses. She used the idea in her Chrestomanci series, and uses it in this book as well. And I must say I love the idea of there being lots of worlds out there, some of them resembling our world, others being very different. I really enjoyed reading about the whole multiverse principle and how it's regulated by Magids.

Rupert is a relatively new Magid. He has the knowledge, but not the experience. He tries to make the best out of a difficult situation, but soon gets in over his head. He's a bit of a nerd, so I immediately connected with him and wanted him to succeed.

There's also parts of the book written from the point of view of another character: Maree. I had more difficulty connecting with Maree, I will confess. Part of it was how she was introduced from Rupert's point of view, part was her actual personality, which is a bit flaky. Luckily she grew on me. I very much liked her younger cousin Nick though.

The story is complex, and seemingly unrelated events later turn out to be connected, making this a read where you have to keep paying attention to what's going on. It's suspenseful, funny and full of action.

If there's one thing I can say against this book, is that a lot of stereotypes are being dragged out. Now of course this book is set largely at a SF convention, but in my opinion a SF convention is more than all the stereotypes that are paraded around here.

But it's a small grumble: overall I very much enjoyed this book, and can recommend it to everyone who likes a fun and good Fantasy read.

Why should you read it:
It's a very enjoyable Fantasy read.

Author Love - Diana Wynne Jones

This weekend the sad news reached me that Diana Wynne Jones has died on 26th March, 2011.

I dedicate my second Author Love post to this amazing author who gave me many hours of reading pleasure with just one book, but that book is the most beautiful and cool children's book I ever read.

Somewhere in the eighties I came across this book: 'De Negen Levens' (the nine lives. Original English title = Charmed Life). I was drawn to it by the beautiful cover, then I started reading it and discovered the story was even better than the pictures.

It's about Cat Chant and his sister Gwendolen, orphaned as the result of a tragic boat accident and adopted by their relative, the mysterious sorcerer Chrestomanci. Cat begins to settle in at Chrestomanci Castle, but Gwendolen hates it. No one—least of all Chrestomanci—seems to appreciate Gwendolyn's magical powers, and after weeks of playing nasty magical practical jokes on the various inhabitants of the Castle, Gwendolyn finally leaves by going into a parallel world and replacing herself in Cat's world with a double called Janet. Cat and Janet eventually find the way to set the worlds right again, with some help from unexpected quarters.

I completely fell in love with this story and the way it was written *. After borrowing the book time and time again from the library I was overjoyed when I found it at a secondhand store and finally could call it my own.

I've been rereading this book over the years at least once a year and could recite the story in my sleep, but however often I reread this book it never grows old, it never loses that magic that I encountered on my first read.

I did try reading other books in the same setting and featuring Chrestomanci, and they were nice reads, but they never got hold on me like Charmed Life did. (Part of this may be because I read them in Dutch and in the new translation which sucks *.)

But then one day I was reading a movie magazine and read something about a Movie called 'Howl's Moving Castle'. The article caught my eye because it was a movie by Hayao Miyazaki (I absolutely love his Tonari no Totoro (my neighbour Totoro)), but held it because it also named Diana Wynne Jones as the author of the book the movie was based upon.

So I went out and bought Howl's Moving Castle.
Luckily it was easy to find because of the hype around the movie.

And when reading Howl's Moving Castle I fell in love with Diana Wynne Jones' writing all over again. I can advice anyone who's only seen the movie to pick up this book as it's so much richer than the movie. It gives so much more in both emotions and story.

I now have two books by Diana Wynne Jones that I will keep on rereading for the rest of my life and I will also keep an eye out for her other books as these two give me so much joy I'm sure there are more of her books that I will love just as much as these two.


* Note to Dutch followers: Please find the old translation as the book has been translated again for a newer Dutch edition and that translation is horrible.