One of my favorite authors passed away yesterday. Diana Wynne Jones has been writing fantasy stories for decades and I've loved everything I've read by her. She was 76.
My favorite of her's is Howl's Moving Castle, about a fairy tale land and a girl, Sophie, who knows that as the eldest sister, she will do nothing more with her life than run the family hat shop. Then she is turned into an old hag by a witch and finds herself with a job as a housecleaner in the infamous Moving Castle, serving the biggest bad guy of the land - Howl. But, like Sophie under her hag curse, Howl is more than he seems on the outside. This story is laugh out loud funny, sweet, poignant, and quite entertaining all at once. I mean - the castle moves around! How is that not interesting??
My other favorite book by Jones is Dogsbody, which is completely different. This is a science fiction story about Sirus, the dog star (yes, he's really a star... in a dog's body) who is on Earth on a mission to save the universe. This is a dog with personality! I remember a passage where he realized he had a tail and how it wagged when he was happy. I've always wondered if my (real) dogs are aware of their tails like Sirus was.
Thank you for the stories, Diana. You will be missed.
