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A review by the_sammy
The Land of Ingary Trilogy by Diana Wynne Jones
4.0
The version I have has all 3 books in one so I'll review them separately.
The first book I'd already read, and don't remember being enamoured with. On rereading I think I enjoy it a lot more. It's very different to the Ghibli version but some of the same story beats are here (yes I know this is the original). There's a lot of wasted space though, characters who are only there to be there. The whole Wales subplot is irrelevant and doesn't feature in any other books. All in all though, a solid children's fantasy book.
The second book was the weakest of the three for me. Completely new characters with no connection to the first until the last fifth of the book. The plot is a lot more nonsensical as well, and I found the main character grating.
The third I really enjoyed! I would say this is possibly my favourite. It feels a lot tighter and while there's some random stuff that doesn't come up again (time travel??) It's much more limited. It's also made apparent much earlier how this connects to the wider "howl literary universe" and the main character is more interesting.
All in all enjoyable to read.
The first book I'd already read, and don't remember being enamoured with. On rereading I think I enjoy it a lot more. It's very different to the Ghibli version but some of the same story beats are here (yes I know this is the original). There's a lot of wasted space though, characters who are only there to be there. The whole Wales subplot is irrelevant and doesn't feature in any other books. All in all though, a solid children's fantasy book.
The second book was the weakest of the three for me. Completely new characters with no connection to the first until the last fifth of the book. The plot is a lot more nonsensical as well, and I found the main character grating.
The third I really enjoyed! I would say this is possibly my favourite. It feels a lot tighter and while there's some random stuff that doesn't come up again (time travel??) It's much more limited. It's also made apparent much earlier how this connects to the wider "howl literary universe" and the main character is more interesting.
All in all enjoyable to read.