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Castle in the Air | 
| Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: Eos
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.53
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Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 26995
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0061478776
EAN: 9780061478772
ASIN: 0061478776
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: GREAT BUY!Brand New From US Distributor! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 2,000,000 BOOKS SOLD!!! OVER ~ 520,000 FEEDBACKS ~ POSTED!!!
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Product Description
Young merchant Abdullah leads a humble life. Or he did until a stranger sold him a threadbare—and disagreeable—magic carpet. Now Abdullah is caught in the middle of his grand daydreams. Waking one night in a luxurious garden, he meets and falls instantly in love with the beautiful and clever Flower-in-the-Night. But a wicked djinn sweeps the princess away right before Abdullah's eyes, leaving the young man no choice but to follow. This is no ordinary quest, however, for Flower-in-the-Night isn't all the djinn has stolen. Abdullah will have the so-called help of the cantankerous carpet, a cranky genie in a bottle, a dishonest soldier, and a very opinionated black cat. Will this motley crew be able to find the djinn's mysterious dwelling and rescue a castle full of princesses?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 An Entertaining Read June 15, 2008
Though, unfortunately, not as good as Howl's Moving Castle, it is nevertheless an entertaining read. It has unique and developed characters, a characteristic quality of Diana Wynne Jones's books. I loved this book, and it is a fine example of a book by this particular author. I think that it fully deserves five stars, and has a brilliant plot, a fantastic cast of characters, including a vast array of princesses, a carpet seller with extremely fussy relatives, a fried squid seller, you get the picture. The ending is surprising and has a unique twist that catches you off guard. I was truly entertained by this excellent page turner, which is further proof of Diana Wynne Jones's fantastic talent as an author.
Nice, entertaining read June 4, 2008
I haven't read juvenile fiction in years! Thankfully, I was not disappointed with selecting this book. It read it during my vacation and was thoroughly entertained. I highly recommend this book for pre-teens and those who love quick, light-hearted reads.
P.S. Read 'Howl's Moving Castle' first!
Fun and refreshingly original April 20, 2008
"Castle in the Air" is Diana Wynne Jones' sequel to her amazingly awesome novel "Howl's Moving Castle." It was originally published in 1990 (four years after "Howl's Moving Castle"). At first glance, this novel doesn't sound like a sequel--it sounds more like a companion book at best--but I promise it does explain more about Howl and Sophie, just not right away and not, perhaps, in the most obvious way.
That said, this story is set in the Sultanates of Rashpuht a land far to the south of Ingary (where Howl and Sophie make their home). Instead of a land akin to King Arthur and Merlin, Rashpuht is much more likely to harbor Aladdin and other desert-dwellers. This change in setting, along with a new protagonist, make for the most dramatic differences between "Castle in the Air" and its predecessor.
Abdullah works as a carpet merchant in the city of Zanzib. Abdullah's stall may not be as prosperous as his father's first wife's relatives would like, but Abdullah can't stand most of them so he doesn't worry too much. What really bothers Abdullah is the fact that he's selling carpets at all. Abdullah is convinced there is more to life and spends a good deal of his time daydreaming about what his life could be like if, say, he were a prince who had escaped bandits and disguised himself as a carpet merchant before he found his true love.
All in all, the young man doesn't give his daydreams much thought until he is sold a mysterious carpet. With the carpet, Abdullah finds that all of his dreams seem to be coming true with alarming accuracy. Whisked to a magical garden, Abdullah meets and falls in love with the beautiful and intelligent Flower-in-the-Night only to have her abducted by an evil djinn. So begins Abdullah's adventure as he and his carpet set off to rescue his true love.
This being a novel by Diana Wynne Jones, the plot is filled with charming twists and enjoyable characters throughout. The other great thing about this novel is how much Jones fleshes out the world she introduced in "Howl's Moving Castle." As the novel progresses, readers learn more about the relations between Ingary, Rashpuht, and Strangia (a land that becomes important later, trust me). At the same time, Jones also creates a completely new set of customs and even a new diction for her Rashpuhtian characters which gives the novel an impressive depth.
I don't know if this was the intended effect but, even though both novels are written in English, this change in diction also creates the effect that the characters here speak a different language and that, on some level, their customs would be very foreign to those found in Ingary. One of Jones' best inventions is that buyers and sellers in Zanzib always speak to each other "in the most formal and flowery way." This habit creates a lot of conversations that function on a variety of levels much in the same way body language can add to an exchange. For example:
"It is possible that my low and squalid establishment might provide that which you seek, O pearl of wanderers," he said, and cast his eye critically over the stranger's dirty desert robe, the corroded stud in the side of the man's nose, and his tattered headcloth as he said it.
"It is worse than squalid, might seller of floor coverings," the stranger agreed.
Exchanges like this appear throughout the novel and make it really enjoyable to read. At the same time this type of double talk suggests that Abdullah is a shrewder narrator than Sophie might have been at the start of the novel. Abdullah doesn't always know exactly what's going on during the novel, but he always tries to make sure he comes out on top (or at least not on a forty foot pole).
On its own, "Castle in the Air" is a lot of fun as far as fantasies go. Read in combination with "Howl's Moving Castle" and "House of Many Ways" (Jones' latest novel featuring Howl and Sophie due out in June 2008) this book is excellent.
Sequel?Just enjoy the storyI March 31, 2008
I'd loved "Howl's Moving Castle"so, when I saw that there was a sequel, I pounced on it avidly,but I initially spoilt this great story by waiting for the familiar characters to re-appear.....don't fall into the same trap, just enjoy this delicious story about young Abdullah,the carpet seller,whose humdrum existence changes completely when he meets Flower-in-the-Night,the love of his life.
This delightful pair had only just met when Flower-in the-Night is carried away by a jinn, Abdullah,determined to find and rescue her,. sets off into the unknown.He is "helped"in his quest by an unco-operative genie in a bottle,an eccentric and picky magic carpet, a hobo-like soldier,on his way home from the wars and Midnight,a stray black cat who can,at will make herself as large as a jaguar and who is accompanied by her tiny kitten,Whippersnapper.
As you share their adventures on the road,you will enjoy
a rollicking read,told in Diana Wynne-Jones'own inimitable style I can promise you that by the time you come to the end of the book, you will not only have become immersed in a great story but you will also have found out that Sophie's thought at the end of"Howl's Moving castle", that "living happily ever after with Howl would be more eventful than any story made it sound" turned out to be only too true.
 castle in the air October 18, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
i absolutely adored howl's moving castle (the book NOT the movie), so, naturally, when i heard there was a sequel i was extremely happy. i thought castle in the air was a nice story and i probably would've enjoyed it more if i hadn't read howl's moving castle, but it was frustrating. there wasn't enough of sophie and howl in the story and i loved their characters so much. howl's only in the story for a few pages. i wished there had been more about their lives. most of the previous characters don't pop up at all. castle in the air is a charming story, but if you want more sophie and howl reread howl's moving castle.
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