Deep Secret => International Book Ring
12 journalers for this copy...
This is another of my favourite Diana Wynne Jones books - which is saying a lot. She's interwoven myth, fantasy, and nursery rhyme, along with a wonderfully funny sf/fantasy con setting, and come up with a story that is far more than the sum of its parts. Neil Gaiman, a friend of DWJ's, even makes an appearance - in two different characters! And along with all the fantastic elements, there's a serious look at families gone wrong and personal responsibility. Another joy of the book is the way it's written as 'files' by two of the main characters, allowing us to see things from the very differing perspectives of Rupert Venables (AKA 'The Prat'), and Maree Mallory.
And the best thing of all is that there's a sequel of sorts - Nick is in The Merlin Conspiracy, coming out next month!
And the best thing of all is that there's a sequel of sorts - Nick is in The Merlin Conspiracy, coming out next month!
It's on its way - here's the list of participants at the moment:
jackshome (UK)
rmg (UK)
LisaJane (UK)
Shelbycat (UK)
myntti (Finland)
Jolanda (The Netherlands)
FutureCat (New Zealand)
BlossomU (Portugal)
tho (Portugal)
Gyd
thechinasourcer (UK)
Then back to me, unless more people join in later!
For the ring, I've included the lyrics of The Lyke-Wake Dirge as sung by Pentangle, complete with a translation. (Pentangle's version is wonderful, btw.) I've also put in some photos of the Bristol Suspension Bridge, courtesy of Steepholm, fellow BCer and DWJ list member.
jackshome (UK)
rmg (UK)
LisaJane (UK)
Shelbycat (UK)
myntti (Finland)
Jolanda (The Netherlands)
FutureCat (New Zealand)
BlossomU (Portugal)
tho (Portugal)
Gyd
thechinasourcer (UK)
Then back to me, unless more people join in later!
For the ring, I've included the lyrics of The Lyke-Wake Dirge as sung by Pentangle, complete with a translation. (Pentangle's version is wonderful, btw.) I've also put in some photos of the Bristol Suspension Bridge, courtesy of Steepholm, fellow BCer and DWJ list member.
Recieved in the mail this morning. Thank you for setting up a bookring for this. This is my first read by Diana Wynne Jones and looks great from the info given on the back cover, a cross between a Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings type book. I'm going to start reading this today if time allows.
On a scale of 1-10 it was a 20!!! The characters are really plausable, with a fantastic array of storylines to keep you hooked and begging for the next paragraph! I couldn't put this book down...I won't spoil it and give any of the story away, but it would make a fantastic movie, far better than any Harry Potter one!! Thank you for introducing me to DWJ, I'm now addicted!! Now PM'ing rmg for their address, hopefully will be in tommorows post :-)
rmg hasn't got her PM'ing function enabled, so I've left messages on the forums.
Mailed to rmg today :-)
Received this book in the post yesterday.
Will be reading it and passing it on to lisajane
Will be reading it and passing it on to lisajane
A highly enjoyable read. I particularly like Nick, who reminds me of my younger brother.
I love it when books are set in places I know, so I was particularly pleased thar Deep Secret arrived together with a photo of one of my all-time favourite locations, Cliffton Suspension bridge (a fantastic Victorian mock-Egyptian effort by IKB). I also thoroughly enjoyed the concept of Bristolia, although it did bring back uncomfortable memories of myself as a teenager drawing fantasy-style maps of my local area (Poole harbour with sea-serpents in and so forth). I even dunked the paper in tea and burned the edges first, the shame of it all...
As a result of reading this book, I now want to go to a science fiction convention. This is something I've always avoided in the past as it's a very geeky thing to do and despite liking SF and working with computers, I don't think of myself as a geek.
I love it when books are set in places I know, so I was particularly pleased thar Deep Secret arrived together with a photo of one of my all-time favourite locations, Cliffton Suspension bridge (a fantastic Victorian mock-Egyptian effort by IKB). I also thoroughly enjoyed the concept of Bristolia, although it did bring back uncomfortable memories of myself as a teenager drawing fantasy-style maps of my local area (Poole harbour with sea-serpents in and so forth). I even dunked the paper in tea and burned the edges first, the shame of it all...
As a result of reading this book, I now want to go to a science fiction convention. This is something I've always avoided in the past as it's a very geeky thing to do and despite liking SF and working with computers, I don't think of myself as a geek.
Received from rmg, less than 100 pages in and I'm already addicted. Will post more when I've finished...
I really enjoyed this book - I love the idea that the deepest secrets are hidden in the seemingly simple places. And I really like the combination of the 'mundane' reality we're used to and a 'fantasy' world. The characters are all very believable too.
Sending to shelbycat now - enjoy.
Sending to shelbycat now - enjoy.
Just to let everyone know i received this in the post today, and will start reading it asap!
Well done, yet another fabulous book DWJ take a bow! I had a bit of a problem with finishing this book, because i had to leave it behind when i went to Cyprus with only a few pages left to go, needless to say i couldn't wait to get back to it!
Yet again, DWJ has written a book which i wish had a sequel, you get so involved with the characters, i found myself laughing and crying. All in all a very good book!
Yet again, DWJ has written a book which i wish had a sequel, you get so involved with the characters, i found myself laughing and crying. All in all a very good book!
This has now been sent onto Myntti (surface, sorry i'm a little broke atm!).
Hero, i hope you realise the financial burden you've placed on me, i now own 8 DWJ books (which i thoroughly enjoyed) however my credit-card is a little melty now! :)
Hero, i hope you realise the financial burden you've placed on me, i now own 8 DWJ books (which i thoroughly enjoyed) however my credit-card is a little melty now! :)
Received this book in the mail today. Can't wait to start reading it!
Yet another great DWJ book with wonderful characters! This one goes to my "books to buy" list too (Howl's Moving Castle is already on its way from Amazon...).
It was fun to read about PhantasmaCon. Maybe I should go to this year's FinnCon after all...
Oh, and this made me laugh: "A book-lovers' convention, Mr Alfred Douglas told me. Science fiction and fantasy - or he believed the term might be speculative fiction. That kind of area, sir, anyway." If you've been reading Book Talk lately, you know what I mean.
BTW, the Finnish receptionist had a very un-Finnish name - I thought she might turn into a swan at some point. ;-)
***
I've PMd Jolanda, but no reply yet. I'll try again in a couple of days.
It was fun to read about PhantasmaCon. Maybe I should go to this year's FinnCon after all...
Oh, and this made me laugh: "A book-lovers' convention, Mr Alfred Douglas told me. Science fiction and fantasy - or he believed the term might be speculative fiction. That kind of area, sir, anyway." If you've been reading Book Talk lately, you know what I mean.
BTW, the Finnish receptionist had a very un-Finnish name - I thought she might turn into a swan at some point. ;-)
***
I've PMd Jolanda, but no reply yet. I'll try again in a couple of days.
Mailed to Jolanda today.
I've received the book and will start reading soon.
Great book! I enjoyed it a lot and hope to read more of Diana Wynne Jones in the future. I really got involved and couldn't wait to get finished. It was very, very late before I went to bed last night :)
Journal Entry 19 by Jolanda at Rotterdam, Another Bookcrosser in - Per post of in persoon doorgegeven, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, July 24, 2003
Released on Thursday, July 24, 2003 at Another Bookcrosser in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands.
Brought it to the postoffice this morning. It's on its way to New Zealand. I wish I could travel along....
Brought it to the postoffice this morning. It's on its way to New Zealand. I wish I could travel along....
Arrived safely in New Zealand yesterday (sorry I had to wait until today to journal its arrival, but I was flat out last night organising the food for a powhiri (traditional Maori welcome ceremony) I'm helping arrange for an important visitor to my work today, so I didn't get a chance to get near the computer).
There's a couple of other bookring books in my TBR pile ahead of this one, but I promise I'll get to it as soon as possible.
^ ^
00
=+=
v
There's a couple of other bookring books in my TBR pile ahead of this one, but I promise I'll get to it as soon as possible.
^ ^
00
=+=
v
I've never read any Diana Wynne Jones before, but I think I'll be seeking out her books in future - I really enjoyed this one!
The description of a Science Fiction convention was perfect - I've only ever been to one, but it was exactly like the one in the book (well, apart from the battle for good and evil going on in the background, but maybe I just didn't notice! ;-) )
A good fun book, and a real page turner.
^ ^
00
=+=
v
The description of a Science Fiction convention was perfect - I've only ever been to one, but it was exactly like the one in the book (well, apart from the battle for good and evil going on in the background, but maybe I just didn't notice! ;-) )
A good fun book, and a real page turner.
^ ^
00
=+=
v
Book has just arrived , along with some notes and a wonderful card (thanks Future Cat!). I am so looking forward to reading it, many thanks all specially hero!
I just finished it, and I really loved it, am going to be looking for the Merlin Conspiracy and more Nick. did like Nick, how very brilliant his last plot was!And Hero, many thanks for the photos and lyrics, loved checking those, but help, are there two mentions to Neil Gaiman there? I totally missed it! I did notice Maree seeing a Sandman comic for sale she had not read but which was too expensive, but I missed any in jokes. I did love the conference description, sounds brilliant, never been to one but this is truly encouraging for me to try to make it to one!
The weakest part of the book IMO was the computer and the nursery rhyme, it was not totally convincing. I loved the idea of the magids dropping clues in all sort of different cultures, but problem was that for me I had never heard of some of those crucial nursery rhymes, they seem to belong firmly to the English language alone, so the concept came out subjectively flawed to me. Same about the computers, it seemed a bit weird to me. But in all a great book, and so very enjoyable and clever!
PS - forgot to add, I will contact tho to try to pass this book along to her this week, we are on the same city so by hand will probably be faster than the mail!
Was passed to me on Wednesday by BlossomU - it's my first DWJ book, so I'm looking forward to it...
Loved the description of the SF convention - how brilliant and it seems so much fun too !! It took me a while to start enjoying this book, only when Maree and Nick started to appear more I felt that things got more interesting. The whole plot about the Emperor's heirs was somewhat confusing at times, but the ending was great and I can't wait to read more on these characters in the future. It was my first DWJ book, and it certainly got me curious to read more (I've been discovering a lot of new interesting authors through BC lately :-).
The ring seems to be over, so it goes back to Hero now (thanks for organizing this ring :-)
Update 15-09: Actually, it seems we have one more participant ... It has been mailed to Gyd today.
The ring seems to be over, so it goes back to Hero now (thanks for organizing this ring :-)
Update 15-09: Actually, it seems we have one more participant ... It has been mailed to Gyd today.
It has arrived this morning, along with three books more [gulps!] but this is the only BookRing [Phew! :0P] ! And at a perfect time since I'm about to finish what I'm currently reading :)
Thanks everyone ahead of me!
Thanks everyone ahead of me!
Well,It's a fact: Diana Wynne Jones will be another great author discovered through BC (along with Neil Gaiman and Alessandro Baricco atm). I look forward to reading 'Howl's...' and 'Hexwood' BookRays too.
Sent this morning to thechinasourcer, enjoy :)!
Sent this morning to thechinasourcer, enjoy :)!
The book arrived in the mail this morning, many thanks GYD. Thanks also for the pretty bookmark. I'm looking forward to reading this, my first Diana Wynne Jones.
Lovely book, really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Sent in the post today to Hero.
Sent in the post today to Hero.
Oops - no idea how I managed to miss making a journal entry to say the book had been received back safe and sound, thanks to thechinasourcer, and to ALL of you! As I've said on my bookshelf, I'll be picking up a copy of the newly republished book, and starting this all over again, as a ray this time. (Cover art's pretty boring on the new one, IMO, but at least it's available.)
