I just finished the two latest installments of the series Jones started with Howl's Moving Castle, and they did not disappoint. I absolutely adore the way the old familiar characters are woven into two seemingly disparate storylines in these companions/sequels to a book that has become a great favorite of mine.
In Castle in the Air, a young carpet merchant named Abdullah gains possession of a magic carpet and a supremely contrary genie who start him on a quest to save his true love, Flower-in-the-Night. As in Howl's Moving Castle, Jones parodies classic fantasy at the same time that she embraces it, only this time she is working within a world straight out of The Arabian Nights. To top it all off, you will never guess how Sophie, Howl, and Calcifer show up in the story, but when they do, you will laugh at how obvious it was.
In House of Many Ways, we again focus on a character outside of Howl and Sophie's family unit. Charmain is a girl who has lived her life in the most respectable of ways -- which means no magical connection whatsoever. But when she goes to her Great Uncle's home to housesit, she finds herself in the middle of the most magical goings-on her country has ever seen. Of course, Sophie, Howl, and Calcifer are there in the middle with her, with hilarious results.
Read these books in order -- Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, and House of Many Ways -- if you want a different take on fantasy and several good laughs at the same time.
