Enchanted Glass

Welcome to Teen Read!  Here's where we'll blog about the book Enchanted Glass, by British fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones, published in 2010.

Sorcerers, good and bad...fields of care...ominous Stalkers...a veggie-loving giant...magical creatures with human counterparts...and the threat of Chaos...all can be found in Jones' latest book.  The story takes place in both London and the country village of Melstone.  Aidan, an orphan with a mysterious connection to magic (he wears glasses to avoid seeing what other people can't), suddenly loses the grandmother who raised him, and finds himself hunted by terrifying Stalkers.  Andrew, the grandson of a powerful magician, unexpectedly inherits his grandfather's estate and gladly leaves his university job to live in the country -- only to find he's got a magical destiny of his own.  Aidan's and Andrew's paths intersect at Melstone House, and working together, they struggle to discover what is happening throughout Melstone, who the mysterious and threatening Mr. Brown really is, and how to harness the powerful magic of enchanted glass.

SPOILER ALERT!  Here are a few questions to get our conversation going...

Did you like the fact that there are two distinct protagonists, a boy and an adult?  Which story line did you find more interesting?

Who was your favorite magical character: Groil, Rolf, Puck, or ____?

Jones reveals the role of Fairie very gradually.  Were you surprised by the true identity of Mr. Brown?

Much of the story revolves around the idea of Andrew's magical "field of care."  What did you think of this concept?  (I'd not heard of it before reading this book, so it seemed pretty unique to me!)

How did you like the balance between danger, comic relief, and yes, even romance?

Would reading this book induce you to try other titles by this author?  After 30 years of writing, she's got quite a list, including Howl's Moving Castle; its sequel House of Many Ways; The Dalemark Quartet; The Chronicles of Chrestomanci; Dogsbody; and Castle in the Sky. (Two of them were adapted into popular anime films by award-winning Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki.)

Comments

[Zeldagoat]

I love all of Diana Wynne Jones's books and I can't wait to read this one. I love Howl's Moving Castle!

[Ghostchild]

I was kind of disappointed because to me it was really more of an, "then, and then," book. I know the climax would be put at the Fete but to me the storyline wasn't defined enough.

I enjoyed hearing more about Aiden than Andrew. There seemed to be more things happening with his story and therefore it moved faster.

The character I enjoyed reading about the most was Groil. I think she did a great job describing him. He really sounded like a three-year-old.

I was not surprised with who Mr. Brown really was. They had already introduced Puck and some of the other character so it just seemed natural that Mr. Brown would be king because he was the most important. After finally getting a grasp about what type of magic was in this book I was dissapointed because she seemed to have borrowed it all from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The balance between the different aspects of the book was well done. Though I don't like much romance in my books, I would have liked it to have gone a little deeper than Andrew giving us tidbits of foreshadowing, then the fight with Titania, and then "will you marry me."

I realize that my comment seems kind of negative. It's true that I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody but I hope it doesn't stop you from picking up the book if you were planning on reading it.

[kate]

it's a ok book

[torrent download]

groil is a great character, I like him so much.