Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father, who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar. When he was not selling carpets, Abdullah spent his time daydreaming. In his dreams he was not the son of his father, but the long-lost son of a prince. There was also a princess who had been betrothed to him at birth. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.

In this stunning sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones has again created a large-scale, fast-paced fantasy in which people and things are never quite what they seem. There are good and bad djinns, a genie in a bottle, wizards, witches, cats and dogs (but are they cats and dogs?), and a mysterious floating castle filled with kidnapped princesses, as well as two puzzling prophecies. The story speeds along with tantalizing twists and turns until the prophecies are fulfilled, true identities are revealed, and all is resolved in a totally satisfying, breathtaking, surprise-filled ending.

Abdullah is a dreamy young carpet merchant with a slew of nosy, overbearing relatives and a prophecy made at his birth; they see him as wasting his life, which is quite humble to say the least. But his fortunes change when he is sold a magic carpet by a mysterious stranger. The carpet takes him as he sleeps to a secluded garden, where a naive, beautiful young woman called Flower-in-the-Night is. Unsurprisingly, Abdullah and Flower-in-the-Night fall deeply in love. Unfortunately, her rich father wants to marry her off to a prince.

Abdullah tries to elope with Flower-in-the-Night, only to see her carried off by a hideous djinn. He ends up on the run from her father with a mercenary soldier, the flattery-hungry carpet, a malicious genie who makes every wish go wrong somehow, and a mother cat and her kitten. Soon they end up enmeshed in a bizarre tangle involving wizards, djinns, demons, genies, dogs smelling of squid, and a slew of princesses with minds of their own.

Though this is a sequel to "Howl's Moving Castle," the characters from that book take over half the book to show up. Instead, we are treated to Wynne-Jones' entertainingly skewed version of the "Arabian Nights," with the hapless and sweet-spoken Abdullah slogging to the castle. Jones manages to affectionately poke the Middle-Eastern setting and its various customs, while spinning the story outward to encompass "Howl's Moving Castle" as well. Her humor is especially present here, with the revolt of the many princesses, Flower-in-the-Night insisting that Abdullah is a woman, the ultra-sensible Princess Beatrice, Abdullah's constant gushing over the carpet, Abdullah's intended brides, and many other amusing items.

Abdullah is the Everyman hero, who simply wants to marry a princess and live a life of luxury; evidently he never expected to have to work so hard for it. The genie is crabbily endearing, especially when one considers that he will try to turn every wish against the one who makes it. The unnamed soldier is a gruff Han Solo character with a weak spot for cats. Flower-in-the-Night is a great heroine: despite her initial naivete, she has a quick brain and the ability to cow even a demon. And as you read this, remember that no one in it is quite who they appear.

What are the problems? Well, the extended sequence with the soldier and Abdullah caring for the cats is rather dull in places. Also, the ending is just a little too neat and happy. While I don't like dangling threads that are simply left, it seemed like every thread was tightly wrapped up at the expense of realism.

However, "Castle" is an amusing and endearing read. A delightful read for fans of fantasy, wizards, and the Arabian Nights.


A Little Disappointing   April 13, 2005
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

"Castle in the Air" is supposed to be the sequel to "Howl's Moving Castle", but I didn't feel that the connection between these two books is very good. First of all, the main characters of "Howl's Moving Castle" don't appear until the end of the book. In addition, when the characters finally do appear, its seems as if they had undergone a personality change. Speaking of personality, I didn't feel that the characters were well developed. In fact you never really care for the main character of this book, especially after you learn of his urges to kick cats. Whether he finds his princess or gets turned into a toad, it's all fine as far as the reader goes because the reader never gets a chance to feel any sympathy for the character.

As far as the action goes, it never develops into a coherent story. It just seems like an endless stream of minor incidents thrown together. When you finally get to the end, you'll groan at the simple trick used to resolve the final confrontation with the villian. Not even an elementary school student would fall for it, but it works in this story.

In the end, my recommendation is to pass on this book. If you haven't read "Howl's Moving Castle", I recommend reading that instead. If you have, don't get this book. It doesn't add anything to "Howl's Moving Castle". It shouldn't be labeled as a sequel.


Very Enjoyable   June 26, 2000
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I VERY much enjoyed this book! It is full of detailed and mythical encounters that I loved to read! Her description and creativeness in going about the plot made this book one I highly reccomend.I did enjoy Howl's moving castle a little more but I felt that The Casle in The Air was almost as good!I do not regret spending my money on this book and if you enjoyed Howl's moving castle I could almost garuntee you'll like this book!


"He Shines with Dishonesty..."   April 15, 2005
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

"Castle in the Air" is the sequel to "Howl's Moving Castle", both of which are two of my favourite Diana Wynne Jones books (and according to an interview "Howl's Moving Castle" is one of hers). I strongly suggest reading this preceding novel before tacking the sequel as several of the characters and plot twists found here will not be fully appreciated without knowing the previous story (which is a mistake I made).

Diana Wynne Jones takes the setting and atmosphere of "Arabian Nights" and creates her own story filled with flying carpets, deserts, exotic princesses, genies and djinns (although what the difference between these last two species are, she unfortunately never clarifies - I think that genies are contained within an object of some kind, whilst djinns are more god-like). Abdullah is a humble young carpet merchant, with meddling relatives and a strange prophesy recorded at his birth. But Abdullah has no such interest in these things; his favourite past time is day-dreaming about his pretend royal lineage, beautiful princesses and luxurious surroundings.

But once a stranger sells Abdullah a so-called magical carpet, things begin to change. After sleeping on the carpet, he awakes in a night garden in the company of the lovely Flower-in-the-Night. Needless to say, the two fall in love and whilst trying to figure out the logistics of the carpet, they plan an elopement. But on the intended night, Abdullah is horrified to witness Flower's kidnapping at the hands of a hideous djinn. Being pursued by the Sultan and all his guards, and still finding that his daydreams are coming true, Abdullah soon finds himself in strange company: traversing the northern land of Ingary (the setting of "Howl's Moving Castle") with a dishonest soldier, a tricky genie and a rather strange cat and her kitten.

He soon finds out that Flower-in-the-Night is being held in a castle in the air (once the former moving castle of the wizard Howl) by a wicked djinn named Dalzel who is sending his captive brother Hasruel out to collect all the princesses in the world for potential wives. The princesses of course, are not going to put up with this - but it's up to Abdullah and the previous cast of "Howl's Moving Castle" to put everything right.

Some other reviewers have complained that the characters of the previous books do not appear until after halfway through - odd, since Sophia, Howl and Calcifer are present almost right from the beginning: not in the forms that you might expect, but they're there and their personalities are just as strong. Suliman and Lettie are there as well and play a small, but vital role in the playing out of the story. Abdullah is a pleasant enough character, but Flower-in-the-Night is a gem: someone intensely naive and sheltered, but intelligent and educational. The brother djinns are also fascinating in terms of their relationship and predicament - I just wish there was more of them, and the soldier is an intriguing enigma.

Touches of Diana Wynne Jones's wonderful humour are sprinkled throughout, from the soldier's near-worship of the two cats, to Flower-in-the-Night's insistence that Abdullah is a female. The climax is a little rushed, and I'm not exactly sure how the genie discovered that where Hasruel's life was, but over all "Castle in the Air" is a great sequel, and a great book. But read "Howl's Moving Castle" first!