Wednesday means I know what to post

[starlady]

What I'm reading
I picked up Chrestomanci volume 1 again last night - I read Charmed Life in December, and the second book in this volume is The Many Lives of Christopher Chant. Holy god the early 2000s covers are hideous I suspect I am coming too late to DWJ to love her wholeheartedly the way other people do (damn her books being OOP in the 90s!), but I'm enjoying these so far. There is a very strong whiff of The Magician's Nephew about the whole thing, and given that TMN is one of my favorite Narnia books, I approve.

What I've just read
I finished Alaya Dawn Johnson's Racing the Dark on Monday evening and then promptly dreamed about zombies on an island a la Kingdom Hearts, very obviously influenced by the book. Longer post to follow, but very highly recommended, even with the series being unfinished. I also just read Zen Cho's The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo, which was practically perfect in every way.

What I'll read next
It's high time for A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (yes, I have an ARC). Then I need to start seriously on all the YA books I have piled up, because those, as much as I love them, take less brain wattage than adult novels, and the semester is starting up again.

Comments

[snickfic]

Why hello, fellow latecomer to DWJ! I never read her as a kid either (which makes me sad, because I would have loved her). Honestly, I found Charmed Life and The Many Lives of Christopher Chant moderately interesting, but then I really loved The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week, which I believe are the two that come next. So give her time. I think she was maybe still feeling her way around in the books that you're reading now.

[lnhammer]

I also didn't find DWJ until an adult, but I had no trouble falling in love with them. FWIW, I also prefer Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week over the two packaged in the volume 1 omnibus. I think, actually, they were written in between those two -- the volumes are bound by internal chronology rather than order written.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I prefer the Dalemark books over Chrstomanci, and I think you would too. Also recommended is The Homeward Bounders, which first introduced me to just how sneaky a storyteller she is, and how tightly she plots, and The Archer's Goon. And if you want major mindscrew, Hexwood, but that one's not considered a good starter volume with good reason.

---L.

[coffeeandink]

I am a ferocious so totally reasonably devoted unreasonable childhood DWJ fan, so I will probably make this my last comment to avoid jumping all over your comments some more. (::studiously avoiding blatant Howl provocation except to say: I do not think you will like its sequel::)

I think that the DWJ you would probably like best are: The Homeward Bounders, Fire and Hemlock, Archer's Goon, or Hexwood. I would say The Spellcoats but you mentioned you'd already read that.

My favorite of the Chrestomanci books is The Magicians of Caprona, but my second favorite is Charmed Life, so I don't know if that's a good guide for you.