Book Review
Apr. 29th, 2003 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyI have now finished The Merlin Conspiracy.
I think this must be the first time that a DWJ book has disappointed me. I loved its predecessor Deep Secret so I had high hopes for this one. Sadly it didn't live up to my expectations.
Diana Wynne Jones doesn't write many sequels. She's set a few books in the "Chrestomanci" worlds (eg. Charmed Life, Magicians of Caprona, etc.) but none of them are sequels (although one is a prequel). Then there's the Dalemark Quartet; but only the last one is actually linked to any of the others. However, more recently, the sequels have appeared. Year of the Griffin followed Dark Lord of Derkholm and Castle in the Air followed Howl's Moving Castle.
The trouble with The Merlin Conspiracy is that is doesn't feel like a book in its own right. It leaves too many loose ends and consequently feels like the second part of a trilogy or the first half of a two-parter. And too many of the people in it seemed to do things for pretty odd reasons. Admittedly, this is part of the plot - about how little things can change worlds. However, I still didn't understand what Sybil (for example) was actually trying to do.
The rest of the ingredients are there. Nick is still Nick. Mini, Grundo and Roddy are great characters and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I reached the last page and felt that there should have been more. At some point I will re-read it and see if I missed any obvious explanations. However, I guess I should be grateful that, out of the many she's written, I've only found one disappointment.
Now tea for the twins.
<ignores hungry cat>
I think this must be the first time that a DWJ book has disappointed me. I loved its predecessor Deep Secret so I had high hopes for this one. Sadly it didn't live up to my expectations.
Diana Wynne Jones doesn't write many sequels. She's set a few books in the "Chrestomanci" worlds (eg. Charmed Life, Magicians of Caprona, etc.) but none of them are sequels (although one is a prequel). Then there's the Dalemark Quartet; but only the last one is actually linked to any of the others. However, more recently, the sequels have appeared. Year of the Griffin followed Dark Lord of Derkholm and Castle in the Air followed Howl's Moving Castle.
The trouble with The Merlin Conspiracy is that is doesn't feel like a book in its own right. It leaves too many loose ends and consequently feels like the second part of a trilogy or the first half of a two-parter. And too many of the people in it seemed to do things for pretty odd reasons. Admittedly, this is part of the plot - about how little things can change worlds. However, I still didn't understand what Sybil (for example) was actually trying to do.
The rest of the ingredients are there. Nick is still Nick. Mini, Grundo and Roddy are great characters and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I reached the last page and felt that there should have been more. At some point I will re-read it and see if I missed any obvious explanations. However, I guess I should be grateful that, out of the many she's written, I've only found one disappointment.
Now tea for the twins.
<ignores hungry cat>
