Believing is seeing, as the title of this outstanding collection of fantasies proclaims. And "reading is seeing more than you've ever imagined when in the masterful hands of acclaimed author Diana Wynne Jones. Here are seven tales -- seven doorways to bizarre, yet strangely familiar worlds -- to transport one and all. In these worlds are a child born to an ordered society but preordained to spread Dissolution...a girl who so loves the sun that she renounces her humanity for eternity...a cat and a boy, held captive by an evil magician until they can find a bigger magic of their own...a woman imprisoned in a strange country dominated by three ravenous wolves...and many other characters and stories just as exceptional. These richly drawn, razor-sharp stories showcase the skills and sheer narrative power of one of the most esteemed fantasy writers of our time.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
A variety of stories from Jonessome of which have appeared in other volumes in the US and/or the UKhave been newly gathered into this offering, certain to lure fans of the supernatural. The one entirely new story portrays Anne Smith, a girl in bed with mumps. To pass the time she dreams up ``Enna Hittims,'' a tiny out-of-control superheroine who attacks her own creator and ends up squashed. The other stories, products of a supremely quirky imagination, certainly deserve a new showing. In ``The Sage of Theare,'' a boy finds himself by stalking his own future. Jones tackles Greek myths in ``The Girl Who Loved the Sun,'' an exploration of a girl who decides to turn into a tree. In ``What the Cat Told Me,'' cat lovers will enjoy learning the history of a rather older-than-normal kitty who used her wiles to escape an evil magician. The remaining tales are ``The Master,'' ``Dragon Reserve, Home Eight,'' and the typographically-inspired ``nad and Dan adn Quaffy.'' Those who have a few of these stories collected elsewhere may balk at the purchase, but others will relish the stories. The intriguing introduction illuminates the author's methodology, including a written admission that she finds ideas everywhere, even in typos. (Fiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Diana Wynne Jones was raised in the village of Thaxted, in Essex, England. She has been a compulsive storyteller for as long as she can remember enjoying most ardently those tales dealing with witches, hobgoblins, and the like. Ms. Jones lives in Bristol, England, with her husband, a professor of English at Bristol University. They have three sons and two granddaughters. In Her Own Words...
"I decided to be a writer at the age of eight, but I did not receive any encouragement in this ambition until thirty years later. I think this ambition was fired-or perhaps exacerbated is a better word-by early marginal contacts with the Great, when we were evacuated to the English Lakes during the war. The house we were in had belonged to Ruskin's secretary and had also been the home of the children in the books of Arthur Ransome. One day, finding I had no paper to draw on, I stole from the attic a stack of exquisite flower-drawings, almost certainly by Ruskin himself, and proceeded to rub them out. I was punished for this. Soon after, we children offended Arthur Ransome by making a noise on the shore beside his houseboat. He complained. So likewise did Beatrix Potter, who lived nearby. It struck me then that the Great were remarkably touchy and unpleasant (even if, in Ruskin's case, it was posthumous), and I thought I would like to be the same, without the unpleasantness.
"I started writing children's books when we moved to a village in Essex where there were almost no books. The main activities there were hand-weaving, hand-making pottery, and singing madrigals, for none of which I had either taste or talent. So, in intervals between trying to haunt the church and sitting on roofs hoping to learn to fly, I wrote enormous epic adventure stories which I read to my sisters instead of the real books we did not have. This writing was stopped, though, when it was decided I must be coached to go to University. A local philosopher was engaged to teach me Greek and philosophy in exchange for a dollhouse (my family never did things normally), and I eventually got a place at Oxford.
"At this stage, despite attending lectures by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, I did not expect to be writing fantasy. But that was what I started to write when I was married and had children of my own. It was what they liked best. But small children do not allow you the use of your brain. They used to jump on my feet to stop me thinking. And I had not realized how much I needed to teach myself about writing. I took years to learn, and it was not until my youngest child began school that I was able to produce a book which a publisher did not send straight back.
"As soon as my books began to be published, they started coming true. Fantastic things that I thought I had made up keep happening to me. The most spectacular was Drowned Ammet. The first time I went on a boat after writing that book, an island grew up out of the sea and stranded us. This sort of thing, combined with the fact that I have a travel jinx, means that my life is never dull."
Diana Wynne Jones is the author of many highly praised books for young readers, as well as three plays for children and a novel for adults. She lives in Bristol, England, with her husband, a professor of English at Bristol University. They have three sons.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book,
By
This review is from: Believing Is Seeing: Seven Stories (Hardcover)
The seven stories of the title are: The Sage of Theare; The Master; The Girl Who Loved the Sun; Dragon Reserve, Home Eight; What the Cat Told Me; nad and Dan adn Quaffy; and Enna Hittims. I haven't actually read this book, but I've read 6 of the 7 stories in other collections (I've just always thought amazon should put up short story lists for collections the way they do track lists for cds in the music section). The Sage of Theare is a very nice Chrestomanci story and The Master is one of Diana Wynne Jones' beautiful eerie stories. Dragon Reserve and What the Cat Told Me (previously only available in a multi-author anthology) are classic Jones. nad and Dan adn Quaffy is fun. I haven't read Enna Hittims yet. Dragon Reserve, The Master, and nad and Dan adn Quaffy (man I love typing that:) were 3 of 8 stories in Everard's Ride. Dragon Reserve and The Sage were 2 of 8 stories in Warlock at the Wheel. These 2 collections also share 2 other stories, which are not in this one. Maybe we should have a collected works? 4 stars because she's so splendidly good, but only 4 stars because none of my personal utter favourites are in here, & maybe we could have seen some of the harder to find stories in here instead of the duplicates.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fun variety of magic,
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This review is from: Believing Is Seeing: Seven Stories (Hardcover)
Just to add to Eleanor's review, since she hadn't read Enna Hittims: Anne, who is home sick with the mumps (and who is very bored), makes up the hero Enna, an inch-high girl armed with an enchanted sword, who has wonderful adventures in the changing scenery that is Anne's bed (including Anne covered up different ways with her blanket). There is a wonderful twist to the story when Anne makes countless drawings of Enna and her friends which results in Anne getting a turn at being a hero!Worth reading, because it sets one's mind working, trying to guess what might happen next, and the surprises are fun to find in these short stories.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting collection,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Believing Is Seeing: Seven Stories (Hardcover)
If you are unfamiliar with the author, these stories will provide an introduction to her writings. The stories have appeared previously in other collections. The seven fantasies are of different quality and subject matter, and cover 165 pages (including seven cover pages) in an easy-to-read font. I am looking at the hard-cover edition.I especially liked "What the Cat Told Me," a 22-page story about an unusual cat that becomes involved with wizards; and "The Girl Who Loved the Sun," about a girl who turns herself into a tree. Other readers will undoubtedly have their own favorites. The stories are suitable for pre-teen to teenage readers who enjoy fantasy literature.
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