Customer Reviews

The Crown of Dalemark

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my mind, a good book is one that's hard to forget, one that you think about long after you finish it. If you agree and enjoy fantasy, then this book is definitely one you will want to look into. I read the first three Dalemark books before this one, so by the time I got to it, I was almost in a frenzy to finish it. When I did, I had to sit around for a long time afterward, just thinking about what I'd read. I always say that any book that can be described as "heartbreaking" is not for me, but I really, really liked this book, though that description is still apt. (I cried when I read it, but hey, that's me.)

Another thing I really enjoy about Diana Wynne Jones' books is that they are like giant puzzles, and they don't quite fit until the very end, and everything just locks into place. In this respect you can liken them to the Harry Potter novels, so if you have read them but are unfamiliar with Diana Wynne Jones you may want to try this.

Though the size of the book is formidable, it is one that makes you want to read it more than once, and one that is just as impressive, just as heartbreaking, and just as wonderful every time. Read this quartet. And then read all her other books. You'll be doing yourself a favor.

I thought The Crown of Dalemark was easily the best book in the Dalemark quartet. But dont get me wrong, they are all very good. This book has lots of adventure, and lots of wit. Mitt might be one of my favorite characters ever! If you are thinking about reading this book (which you should) you should definitely read the first three books in the quartet (Cart and Cwidder, Drowned Amment, The Spellcoats) to understand what is going on, but I think you can still understand it without reading the third. Try Diana's other books to, but this one, in my opinion, is the best!

I read this book two months ago, and I am still rereading it over and over. It is the saddest, sweetest, funniest, adventurest book I have ever read. This was the first book that made me cry. I think that it has changed my life and that it will be one of my favorite books of all time and on my list, it's tied with Harry Potter. Please read these books, they will change the way you look at life- Claire Tuley age 12

_The Crown of Dalemark_ is the concluding volume of the Dalemark Quartet. Oddly, this book didn't appear until 14 years after the last of the preceding three: in 1993. Yet it's not an afterthought -- the series clearly needed a closing volume -- I wonder why Ms. Jones waited so long. At any rate it's a solid conclusion, much longer than the first three books, a bit darker in tone (though really all four books have dark overtones), and a logical and different than expected resolution to the situation set up in the first books.

There are two main characters in this book -- Mitt, also one of the heroes of book 2 (_Drowned Ammet_), and Maewen, and girl from the future of Dalemark -- a time very roughly corresponding to our own time in terms of technological development. Maewen, while visiting her father (her parents are separated), meets a couple of strange individuals. One, she soon learns, is Kankredin, the evil wizard from _The Spellcoats_, while the other is another of the Undying. This character maneuvers her back into the past, to take the place of Noreth, a girl from Mitt's time who looks just like Maewen. Noreth was a descendant of the rightful King of Dalemark, and she had planned to find the four objects that only the King can use (a cup, a ring, a sword, and a crown) and reclaim the Crown of Dalemark and reunite the sundered kingdom. But Noreth disappeared before she could accomplish this, and Maewen must walk the roads of Dalemark to find these objects in her place. The powers that be, naturally enough, oppose Noreth's quest, and she is stalked by assassins. One of these is Mitt, who is blackmailed by his Northern hosts into going after Noreth -- but after meeting her Mitt refuses, and soon he joins her tiny entourage, along with the hero of Book 1 (_Cart and Cwidder_): Moril the Singer, as well as another Singer, and the clever but perhaps not trustworthy southern nobleman who was also exiled to the North with Mitt, and the Undying who has sent Maewen here.

Maewen, Mitt, and the others wander about the countryside, often in rather magical fashion, tracking down the four objects, but also trying to elude the assassins, and eventually armies, which are trying to stop. Maewen's only goal is to give the objects to the man she knows became king: Amil the Great, the man who more or less singlehandedly founded modern Dalemark. But who could he be? There is no sign of him. The resolution is surprising and rather effective. Jones makes excellent use of the rather unusual magic "system" (though it's not really systematic, and is perhaps more effective for that) that she has established, especially the Undying, who are like gods but not by any means omnipotent or even all-knowing. The four books represent a very solid work of YA fantasy.

Well, I must say, the first three were okay. I don't know, I don't think I needed to have read them at all. In fact, I first read Drowned Ammet, then the Spellcoats, then this book, then Cart and the Cwidder...and I understood the Crown of Dalemark fine without reading the Cart and Cwidder. This though, was THE most awesome book! Looking at this I now remember what the cover of the book looks like; mine has long since been ripped off because of being shoved in and out of my locker and carrying it to classes. I will never get sick of this book, it is, without a sliver of a doubt, among the best books I have ever read. I think I say that for a lot of the books I read, but this one I mean it. The ending though...I'm not saying it was bad, it was excellent! But I hate endings like that...it's a matter of personal opinion, I think. So PLEASE let there, in the future, be a sequel to this book! I know it's a quartet, but I want to know what happens! Oh well, if you havn't read any of the series yet, I would suggest you read this book first. If you really enjoy it, go on to read the other three to get more detail on the characters. This book was THE BEST!

Someone, the other day, asked me why I read fantasy, and the example of this book jumped instantly to my mind. Diana Wynne Jones' brilliant books are always at their apex of brilliance the second time one reads them, and I happen to have very recently read this one for the second time. Now, I myself did not love the previous books in the Dalemark quartet quite so much as I have other DWJ books, but this one is truly great. It has fantastic characters and a wonderful plot, as well as, I think, the single most intriguing conversation I've ever read (hint - it's with Alk and you can't understand its sheer brilliance until you get further on). Perhaps the reason why it becomes even better the second time is that one realizes upon reading it just how much of the shocking plot twists were presaged. One of them, I think, can be figured out completely before it's revealed, but is so unbelievable that no one will ever do it, IMHO. The book also has considerable depth, as well as fun. Try to figure out whether or not time travel to the past can alter the future - as well as what all the main characters believe. Intriguing! After closing this book for the second time, the two words that came first to my mind were "inherently cool." And it is.

i finished this book about a year ago and since then i have re-read it at least five times. in fact i have read just about every diana wynne jones book and she is one of my favorite authors because there are such great images and feelings that everyone can relate to, as opposed to most fantasy books. i just wish she would write one more book about what happens to maewen even though i love the way the book ends.=) peace out

Diana Wynne Jones has the ability to draw you completely into her world, engage you absolutely with her characters, and carry you along on her story, so that, reaching the end, you return unwillingly to real life, realising that it is 4am, you have work, college or school tomorrow, and you want to read it all over again. Her books have always had this effect on me, since I first stumbled over "the ogre downstairs" at the age of 11. 23 years later and she's still doing it, and this is her best(yet). A tremendous story, that stands alone, but is the superb culmination to a quartet of real enchantment. I dare you try to put it down once open!

This is, without question, a classic. Set in Dalemark, a fantasy country divided down the middle into North and South, Noreth, who claims to be the One's daughter, sets out to ride down the green roads to claim her crown in King Hern's city, Kernsburgh. Unfortunately, she disappears before she can begin.

In her place is Mayelbridwen Singer, called Maewen, a girl from twentieth century Dalemark hijacked to take Noreth's place. On her journey she is accompanied by Mitt, Navis, Moril, Hestefan and Wend, all of whom we know from the three previous books. Mitt is from the South, now a refugee because of the plot to kill Navis' father, the tyrant Earl Hadd. However, Navis is also a refugee, here with his daughter and son, who are separated from him. Moril is a Singer with a magical cwidder, and he is with Hestefan, another Singer. Wend is one of the Undying, who are either gods or extremely rare people who simply never die. Together they set out.

Maewen decides that she needs to get the Adon's gifts, a ring, cup and sword, to prove her claim as Noreth. Mitt is given the ring by his friend, Alk, and in Gardale, at the Lawschool, Navis steals the cup while visiting his daughter, Hildy, who is an aristocratic snob (a great disappointment from Drowned Ammet). They find the sword in the house of the witch, Cennoreth, but Maewen, who has been instructed by a disembodied voice that she assumed was the One to kill Mitt and Navis, then Moril, finds that Mitt and Moril think it is Kankredin, an ancient and extremely wicked sorcerer. They learn who she really is at that point, and continue to Kernsburgh, where they are confronted by Alk, who tells them that Maewen cannot be Noreth because Noreth's body was found with its throat cut. Maewen admits she is not Noreth.

They all continue to Kernsburgh, where they know they will find an army, because originally Mitt was set out to kill Maewen by Earl Keril and Alk's wife, the Countess of Aberath. They are joined by Luthan, Noreth's rather sappy cousin, on the way. In Kernsburgh, they find an army--of Southern men, and the Northerners hold them off while Moril makes a special world with the cwidder and the children (who now include Mitt, Moril, Maewen, Kialan--Earl Keril's son, and Ynen, Navis's son) find themselves in King Hern's ancient armory, where King Hern himself greets them and surprisingly crowns Mitt king. There is a special aspect to this because Mitt and Maewen are seemingly in love (which is very plausible). Mitt reappears and is acknowledged as king, they defeat Kankredin and Maewen is sent back to her own time.

There she realizes that Kankredin is gathering himself again, and gets ready to try and defeat him herself (she is also still grappling with the thought that all of her friends are dead). At the moment in question, Mitt suddenly reappears and vanquishes Kankredin. And it ends with Maewen realizing that Mitt is of the Undying. It seems to me that this book needs a follower, or at least an epilogue, but nevertheless, it is wonderful and everyone should read it (but read the first three first).

I absolutely adore this book. The series itself is kind of weak, but this as a concluding volume brings back all the characters from the previous three and introduces Maewen, a girl from modern-day Dalemark who is jerked back in time to fill the place of Noreth. OKay. Dalemark is divided down the middle--North and South. Mitt and Navis are from the South, but now they are refugees in the North (they're from Drowned Ammet, and Mitt is in deep trouble: he has to kill someone. She's Noreth, a girl who firmly believes that she's the daughter of the One, one of the Undying, which are Dalemark's gods, and she also firmly believes that she is born to unite Dalemark and become their queen. And so Mitt(who is fifteen) and Navis (who is grown up) join her party. Only: Noreth disappears just before the start and Maewen takes her place. So Maewen (not really having any choice) fills in for her. They are joined by Moril and Hestefan the Singers (Moril's twelve or so and he's from Cart and Cwidder and his cwidder--that's a kind of lute--can do magic). On their ride to Kernsburgh, the ancient destroyed capital city, Maewen learns a lot about her country's history, meets some of the Undying (some people in Dalemark aren't gods--they just never die), and learns that she must get the Adon's gifts (the Adon was a legendary hero), and gets them. Noreth claimed she talked to the One, and Maewen hears a voice guiding her. There are also several attempts on her life, and she falls in love. But by the time they reach Kernsburgh, everyone knows who she truly is, and as they search for the lost crown of the great King Hern, they realize who the real king is. This is a brilliant and moving story and I recommend it to everyone (but read the other three first).