Power of Three [Paperback]

Diana Wynne Jones (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Ayna could predict the future.
Cari could find what was lost.
Gair thought he was ordinary.

The three children of Gest, the chief of Garholt, know the perils of the Moor on which they live. The Dorig, their people's enemies, are cold-blooded, fierce underwater creatures who terrify anyone unlucky enough to happen upon them. The Giants are dangerous and violent.

But it's not until their home is invaded that Gair learns of a dying curse that endangers all three peoples of the Moor. A curse that ordinary Gair, with the help of his extraordinary brother and sister, may be able to break, but only at the most dreadful risk to all three, and to the Moor itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Her most ambitious book yet. Highly distinctive, funny, exciting, and with one marvellous twist." (Times Literary Supplement (London) )

"Fast-paced and suspenseful." (School Library Journal )

"Teems with adventure and suspense." (ALA Booklist )

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.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1 edition (August 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064473597
• ISBN-13: 978-0064473590
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,411,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Wynne Jones spent her childhood in Essex and has been writing fantasy novels for children since 1973. With her unique combination of magic, humour and imagination, she has been enthralling children and adults with her work ever since. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life, was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. She is married with three sons, and lives in Bristol with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get the "Power", February 1, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power of Three (Hardcover)

Diana Wynne-Jones's books are enjoying a much-deserved resurgence, thanks to the renewed interest in well-written juvenile fantasy. One of the latest reprinted novels is "Power of Three," a unique story about three very unusual siblings, and the Moor that is under attack.

The leader of the mound of Garholt has three children. Eldest Ayna has the Sight, and youngest Ceri has the Gift of Finding AND the Gift of Thought. The middle child, Gair, considers himself extremely ordinary, and tries to become wise and skilled to make up for his lack of extraordinary gifts. Gair isn't as ordinary as he had thought, but his secret talents lie hidden until a disaster falls.

Long ago, their uncle Orban killed a Dorig (a water-dwelling reptilian creature) for its golden collar, and the Dorig's brother laid a curse on everyone. Now the Dorig invade the mound when the chief is out on a hunt and the three kids manage to escape, taking refuge with the Giants (who are apparently ordinary human beings). They learn that they're running out of time -- the Moor will soon be turned into a lake, driving out the Giants and killing the Moung People and Dorig, unless they find a way to stop it.

"Power of Three" is in some ways a much darker book than many of Jones' others. There are more complex issues about morality and ethics. Not to mention the enviroment, and the question of what makes a person special. (Even before Gair's gift surfaces, he's considered special for his hunger for knowledge) There's murder, trickery, there are battles (not magical ones either), hostage situations and curses that affect entire populations.

Jones gives the Mound People a semi-Celtic flair; the story about how the kids' dad had to win their mom is reminiscent of old Irish legends. The shapeshifting, water-dwelling Dorig are suitably mysterious and alien. Jones fills her story with atmospheric wildlands, cozy British houses and plenty of vivid descriptions.

Gair is clearly the center of this book. He's a likable kid, quiet when his rotten cousin isn't taunting him, and more thoughtful than his siblings. Ayna and Ceri are also well-done. The biggest problem is probably Gerald and Brenda. While Jones does a passable job with these two, it takes awhile to warm up to them because we don't get a lot of insight into their thoughts.

"Power of Three" is a fast-paced, well-written fantasy adventure, full of strange and mysterious creatures (and a few who are all too familiar). Like just about all of Jones' works, a treat.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Diana's Best But Most Ignored Books, August 12, 2003

By 

Scott Fisher (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power of Three (Hardcover)

I'd be willing to bet that most Diana Wynne Jones fans may have missed this book because on first glance it doesn't seem as exciting as some others of hers. What a mistake, since Diana really shows her craft as a writer in this book. She shows she can do a different kind of book and pull it off as well as any of her more fun, or humorously fanciful books.

In many of Diana's books, she works by creating a difficult situation and then piling unexpected situations, images and twists on top. Usually, you wonder "what more could possibly go wrong" and then something else does--to humorous effect. By the end, you find you've come out the other side and chaos has somehow turned into order--much like a Shakespearean comedy such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Comedy of Errors."

If most of Diana's books are comedies, Power of Three is more like a tragedy. From the moment at the first of the book when an innocent Dorig (sort of a water sprite) is killed, a curse is laid, and revenge is sworn, you know that "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Diana uses intricate plotting to move the story towards the expected climax. Even with happy events, the reader knows that something else lurks behind. The plot works in a unified way to forward the story towards its climax. Each event is exactly right for propelling the story towards its end.

The book deals nicely with issues of trust between people, understanding between parent and child, and the effect a small minority can have for good or evil.

This is a darker book than many by this author (though it works out nicely in the end), so you may want to try something else if you're looking mostly for free-spirited fun. It's moodier, more "realistic," has less whimsey, and more suspense than you'd expect.

Overall, a very well-crafted book that is something different for the author. I recommend it highly, but you may want to adjust your expectations of Diana Wynne Jones before reading it.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "May it Never Loose Until the Three are Placated...", January 6, 2005

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Power of Three (Paperback)

Combining the atmosphere of Celtic folklore with a plot reminiscent of Shakespeare's "Hamlet", as well as an intricate plot (including a huge twist halfway through that will completely turn your perception of the story on its head) and likeable characters, "Power of Three" is one of Diana Wynne Jones's best novels - and so inevitably it is one of her least known.

Set on moorlands inhabited by Giants, reptilian Dorig and tribes of warrior-like clans, the first two chapters introduces the rest of the story to come. First, Adara and her bullish brother Orban come across a young Dorig princeling, and Orban demands the beautiful collar around its neck. Refusing, the Dorig places a deep curse upon the collar that will bestow bad luck upon the holder and the surroundings.

Chapter two takes place several years later when Adara elopes with the chief of a neighbouring Mound. This reads like a Celtic legend as the hero Gest must perform three impossible tasks concerning riddles, collars, standing stones, Dorig and Giants, and exactly how he manages to accomplish these feats is a mystery that (like the influence of the curse) is explored more deeply in the rest of the book that skips onto the next generation.

Gest and Adara's three children are Ayna, Gair and Ceri. Ayna the eldest can answer any question posed toward her, whilst Ceri can not only find anything that is lost but manipulate matter with his mind. Gair however is devastatingly normal, and so considers himself a disappointment to his entire community. But with the evil of the curse winding its way into all aspects of life (including food supply, war with the Dorig, and an unwelcome invasion of relatives into their Mound), Gair finally reaches breaking point and heads for the countryside. Tailed by Ayna and Ceri, the three siblings find adventures with both Dorig and Giants waiting for them, and realisation that the Moor itself is in danger of destruction.

In terms of theme and plot, "Power of Three" may very well be the deepest and most complicated novel for young readers that DWJ has written. Exploring the definition of humanity, the worth of the individual and the necessity for peace at its core, the book also has plenty of humour, quirky characters and intricate subplots - far too many to properly explain in a simple review. But it is worth saying that this book in particular has a range of interesting and vivid characters - from saintly Adara, woebegone Gerald, bossy Brenda, spoilt Ceri, sage-like Ayna and the odious Ondo. But the spotlight mostly falls on Gair, and he is a protagonist that most will find very easy to relate to - melancholy and serious, but determined and intelligent, and altogether a likeable guy.

The author also makes some wonderful connections between characters - the siblings in particular are warm and affectionate (most of the time) and the friendships that Gair forges within the story are also realistic and enjoyable to read. But then again, DWJ is an expert at portraying human behaviour and it should come as no surprise to any familiar readers that such things are handled just as well here.

"Power of Three" definitely has my recommendation, though I should warn you about reading other reviews on the story, as some of them give away the big twist - something that shouldn't be revealed if you want to truly revel in DWJ's genius.