Castle in the Air

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones // 298 pgs

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In which a humble young carpet merchant wins, then loses, the princess of his dreams

Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, there lived in the city of Zanzib a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer named Abdullah who loved to spend his time daydreaming. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.

That very night, the carpet flew him to an enchanted garden. There, he met and fell in love with the beauteous princess Flower-in-the-Night, only to have her snatched away, right under his very nose, by a wicked djinn. With only his magic carpet and his wits to help him, Abdullah sets off to rescue his princess....

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Continuing to the second of the Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy, I found this one to be very fun! It’s like a younger version of Aladdin, which was neat to read. I found the insta-love in this one a bit frustrating, and I wished Flower-in-the-Night was a more realized character; we get introduced to her early on and she only pops up again in the last few chapters. Though, I do understand that the nature of the plot and the tropes it follows don’t fully allow that possibility. There was also some mild fatphobia at the end (punishing the villain with the fat girls at the end isn’t the best message), though I can understand with the time it was published. I do enjoy the new location that we see take the forefront; often fantasy is dominated by Eurocentric cultures, so seeing a fantasy story deviate a bit is nice!

While Sophie makes an appearance at the halfwayish point, Howl and Calcifer do not truly show up until the end of the book. I didn’t hate that aspect, though I can understand why some people wished for more. I missed Michael though, it was unfortunate that he didn’t make the cut. Overall, it was a fun read, and I liked seeing the continuation of that universe.