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A review by torts
Spellbound: Fantasy Stories by Diana Wynne Jones
4.0
Because I'm annoying:
The Peasant and the Devil
Good ol' brothers Grimm...they never get old.
Boris Chernevsky's Hands
Jane Yolen is cool. Baba Yaga is cool. The story was decent.
The Hobgoblin's Hat
This was adorable. I liked the translator's notes and the fact that there was a top hat.
Ully the Piper
I quite liked this story, which for some strange reason reminded me of [a: Shannon Hale|49177|Shannon Hale|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1299093233p2/49177.jpg]'s Princess Academy and also of some of the books by [a: Elizabeth Marie Pope|113844|Elizabeth Marie Pope|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373482093p2/113844.jpg].
Milo Conducts the Dawn
The Phantom Tollbooth rocks. (Even if this particular part scares me a little, what with its...speed...*shudder*)
Who Goes Down this Dark Road?
Is Joan Aiken secretly J.D. Salinger? Because she tells a pretty Salinger-y story. It was good. Surprising. Fancy.
The House of Harfang
C.S. Lewis kind of gets my goat for writing like an old-fashioned poobean. I'm pretty glad I didn't ever finish The Chronicles of Narnia, especially since apparently one of the characters doesn't get to go on to heaven because she acts like too much of a grownup and C.S. Lewis is a sexistly agist little poobean. This story was okay, though, in a cute old-fashioned way. I rather enjoyed the fact that the characters decide to "be gay" and that C.S. Lewis probably had no idea at the time that he was going to get giggled at for accidentally referencing homosexuality (the old fart).
Martha in the Witch's Power
This story is boring, so I'm going to have to reread it. It's from Hobberdy Dick. So I really must reread it.
Prince Delightful and the Flameless Dragon
I was kind of reminded of [b: A Fate Worse than Dragons|429496|A Fate Worse Than Dragons|John Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348273734s/429496.jpg|418484] in the style of this story, which was off-putting. But it was still decent, if a little insulting.
The Box of Delights
I like Herne quite a bit from what I've read of him in Dogsbody and Firebringer, so it was cool to read about him from the perspective of this book.
The Amazing flight of the Gump
[b: The Land of Oz|179565|The Marvelous Land of Oz (Oz, #2)|L. Frank Baum|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172470286s/179565.jpg|21430714] rocks.
On the Great Wall
This story bored me, as well. Silly Rudyard Kipling.
The Waking of the Kraken
[a: Eva Ibbotson|57462|Eva Ibbotson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360037190p2/57462.jpg] is sillybeans. The story was pretty cute, at least as far as this extract was concerned. She can get a bit preachy, though (*cough* C.S. Lewis *cough*)
The Caves in the Hills
Need to read this one, too.
Bigger than the Baker's Boy
I've totally read Five Children and It. I think... [a: E. Nesbit|7935185|E. Nesbit|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1395657856p2/7935185.jpg]
Jermain and the Sorceress
Note to self: READ THE SEVEN TOWERS. [a: Patricia C. Wrede|36122|Patricia C. Wrede|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215652809p2/36122.jpg] is awesome.
Una and the Red Cross Knight
I need to read this 'un, too.
What the Cat Told Me
Oh, [a: Diana Wynne Jones|4260|Diana Wynne Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1193516584p2/4260.jpg], you never cease to write in that all-exposition-and-then-sudden-revalations-that-make-me-want-to-reread-the-story way. This story was very cute. Congratulations on not including real-worldy stuff in here too much.
The Peasant and the Devil
Good ol' brothers Grimm...they never get old.
Boris Chernevsky's Hands
Jane Yolen is cool. Baba Yaga is cool. The story was decent.
The Hobgoblin's Hat
This was adorable. I liked the translator's notes and the fact that there was a top hat.
Ully the Piper
I quite liked this story, which for some strange reason reminded me of [a: Shannon Hale|49177|Shannon Hale|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1299093233p2/49177.jpg]'s Princess Academy and also of some of the books by [a: Elizabeth Marie Pope|113844|Elizabeth Marie Pope|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373482093p2/113844.jpg].
Milo Conducts the Dawn
The Phantom Tollbooth rocks. (Even if this particular part scares me a little, what with its...speed...*shudder*)
Who Goes Down this Dark Road?
Is Joan Aiken secretly J.D. Salinger? Because she tells a pretty Salinger-y story. It was good. Surprising. Fancy.
The House of Harfang
C.S. Lewis kind of gets my goat for writing like an old-fashioned poobean. I'm pretty glad I didn't ever finish The Chronicles of Narnia, especially since apparently one of the characters doesn't get to go on to heaven because she acts like too much of a grownup and C.S. Lewis is a sexistly agist little poobean. This story was okay, though, in a cute old-fashioned way. I rather enjoyed the fact that the characters decide to "be gay" and that C.S. Lewis probably had no idea at the time that he was going to get giggled at for accidentally referencing homosexuality (the old fart).
Martha in the Witch's Power
This story is boring, so I'm going to have to reread it. It's from Hobberdy Dick. So I really must reread it.
Prince Delightful and the Flameless Dragon
I was kind of reminded of [b: A Fate Worse than Dragons|429496|A Fate Worse Than Dragons|John Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348273734s/429496.jpg|418484] in the style of this story, which was off-putting. But it was still decent, if a little insulting.
The Box of Delights
I like Herne quite a bit from what I've read of him in Dogsbody and Firebringer, so it was cool to read about him from the perspective of this book.
The Amazing flight of the Gump
[b: The Land of Oz|179565|The Marvelous Land of Oz (Oz, #2)|L. Frank Baum|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172470286s/179565.jpg|21430714] rocks.
On the Great Wall
This story bored me, as well. Silly Rudyard Kipling.
The Waking of the Kraken
[a: Eva Ibbotson|57462|Eva Ibbotson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360037190p2/57462.jpg] is sillybeans. The story was pretty cute, at least as far as this extract was concerned. She can get a bit preachy, though (*cough* C.S. Lewis *cough*)
The Caves in the Hills
Need to read this one, too.
Bigger than the Baker's Boy
I've totally read Five Children and It. I think... [a: E. Nesbit|7935185|E. Nesbit|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1395657856p2/7935185.jpg]
Jermain and the Sorceress
Note to self: READ THE SEVEN TOWERS. [a: Patricia C. Wrede|36122|Patricia C. Wrede|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215652809p2/36122.jpg] is awesome.
Una and the Red Cross Knight
I need to read this 'un, too.
What the Cat Told Me
Oh, [a: Diana Wynne Jones|4260|Diana Wynne Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1193516584p2/4260.jpg], you never cease to write in that all-exposition-and-then-sudden-revalations-that-make-me-want-to-reread-the-story way. This story was very cute. Congratulations on not including real-worldy stuff in here too much.