# RIP YA author Diana Wynne Jones **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076 "2011-03-26T19:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/1 "2011-03-26T19:02:24Z")
Apparently YA fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones died yesterday at 77 after a year long battle with cancer. [http://www.sfsite.com/news/2011/03/26/obituary-diana-wynne-jones/](http://www.sfsite.com/news/2011/03/26/obituary-diana-wynne-jones/) I had read she was diagnosed and decided to stop treatment a few months ago so I knew it was only a matter of time but I was still saddened when I read about it this morning. I wish she was an author I had grown up reading but I only happened to pick up a book of hers when I was 18 or so, I think because Neil Gaiman was a friend of hers. I love how fresh and often amusing her writing was especially in a genre like YA fantasy. My favorites were the Lives of Christopher Chant and Howl’s Moving Castle, as well as Dogsbody and Deep Secret. I’ve read several of her other books and I have to admit some of them I don’t get but she still had some interesting ideas. Her books are perfect comfort reading for me, sometimes I find myself grabbing one because I have a few minutes to kill and I end up rereading the whole thing! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/2 "2011-03-26T19:15:14Z")
Oh, man. I first read Jones as an adult, and ever since that first book, I’ve sought out more of her stories. I read her books to my daughter, and she helped my daughter realize that reading can be fun, not just a chore. The Tough Guide to Fantasy was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/3 "2011-03-26T19:36:41Z")
May she have 8 more, wonderful lives, on the Almost Anywheres of series 12. I only found her books recently - there’s a reviewer blurb on my hardcover copy of “So you want to be a Wizard” that compares Diane Duane to a cross between Madeleine L’engle and Diana Wynne Jones, so I tried “A charmed life” from [audible.com](http://audible.com) and loved it. I’ve run out of the Chrestomanci books, though I know that she wrote many other wonderful fantasy novels that I haven’t gotten to yet. Always sort of hoped that she’d write another book featuring the character of Eric Chant - oh well. I just picked up paperback copies of “A charmed life” and “Witch Week” last month, at the World’s biggest bookstore. Okay - I guess that it’s time to go back to editing my own fantasy manuscript. We authors don’t have forever to make our legacy in this world, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/4 "2011-03-26T19:54:35Z")
Sorry. She was one of the best imaginative children’s authors of the present period. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/5 "2011-03-26T20:01:36Z")
> [@](#): > > I guess that it’s time to go back to editing my own fantasy manuscript. Get The Tough Guide to Fantasy, and make sure that you don’t use the tropes therein. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/6 "2011-03-26T20:03:35Z")
☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ She was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/7 "2011-03-26T20:07:51Z")
Oh, man, I _loved_ her books when I was a kid. Picked up Christopher Chant a few years ago and it was as good as I remembered. I read them all from the library years and years ago, and they were really something out of the ordinary for children’s book - I remember being thrown for a loop by _Fire and Hemlock._ ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/8 "2011-03-26T20:49:10Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I’ve run out of the Chrestomanci books, though I know that she wrote many other wonderful fantasy novels that I haven’t gotten to yet. Always sort of hoped that she’d write another book featuring the character of Eric Chant - oh well. Did you read her recent Chrestomanci book, the Pinhoe Egg? Eric Chant makes his first reappearance in it, it’s quite delightful. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/9 "2011-03-26T20:54:27Z")
Oh, ☹ I knew this was coming. DWJ is my all-time favorite. I was lucky enough to find her young. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/10 "2011-03-26T21:14:29Z")
Very sad to hear this. I’ve loved her books for the last thirty years. I met her too and she was a fabulous woman, very generous with her tiem to her fans. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/11 "2011-03-26T23:25:23Z")
I’m quite sad about this. I first found her books as a teenager in the mid-1980s and she has remained one of my favourite authors. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/12 "2011-03-26T23:58:39Z")
She has been a favorite of mine for 20 years or more: _Howl’s Moving Castle_ is probably my favorite-the writing itself is just a joy to read, never mind the charming story and characters–and of course I love the Chrestomanci books, but I want to give a shout out to _The Homeward Bounders_–I mean, a story for young adults that blends role-playing games, Greek mythology, and Platonism and ends tragically? I love love love that book. I read it for the first time when I was probably 10, and again every year or so after that, and it made me smarter. I also loved _Fire and Hemlock_. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/13 "2011-03-27T00:38:31Z")
> [@Arien](#): > > Did you read her recent Chrestomanci book, the Pinhoe Egg? Eric Chant makes his first reappearance in it, it’s quite delightful. Yes, I loved the Pinhoe egg - in fact, I read the Chrestomanci books rather out of order, though they mostly made sense: A Charmed Life The Pinhoe Egg The Lives of Christopher Chant Conrad’s Fate The Magicians of Caprona Witch Week So I started with the Eric Chant pair, then the two with Christopher Chant while he was still young, before he became Chrestomanci, (and Gabriel DeWitt, and Millie,) and finally the two stories where Chrestomanci is more a more peripheral and mysterious character. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/14 "2011-03-27T01:03:16Z")
That’s quite sad. By coincidence I’m reading one of her books right now, _The Crown of Dalemark_. The first book of hers I read, twenty years ago, was one from the Dalemark series. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/15 "2011-03-27T03:33:09Z")
☹ I only discovered her as an adult, but I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of her books. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/16 "2011-03-27T06:10:47Z")
The Tough Guide is the only book of hers I’ve read, but I love it. ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/17 "2011-03-27T07:28:48Z")
I was not aware she was battling cancer. Tough, I enjoyed _Charmed Life_ when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/18 "2011-03-27T11:06:32Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > The Tough Guide is the only book of hers I’ve read, but I love it. Now read _The Dark Lord of Derkholm_ to see the Guide applied to a real novel. The Tough Guide is great, but it’s a commentary rather than a story. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/19 "2011-03-27T15:03:39Z")
I’m very sad to hear this. Her books are charming. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076/20 "2011-03-27T15:17:06Z")
She made flying pigs believable. I’m so bummed there will be no more stories about Derk and his gryphon children. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ya-author-diana-wynne-jones/576076.md?page=2)