The story of Sophie, the oldest daughter of a hatmaker, and what happens to her when a witch turns her into an old lady.  

Love, love, love this book! Funny and sweet and full of action. It had me on the edge of my seat... laughing. ( )

I picked this book up because of the Hayao Miyazaki anime film. Having loved the film, I expected to like the book as much or even more. But for some strange reason, that was not the case. While I certainly did like the book, it did not live up to my expectations.

Sophie the oldest daughter of a family of three girls does not expect her life to amount to much. She believes that while her sisters are supposed to go off and seek fame and fortune, she must remain home and tend the family hearth. She is an excellent hat maker and her work is admired far and wide. But one day while on an errand, she meets the wizard Howl. Howl does not have a very good reputation amongst the town folks especially the women as he is believed to steal young girls' souls. Sophie rebuffs his gestures of friendliness and refuses to engage in much conversation with him. And though she puts this encounter out of her mind, she soon finds that Howl will become an important part of her life.

One day close to closing time, a lady comes into the shop and without much provocation casts a spell on Sophie that turns her into an old lady. This woman is an enemy of Howl's and the wicked witch of the Waste. Oddly enough, this sudden descent into old age makes Sophie feel less restrained than she has ever felt in her entire life. She closes up the shop and decides that she will not be returning there but will wander the land. On this journey she meets Howl's wandering castle and takes up residence there.

This story is a sweet and interesting fairy tale that takes you on a journey. It creates so many colorful pictures in your head as you read and you want to be transplanted there so you can be a participant. Sophie as an old woman leaves most of her self pitying behind and embraces life with a gusto limited only by her arthritic limbs. Howl turns out to be a hilarious character whose sulks could sink a ship. His assistant Michael and the fireplace demon Calcifer round up the group and are themselves interesting characters.

But as interesting as I found the book, there were parts of it that I feel did not work as well. For one thing, there seemed to be many convoluted side turns that the story took into the like life of Howl that just overwhelmed the story while not adding as much to the story as the author probably intended. The story also felt very chaotic at times and I did not really enjoy those parts at all.

But all in all, I did enjoy it and will definitely read more by Wynne Jones. ( )

A fun read. Howl's Moving Castle is about a cowardly wizard, his frazzled apprentice, and a girl trapped in an old woman's body. If that doesn't grab your attention, nothing will. ( )

Wizard Howl's Castle has arrived at Market Chipping, skulking around the hills outside the town, and scaring the young girls into walking in pairs. After all, he eats the hearts of young girls.

Meanwhile Sophie, the eldest daughter of three and so destined to be a failure or lead a boring life, finds that things have got a little more complicated than she imagined, as the Witch of the Waste turns her attention onto her. Needing help, Sophie ends up in the moving castle, seeking the dreaded Howl.

This was a really fun fantasy story with layers of hilarity and humour throughout, as well as the well-realised fantasy world I have come to expect from this writer. Throw a disgruntled and moody fire demon, a nervy apprentice who is learning magic, some seven-league boots and a one-legged scarecrow into the pot and you get a fast paced and surreally funny story.

Sometimes it felt that there were perhaps too many elements within this, but then I'd get swept along into the next twists and turns of Howl's love life, or Sophie's battles to get the Castle and its inhabitants under some form of control and forget that I was slightly bewildered by what was going on.

In the end, it's discovered that no one should be taken at face value, and perhaps things aren't always as they seem, including the evil Howl himself. And if that message can be achieved with some fun and adventure along the way, who's going to complain?

A whirlwind of colour and fun in this fantasy adventure. ( )