1981: The Homeward Bounders

Book Name: The Homeward Bounders

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Genre: Children's, Fantasy

Year Published: 1981

   I decided to pick this book for 1981 mainly because it was by Diana Wynne Jones, who wrote Howl's Moving Castle, which to be fair, I haven't read, but I loved the anime adaptation of it. So, basically I was intrigued about her other stories, and I'm pleased to say I wasn't disappointed.
   The Homeward Bounders has an interesting premise, which is based on the idea of multiple parallel worlds, which one can travel between using the 'Bounds'. The main characters spend the novel in an attempt to return to their home worlds, hence them being called 'Homeward Bounders'. The concept that I found particularly compelling was that everything happening in these different worlds is controlled by 'Them', in a way that is strongly reminiscent of war gaming. I don't want to go into this too much as it may spoil the storyline, but just to say that as a roleplayer and someone who has at least tried War Games, I really loved this aspect of the novel.
   Despite a relatively complex idea and setting, I found the story flowed very well and it was easy to engage with the characters, although at times I did find them a little annoying. I enjoyed exploring the different worlds alongside them and wondering whether they would be able to get home. I do wonder whether I would have gelled with it so well without my experience of war gaming and roleplaying however. Perhaps if someone unfamiliar with these concepts does read it, perhaps they could provide me with their view?
   Overall, it was a well-written story with a great concept and I think I'll definitely have to read some more of Diana Wynne Jones' works. She was definitely a very talented author, if The Homeward Bounders is anything to go by.

Books I Read Inbetween: City of Lies - Alafair Burke

1973: The Princess Bride

Book Name: The Princess Bride

Author: William Goldman

Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 1973

   The Princess Bride has been one of my favourite films since I was about 11 or 12. So, er... quite a while. The book, potentially obviously, enjoys many of the same qualities of the film: humour, action, romance, sword fighting, revenge and magic all rolled into one. Even if you haven't watched it, you may recognise the famous lines, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" It's a film that seems to be well known and well received by anyone who likes films, and so I believe this should also apply to the book. 

   The dialogue is fantastic; I even enjoyed the way the story is broken up William Goldman's discussions of how he chose to abridge the original book by S. Morgenstern. Now, hopefully this isn't really a spoiler, but I feel the need to point out that there is actually no original Morgenstern. The whole backstory is also fiction and is purely used as a framing device. If you've seen the film you'll know that it begins a grandfather reading "The Princess Bride" to his grandson. Occasionally the film is interrupted by discussions between those two, and in much the same way, the book is interrupted by William Goldman. Rather than being annoying though, I felt it added more to the book, and made it feel more alive and more interesting. 

   Coming back to the dialogue itself; I found it flowed really well, and really made the characters come alive. In particular, if you have watched the film, you might find yourself surprised by how closely the book matches it, right down to the speech. The lines in the film are exactly the same in almost all cases, and you may find yourself reading them in the actors' voices! This is largely due to the fact that William Goldman did the screenplay, meaning that the adaptation works much better than other books which have been made into films, with the most common issue being cuts to the storyline. 

   It's hard to say how much I would have enjoyed The Princess Bride if I hadn't been such a fan of the film. Usually I prefer to read a book before watching the film, but in many cases, it doesn't seem to make a difference to my enjoyment of it whichever way round I discover a story. The fact is that The Princess Bride is an excellent story, in both film and book form, and I think that although I might have found Goldman's interruptions strange and perhaps even annoying at first, that the actual story is interesting and compelling enough that I would have enjoyed reading it regardless. It also works well as a satire of a large number of genres, which means it covers most bases for all kinds of readers. I can imagine some people won't like the Morgenstern abridgement aside bit as much as I did, but please, give it a try anyway; maybe you can just skip over those bits if they're bothering you. 

   Now I realise I'm starting to ramble a bit, so please excuse me whilst I go back to pretending to be a swashbuckling pirate.

Other Books I Considered: Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Books I Read Inbetween: How to Train Your Dragon - Cressida Cowell; Ubik - Philip K. Dick; The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett