Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Oxford University Press (2000), Edition: New edition, Paperback, 284 pages
Description
When his protest against the tyrannical government fails, a young boy escapes, with two other children, to the mysterious Holy Islands where they learn the identity and the power of two folk figures celebrated by their countrymen.
User reviews
LibraryThing member MyopicBookworm
Oh, yes! Cart and Cwidder was a pleasant read, but Drowned Ammet is much more complex in both plot and characterization, and I was very impressed. This is the kind of book that puts Diana Wynne Jones in the first rank of children's fantasists. The main characters - Mitt, a teenaged urchin on the
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fringe of a brewing peasants' revolt, and the two aristocrats with whom he unexpectedly becomes tangled - are well worked out, and the way in which the characters' assumptions are questioned or even overturned is repeatedly telling. The only thing which takes a bit of work on the part of the reader is coming to terms with the character of Mitt's father, who is seen through the distorting prism of Mitt's viewpoint, as he moves from hero-worship hrough long-hatched vengeance to disillusion and identity crisis. The overlapping chronology with respect to the earlier tale, though not important, is neatly done. MB 1-ii-2010 Show Less
LibraryThing member kaionvin
Prickly, would-be bomber-assassin protagonist!
Yes, you read that right. Even in perhaps her most typical young-adult high fantasy series, Diana Wynne Jones still has her touches of subversion. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Drowned Ammet shifts the action to the port city of Holand, where young
With escape, secrets, sailing(!), the story happens to be a lot of fun. Additionally however, Drowned Ammet doesn't shy away from some hard questions for rebel Mitt: is he a fearless hero or a selfish terrorist? And although aristocrat Hilda and Ynen's journey doesn't quite have the same momentum until they inevitably collide with Mitt, the dual viewpoints* provide a much clearer look at the troubles in Dalemark than we got in the first book.
Where Cart ended merely with a question mark, Drowned ends with a question mark, the shadow of a 'to be continued', and the distinct whiff of deus ex machina-- which prevents me from endorsing it fully. In a finished series, I really appreciate closure at the end of every individual book. But it's not entirely damning to leave loose ends in the middle to be tied up at the end, so I'll reserve my judgment for when I finish up with The Spellcoats and The Crown of Dalemark.
*Mitt and Hilda's conflict-ful air don't quite measure up to Jones's benchmark (Charles and Nan from Witch Week), but they come awfully close, much to my enjoyment.
Yes, you read that right. Even in perhaps her most typical young-adult high fantasy series, Diana Wynne Jones still has her touches of subversion. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Drowned Ammet shifts the action to the port city of Holand, where young
Show More
Mitt joins the secret resistance in hope of avenging his father's death. He shares the focus with Ynen and Hilda, who as high-born grandchildren of Earl Hadd suffer less but at closer range from his dictatorial rule.With escape, secrets, sailing(!), the story happens to be a lot of fun. Additionally however, Drowned Ammet doesn't shy away from some hard questions for rebel Mitt: is he a fearless hero or a selfish terrorist? And although aristocrat Hilda and Ynen's journey doesn't quite have the same momentum until they inevitably collide with Mitt, the dual viewpoints* provide a much clearer look at the troubles in Dalemark than we got in the first book.
Where Cart ended merely with a question mark, Drowned ends with a question mark, the shadow of a 'to be continued', and the distinct whiff of deus ex machina-- which prevents me from endorsing it fully. In a finished series, I really appreciate closure at the end of every individual book. But it's not entirely damning to leave loose ends in the middle to be tied up at the end, so I'll reserve my judgment for when I finish up with The Spellcoats and The Crown of Dalemark.
*Mitt and Hilda's conflict-ful air don't quite measure up to Jones's benchmark (Charles and Nan from Witch Week), but they come awfully close, much to my enjoyment.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
It's an interesting look at the attraction of bucking the system and the consequences of doing it. While Mitt is young, he's also ambitious and society is constructed in such a way as to keep him down, all he can do is try to fight the system that is around him and he gets sucked into violence.
It's
It's
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an interesting story, mostly about how easy it is to pull a trigger but much harder to deal with the aftermath. The ripples from what Mitt does cascade from him and his life will never be the same again. It's subtle and the magic is minimal but it's an interesting read. Show Less
LibraryThing member librisissimo
Substance: A very odd, but deep, story of children and how they are molded by their parents, and how they escape.
Style: A bit different from her usual style, more somber.
Style: A bit different from her usual style, more somber.
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Takes place at the same time as the previous novel, but with different characters.
In South Dalemark, after their landlord conspires to throw his family off their farm, a boy named Mitt must struggle to fit into town life, as his mother works hard (but uses her money spendthrift-ly) and his father
When the political group is betrayed, Mitt, with the encouragement of his mother, devotes himself to becoming a double agent – involved with his father's group, but secretly bent on betraying those inside the group that he believes sold out his father. His allegiances are difficult, as one of those men treats him like a son, and in addition, his stepfather seems to offer him a respectable, straight-and-narrow path. But Mitt is obsessed with his plan to blow up the Earl during the festival of Ammet and to blame his radical compatriots for the crime.
But nothing turns out quite the way he planned, and Mitt finds himself on a sea voyage with two rich kids, and with the involvement of two pagan/folk-type supernatural figures, Ammett himself and the fertility goddess(?) Libby Beer, Mitt will have to grow, face some truths, and make some hard decisions about his path.
In South Dalemark, after their landlord conspires to throw his family off their farm, a boy named Mitt must struggle to fit into town life, as his mother works hard (but uses her money spendthrift-ly) and his father
Show More
gets involved in an illegal revolutionary movement.When the political group is betrayed, Mitt, with the encouragement of his mother, devotes himself to becoming a double agent – involved with his father's group, but secretly bent on betraying those inside the group that he believes sold out his father. His allegiances are difficult, as one of those men treats him like a son, and in addition, his stepfather seems to offer him a respectable, straight-and-narrow path. But Mitt is obsessed with his plan to blow up the Earl during the festival of Ammet and to blame his radical compatriots for the crime.
But nothing turns out quite the way he planned, and Mitt finds himself on a sea voyage with two rich kids, and with the involvement of two pagan/folk-type supernatural figures, Ammett himself and the fertility goddess(?) Libby Beer, Mitt will have to grow, face some truths, and make some hard decisions about his path.
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LibraryThing member flemmily
Every time I start to re-read this, I think that it is my least favorite book of the quartet. But by the time I get to the end, it's almost the best one. I think part of the problem is that Hildy is such a whiny, spoiled character, and Mitt doesn't really come into his own until the very last part.
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When reading the series in order, it's a bit of a jog from Cart and Cwidder, and I spend a lot of time trying to fit this world in with that one and not quite succeeding. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ilirwen
I'm afraid I didn't like this book quite as much as DWJ:s other books. It's well written, but not really my thing.
LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson
The myths of "Drowned Ammett" and "Libby Beer" are artfully resurrected in this tale of Freedom Fighters and evil rulers in South Dalemark. The plot is fairly convoluted; however, DWJ writes* that children make the leaps her books require much more easily than adults do. Re-reading was
*Reflections on the Magic of Writing
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easier!*Reflections on the Magic of Writing
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LibraryThing member ashleytylerjohn
Ouch. For Diana Wynne Jones to rate a 3 from me, that's rare. I liked some of it, I disliked much of it, she's a wonderful writer, but the plot and the pacing frustrated me. I'm also much more of a "let's have tea with the vicar" kind of person, and less of a "let's throw a bomb at the despot" kind
The bits from the point of view of Hildy seemed much more interesting to me, but ultimately she didn't seem to matter and her plot line faded away. The resolution was sudden, strange, and disappointing.
Really, it's only because she's such a good writer (her sentences are lively, simple, and interesting all at the same time) that this didn't descend to the 2 star level. And there are moments of joy, but they are few and far between. I read in a review this was an "early" book of hers, but it was published the same year as Charmed Life, which is a masterpiece, so I won't let her off the hook for inexperience.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
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of person. Rebels plotting to overthrow the ruler? Boring. And so, so much of the book was about this, and I wanted to shake the main character, and (as far as I can tell from later events) Ms. Jones wants us to want to to shake the main character, but it could have been dealt with in a single chapter, not a third of the book. The bits from the point of view of Hildy seemed much more interesting to me, but ultimately she didn't seem to matter and her plot line faded away. The resolution was sudden, strange, and disappointing.
Really, it's only because she's such a good writer (her sentences are lively, simple, and interesting all at the same time) that this didn't descend to the 2 star level. And there are moments of joy, but they are few and far between. I read in a review this was an "early" book of hers, but it was published the same year as Charmed Life, which is a masterpiece, so I won't let her off the hook for inexperience.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1977
Physical description
284 p.; 8.4 inches
ISBN
0192718339 / 9780192718334
Local notes
Mitt joins a band of Freedom Fighters in a bid to try and crush the tyrranical ruler of Holand, and at the same time, to get revenge on the people who killed his father.