The Islands of Chaldea

Aileen is the niece of a Wise Woman of Skarr, but she hasn't shown any sign of her power yet. When the King of Skarr and the High King of the islands sends Aileen, her Aunt Beck, Prince Ivar of Skarr, and Ogo nicknamed "the Ogre from Logra" out to fulfill a prophecy - that with a Wise Woman and a

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man from each of the islands of Chaldea the barrier around Logra would be lifted - Aileen has to come into her own to see the task through.

This was Diana Wynne Jones' unfinished manuscript, completed by her sister Ursula (an author in her own right) after Diana's death. Though it's younger and less complex than my favorite DWJ books, it's inventive, imaginative and fun fantasy. The writing and editing process was extremely well done, as I found no seam between where one author stopped and the other picked up.

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Aileen lives with her Aunt Beck, the Wise Woman of Skarr. Some day, Aileen will be a Wise Woman, too, but at the moment she's feeling pretty dubious about that, since she just failed her Initiation. But she must put her self-doubt aside when she and her Aunt Beck are summoned by the king -- and not

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just the king of Skarr, but the High King over all of the islands of Chaldea. Years ago, the neighboring island kingdom of Logra cast a powerful curse that created a barrier to prevent anyone from traveling from the islands of Chaldea to Logra. Since the Chaldean islands depend on trade with Logra, this has had a dreadful impact on the economy. Worse, the Lograns have the son of the High King as a captive Now a prophecy has come to light, saying that a Wise Woman of Skarr must travel to Logra by way of the other islands, accompanied by a man from each island, and thence enter Logra. Aunt Beck sets little store by this prophecy, but the High King insists, so Beck and Aileen set out, accompanied by Prince Ivar of Skarr and his servant Ogo. Along the way, they are joined by a magical cat, a prophetic parrot, a monk, a lizard, and some of Aileen's distant relatives on her father's side. The journey is arduous, but it will be worth it if they can break the curse. Of course, when they get to Logra, they discover that nothing is as straightforward as it originally seemed, and Aileen will have a more significant role to play than she ever expected.

What can I say? It's a new Diana Wynne Jones when I thought there would never be another new Diana Wynne Jones, and I honestly can't tell where DWJ's manuscript left off and Ursula Jones' writing begins. Fellow fans of DWJ's quirky brand of fantasy should be sure to pick this one up.

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Diana Wynne Jones died recently and left a half-finished novel entitled The Islands of Chaldea. Her sister Ursula took on the task of completing it. From what Ursula says in her Afterword this was not a trivial task. Her older sister used to write without making any notes, so the manuscript just

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stops. Ursula had to decide for herself what the ending would be.

We don't know the precise point at which she took over and she has done a good enough job that you can't be sure just where that point is. In fact, I'd have believed anyone who told me that Diana had written the whole thing.

The Islands of Chaldea is one of her 'road trip' books like Cart and Cwidder. The central character, Aileen, is an apprentice Wise Woman, convinced she will never be any good. She is sent on a mission to rescue a prince and bring down a magical barrier which is currently cutting off the island of Logra. On the way she picks up companions, both human and magical, visiting each of the four Islands.

It is classic Diana Wynne Jones, entertaining, just slightly fey and the pages keep turning. Nothing too profound about it but a jolly good read. Congratulations Ursula on a good job done.

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The different authors showed mainly in the weak ending of the story, and in the reflections the narrator begins engaging in 2/3 through the story.
Otherwise it is a classical Diana Wynne Jones story, with magic, an interesting worldbuilding based on the british Islands, strong female characters and

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a quest. This is Aileens coming of age story.

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The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones (completed by Ursula Jones) tells of four islands and the journey to unite them.

Aileen is supposed to be a Wise Woman, but nothing happens the night she is to be initiated. Upon morning, she and her Aunt Beck are summoned to the King. She, Aunt Beck, Ogo,

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and Prince Ivar are to take down the barrier over Logra, the only island they cannot get to. This magical barrier allows spies from Logra to enter the other islands, but the islanders of the three cannot enter Logra. They are to take the barrier down and rescue the prince who was kidnapped years ago. This order seems impossible. They must travel to the other three islands and take one person from each island with them. Aunt Beck thinks everything is rather strange but has no choice but to take Aileen and attempt this journey.

As soon as the journey commences, they discover that instead of money, the King and Queen gave them a pouch of rocks. All but Prince Ivar figure out that the King and Queen don't expect any of them to return. This is a mission that is supposed to fail. Aileen depends on Aunt Beck and his wisdom, but Aileen must come into her Wisdom or they cannot win. As they journey from island to island, they pick up a magical, invisible cat, a priest with a talking, knowledgeable parrot, and eventually a cousin with a lizard. They must come together for the final battle to free Logra and unite the islands.

This novel is a nice fantasy reading experience. Aileen is a typical teen and Aunt Beck is rather amusing with her pride. You'll like the ragtag group and be surprised as to what is happening on Logra. The end has a very nice battle scene.

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I love DWJ, and I'm sad that w lost her. So I really wish this last book of hers was up there with her others. It's really probably a 3.5...I'm afraid that, while I enjoyed it while I was reading it, I pretty much immediately forgot the plot. I will have to reread it at some point and see what I

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think then.

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This is DWJ's last book, started by DWJ but finished by her sister Ursula Jones. It wasn't too bad. Bittersweet because it was her last book. It felt a bit wrong when I started reading it. I think it's the characters from Skarr I wasn't particularly fond of. However, once they met the big lone cat

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- Plug-Ugly - and met other more colourful characters, very typical of DWJ's worlds I got into it a lot more. It's still not one of the best DWJ books, but Ursula did a great job to finish it despite no notes to work from. I couldn't tell where DWJ left off and Usula continued the story

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Despite being finished by someone else, it reads like pure Diana Wynne Jones, albeit minor DWJ.

Aileen has just failed her initiation as a Wise Woman of Skarr when a message comes from the king--the Wise Women are needed for an important mission. She and her aunt Breq (who she holds quite in awe) go adventuring with two young lads to save a lost prince and reunite the islands of Chaldea.

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Along the way Aileen discovers new sides to her traveling companions and new strength within herself.

This is a sweet and imaginative tale, but written for too youthful of an audience for me to really love it. I did really enjoy the way the magic is written.

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Not bad, and I'm glad it got finished and published...but it kind of fell flat for me. It doesn't have the richness of DWJ's usual stories; I'm afraid Ursula didn't quite get it right. Interesting world, not quite Celtic; Aileen is OK, but a little dense. Ogo too. Prince Ivar is conveniently

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annoying - he starts off OK and quickly degenerates. Plug-Ugly is the most interesting character in the book, to me. And the fact that all of them forgot what the prophecy was when they actually had the chance to get to Logra, is a demonstration of their denseness, or else author fiat (which makes it not so well-written). It really didn't work for me. I may try reading it again at some point, but right now it doesn't appeal.

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3½*** for the character of Aileen. No more than 3½*** because of the deus ex machina ending.

A sad read, knowing that there won't be any more Diana Wynne Jones books to look forward to. I think Ursula Jones did a tremendous job finishing the novel and her afterword on the process was perhaps the most interesting part of the book. Not that the story was bad; I enjoyed it.

This is Diana Wynne Jones' last book, finished by her sister Ursula after Diana's death. It was a light, pleasant, fairly generic fantasy: four islands, different from each other and always at war; children with mysterious destinies; magical beasts in the form of pets; a main character who has to

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learn to trust her own magic. None of the particulars of setting or character lifted it above those tropes for me. I wouldn't have bothered finishing it if it weren't by DWJ, and I suspect I won't remember it very well a month from now. Kids who like British (or British-style) fantasy like Half Magic or Tuesdays at the Castle will find this slots in nicely.

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Solid lightweight Diana Wynne Jones YA fantasy. Completed posthumously by one of her sisters. The plot is the usual budding rom-com with magic, but as usual it's the delights of the world and characters she creates that make this an enjoyable read.

Recommended.

A previously unfinished manuscript by Diana Wynne Jones chronicles the adventures of a fantastic assortment of misfits as they journey to remove a barrier that divides their world. Guardian pets! Mysterious powers! and a really excellently written adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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reader copy provided by edelweiss.

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Twelve year old Aileen and her aunt, the Wise Woman of Skarr, are unexpectedly sent out on a quest through the islands of Chaldea. Their goal is to find a way to bring down the barrier which separates Logra from the rest of the islands and rescue those who have been trapped behind it.

This has lots

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of Jones trademarks. A strong sense of place. Animals with strong personalities who are important to the plot. Quirky people with strong personalities. Magic that is approached intuitively, almost instinctively. An ending in which the pieces come together in a great and not-always-completely-clear rush.
As an adventure of a band of characters travelling across a pseudo-Medieval fantasy landscape, it's straightforward. As a mystery, it twists into something that's not so straightforward. As a coming-of-age story about a 12 year old, it's absolutely delightful. I love Aileen's voice and seeing the islands of Chaldea through her eyes. I love the way she comes into her own - comes into an understanding of her own worth and her own abilities.

There are two, very small things I'd change about the ending, if I was granted that magical power: something I would add and something I would take away. But that aside, I thought it was charming, whimsical and satisfying. It feels sparser than some of other novels, which makes me wonder if she had intended to add in more details on a subsequent draft, but it is also possibly an intentional choice. (There's a great range in Jones' novels in terms of narrative complexity and target audience, after all.)

I really like the cover, too.

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I finally got around to reading Jones' last novel—luckily I haven't gotten all the way through her backlist, so I still have many wonderful books to look forward to.

Aileen's strong narrative voice was the highlight of this book. Despite her insecurities, she's an extremely self-confident

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twelve-year-old, which is somewhat rare in children's literature and makes for a witty, engaging narrator.

I also enjoyed the worldbuilding, which captured the feel of medieval Britain and Ireland much more accurately than most Celtic-inspired fantasy. The humor ranged from silly to satirical, including some jabs at Scottish and Welsh Protestantism that, again, grounded the setting in authentic British culture.

Ursula Jones did a heroic job completing the book, especially since (as I learned from the afterword), Diana left no notes. I have no idea where she left off, but Ursula masters Aileen's voice completely and her ending is very satisfying. I will say that during the last 20–30 pages, I could sort of tell the author had changed, but only because I've read so many of DWJ's books and the off-kilter, explosive alchemy of a Diana Wynne Jones ending is not to be replicated by mere mortals.

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