Title: Hexwood
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publication date: 1993
Book's setting: 1993
Random facts: Dedicated to the great Neil Gaiman.
Plot summary: A bedridden teenager, an android, a boy made blood, Mordian the Servant, Reigner Two, Vierran of House Guarantee, and the sprawling Bannus. Picture this: Earth is unknowingly being ruled by an intergalactic government. Something is wrong in Earth's Sector Controller so the Reigners send down Mordian to control the Bannus (a sort of energy field that can think for itself, changes, and grows constantly.) At the same time the novel follows the adventures of Ann, a young girl who literally has the Bannus in her backyard.
Favorite aspects: I was 187 pages in before I understood what the hell I was reading. Wait no. That's being too soft on myself. To be really honest I didn't understand the book until I was done with it... and read the last hundred pages twice. But that is Diana for you- it's why I read her books, it's why everything she writes is so fascinating. Ann was spectacular heroine. I think that she is very easy to identify with and also possesses a sort of independence and confidence that a lot of girls wish they had. But what was best about the book was it's portrayal of time. I mean, talk about timey-wimey! Think Doctor Who meets Inception. Characters like Anne had "fixed" timelines and crossed over others' in the wrong order. Characters like Yam were unaffected by the backwards timeline of the Bannus. The story had layers and layers of narrative, some of them more close to the ultimate truth of the book than others. It was told out of order and from the point of view of incredibly unreliable sources. It made you think.
Least favorite aspects: I didn't know what I was getting myself into with Hexwood. Most of the time I spend reading it I was pretty sure I didn't like it. I was just being impatient. Diana doesn't make things easy on her reader. She never does. If you don't want to have to read every single word with care, and some words twice with care, then it's not the book for you. I found the payoff to be well worth the time and effort it took me to read it, but I would totally understand someone who really disliked Hexwood, or even didn't understand it. My brain is wired to deal with weird sci-fi scenarios. I enjoy trying to decode impossible time-travel stories. However Hexwood is not for your average fantasy or science fiction fan. I think you should be very familiar with the style of Diana Wynne Jones before you read it. It was everything bizarre that Diana is capable of in one novel.
Other works it reminded me of: Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones; Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
Sadie's merciless break-down: Diana Wynne Jones died about a month ago. I read Neil's memoriam on his blog and he mentioned that she'd dedicated Hexwood to him. So I had to read it. I just don't cry often but I cried when Diana died. (And also because Neil is such a perfect writer that anything he says can manage to bring tears to my eyes. I've sniffled my way through everything of his. His novels, his short stories, his poems, his blog posts, his twitter. It's embarrassing.)
But back to Diana. She does these weird things with plot that really should never be done, ever. She breaks every rule. Publisher Weekly said Hexwood had a "muddled narrative and confusing finale." This whole ridiculous book shouldn't have worked. But Diana Wynne Jones gets away with it with ease. It held every hysterical cheap trick up her sleeve... and the entire story was built on this insanity. Yet it made sense in the end.
I think one thing that lets Diana get away with what she writes is that she knows what she's doing. Have you ever read a mystery and been pretty sure that the author was making it up as they went along? Have you ever read a fantasy and noticed that the author really didn't know much about their world after all? Diana can get away with being muddled and unorthodox because she has no plot-holes. She knows her entire universe like the back of her hand and she has a fantastic well-formed plot in her head and you can sense that while reading. Even if you can't puzzle anything out while reading a book of hers it's obvious that Diana does know what she's doing... so you stick with her. Sometimes you have to read the climax twice or three times or more. Sometimes you never understand what in the world happened. But if you don't understand it's not because Diana didn't. It's because your brain is limited and hers just isn't.
Recommendation rate: It's challenging. I mean, not often would I say that about a book other then like, The Canterbury Tales, but this was a challenging book. If you're ready to spend 400 pages in the dark before a muddled resolution then have at it!
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publication date: 1993
Book's setting: 1993
Random facts: Dedicated to the great Neil Gaiman.
Plot summary: A bedridden teenager, an android, a boy made blood, Mordian the Servant, Reigner Two, Vierran of House Guarantee, and the sprawling Bannus. Picture this: Earth is unknowingly being ruled by an intergalactic government. Something is wrong in Earth's Sector Controller so the Reigners send down Mordian to control the Bannus (a sort of energy field that can think for itself, changes, and grows constantly.) At the same time the novel follows the adventures of Ann, a young girl who literally has the Bannus in her backyard.
Favorite aspects: I was 187 pages in before I understood what the hell I was reading. Wait no. That's being too soft on myself. To be really honest I didn't understand the book until I was done with it... and read the last hundred pages twice. But that is Diana for you- it's why I read her books, it's why everything she writes is so fascinating. Ann was spectacular heroine. I think that she is very easy to identify with and also possesses a sort of independence and confidence that a lot of girls wish they had. But what was best about the book was it's portrayal of time. I mean, talk about timey-wimey! Think Doctor Who meets Inception. Characters like Anne had "fixed" timelines and crossed over others' in the wrong order. Characters like Yam were unaffected by the backwards timeline of the Bannus. The story had layers and layers of narrative, some of them more close to the ultimate truth of the book than others. It was told out of order and from the point of view of incredibly unreliable sources. It made you think.
Least favorite aspects: I didn't know what I was getting myself into with Hexwood. Most of the time I spend reading it I was pretty sure I didn't like it. I was just being impatient. Diana doesn't make things easy on her reader. She never does. If you don't want to have to read every single word with care, and some words twice with care, then it's not the book for you. I found the payoff to be well worth the time and effort it took me to read it, but I would totally understand someone who really disliked Hexwood, or even didn't understand it. My brain is wired to deal with weird sci-fi scenarios. I enjoy trying to decode impossible time-travel stories. However Hexwood is not for your average fantasy or science fiction fan. I think you should be very familiar with the style of Diana Wynne Jones before you read it. It was everything bizarre that Diana is capable of in one novel.
Other works it reminded me of: Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones; Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
Sadie's merciless break-down: Diana Wynne Jones died about a month ago. I read Neil's memoriam on his blog and he mentioned that she'd dedicated Hexwood to him. So I had to read it. I just don't cry often but I cried when Diana died. (And also because Neil is such a perfect writer that anything he says can manage to bring tears to my eyes. I've sniffled my way through everything of his. His novels, his short stories, his poems, his blog posts, his twitter. It's embarrassing.)
But back to Diana. She does these weird things with plot that really should never be done, ever. She breaks every rule. Publisher Weekly said Hexwood had a "muddled narrative and confusing finale." This whole ridiculous book shouldn't have worked. But Diana Wynne Jones gets away with it with ease. It held every hysterical cheap trick up her sleeve... and the entire story was built on this insanity. Yet it made sense in the end.
I think one thing that lets Diana get away with what she writes is that she knows what she's doing. Have you ever read a mystery and been pretty sure that the author was making it up as they went along? Have you ever read a fantasy and noticed that the author really didn't know much about their world after all? Diana can get away with being muddled and unorthodox because she has no plot-holes. She knows her entire universe like the back of her hand and she has a fantastic well-formed plot in her head and you can sense that while reading. Even if you can't puzzle anything out while reading a book of hers it's obvious that Diana does know what she's doing... so you stick with her. Sometimes you have to read the climax twice or three times or more. Sometimes you never understand what in the world happened. But if you don't understand it's not because Diana didn't. It's because your brain is limited and hers just isn't.
Recommendation rate: It's challenging. I mean, not often would I say that about a book other then like, The Canterbury Tales, but this was a challenging book. If you're ready to spend 400 pages in the dark before a muddled resolution then have at it!
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