Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle, #2)

"It is of course a magic carpet."
Abdullah had heard that one before. He bowed over his tucked-up hands. "Many and various are the virtues said to reside in carpets," he agreed. "Which one does the poet of the sands claim for this? Does it welcome a man home to his tent? Does it bring peace to the hearth? Or maybe," he said, poking the frayed edge suggestively with one toe, "it is said never to wear out?"
"It flies," said the stranger. "It flies wherever the owner commands, oh smallest of small minds."

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Howl's Moving Castle]

I almost did it again. Twice before I've picked up a book and managed to read the whole thing before realizing it was a sequel. The first was Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson; the second was The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. This time, I almost messed up with the third book in the Howl's Moving Castle series: House of Many Ways.

I hadn't really bothered to double-check what order the books were supposed to be in and simply saw it sitting on its own on the library shelf. I got about a fourth of the way through it before I realized I was on the wrong book. At least I didn't finish it this time!

Castle in the Air is the story of young Abdullah, a carpet merchant in the city of Zanzib. When a stranger comes to his hut offering to sell him a magic flying carpet, Abdullah is admittedly wary of the merchant, but when he proves that the carpet truly does fly, Abdullah takes the deal.

That night, the carpet takes Abdullah to the night garden of a very rich man, where he meets Flower in the Night and immediately finds himself falling in love. But just when the two make plans to run away together, a djinn carries her off into the night and Abdullah is blamed for her capture. Now he has to use the carpet to find his beautiful Flower and save her from the djinn before it's too late.

This was a really interesting book. I enjoyed seeing more of the world of Howl's Moving Castle as well as getting to revisit some old friends from that book. That being said, I do feel like the beginning of this book dragged on. It wasn't anything I had to struggle through, but it did feel slower than it ought to be. Much of this is due to setting up the scene, which is entirely understandable, and the other could very easily just be because I was so eager to catch a glimpse of Sophie and Howl and see how they were doing that I had a bit of trouble enjoying Abdullah at first.

I did enjoy the novel overall and the closer you get to the end, the better it gets. I really loved the way Diana Wynne Jones went about creating this world and adding more detail than we had previously received, as well as the way she tied up all the loose ends. I definitely can't wait to start back up on the conclusion of this series.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

[Click here to see my review of book 3: House of Many Ways]

"I never said my wishes were supposed to do anyone any good," said the genie. "in fact, I swore that they would always do as much harm as possible."