So, Diana Wynne Jones. (And a little bit Madeline L'Engle.)

[imagines]

[unlocked, in case you feel like reccing her work with it]

I'm not sure how to say this without it sounding very blunt: you've probably heard, if you read fantasy novels, but Diana Wynne Jones died yesterday.

Neil Gaiman wrote a lovely post about DWJ. I never noticed that Hexwood (one of my favorites) was dedicated to Gaiman. Bless. I also love

Comments

[kaberett]

Deep Secret and The Merlin Conspiracy, them both. I was so hoping for more in that series. :-(

I only started reading her work seriously - other than HMC - around December time. I am sad to have lost her already.

There's a lovely posting mentioning Deep Secret here, and Raven then wrote Deep Secret fic, too.

[candidlily]

Thank you for the recs! I went ahead and bought a copy of A Sudden Wild Magic, and added a couple of the others to my wishlist for later. I really love the genre of sci-fi/fantasy, and it seems I've been missing out!

[sleepherealone]

Did you ever read any of Madeleine L'Engle's non-fantasy books? The ones about Vicky Austin and her family are still some of my favorite books ever.

[kohl_eyed]

I. I might kill you in your sleep re: Chrestomanci, but I don't think I have the high moral ground here, seeing as I've never read Hexwood or The Homeward Bounders.

This was a fab post.

[kateanguapotter]

I'm so jealous of you, I wish I had never read the Chrestomanci books and had them to look forward to. I am distraught by this news, even though it was not a surprise. DWJ was the undisputed high empress of fantasy and I am desperately sad that I have nearly read all of her work, only a couple of books to go. :o(

Personally, when I heard she was ill I wrote her a letter letting her know what she and her writing meant to me, and how it got me through some tough times. By then she was too ill to reply, but I hope it (and a flood of similar letters) helped her through.