I may as well start with some of our deep secrets because this account will not be easy to understand without them.

About the Book

Why yes, I am using the publishers synopsis, because otherwise I am going to struggle to explain this one!

All over the universe, Magids are at work to maintain the balance of magic, using their own talents to push the right people into doing the right things at the right time. And on Earth, the Magids are working hard to coax the world into its rightful place Ayewards, towards magic. Rupert Venables has been the junior Magid here for only two years when his sponsor dies; it’s up to him to find a replacement. Trouble is, the most promising on his list of five names, Maree Mallory, doesn’t want anything to do with Rupert Venables. And while the junior Magid is trying to track down the other four, the fatelines are becoming dangerously entangled on more than one world and magic starts getting out of hand…

My Thoughts

Let me start by first stating, I did enjoy this one, and some of what I am about to try and explain, might come across as critisism, but  that is not my intention!

In her review of the audiobook of the semi-sequel to this book, The Merlin Conspiricy, Fyrefly, commented on the problems in following the plot, if your attentioned wandered.

Jones is a huge fan of dropping readers right into the middle of a story without much (if any) explanation, and of making readers piece together what the heck’s going on as they go. That’s fine, and probably part of what makes her books enjoyable, but it’s not a format that’s well suited to audiobook. So much is happening at such a fast pace that if your attention wanders even for two minutes (as it invariably does), you wind up irreparably lost.

I have to say that certainly counts for Deep Secret as well, and I was reading the book!

The characters seem a lot more aware of the plot and what is going on than we the reader does, and various things are never explained, and some plot points skip the introduction and drop you straight into the middle of things, and this does work for the book and against it. But one thing is for sure, this is not a book to skim read, you need to take note of every word you’re reading.

Saying that, if you can give it the attention the book deserves you will be rewarded with a fun, entertaining and multi-faceted if sometime bewildering read, I loved the humour and geekish joy at spotting some of the refrences, Wynne Jones drops in.

I’m looking forward to reading the sequel over the next week.

[rating:3.5/5]

About the Author

Diana Wynne Jones was raised in the village of Thaxted, in Essex, England. She has been a compulsive storyteller for as long as she can remember enjoying most ardently those tales dealing with witches, hobgoblins, and the like. Ms. Jones lives in Bristol, England, with her husband, a professor of English at Bristol University. They have three sons and two granddaughters.