I have been with the Court all my life, travelling with the King’s Progress.

About the Book

One of the main characters from Deep Secret, Fourteen year old Nick Mallory returns in this semi-sequel.

But the book opens with us meeting a new character, Roddy. A young page with the Kings Progress a neverending journey around the Isles of Blest.

Not long after the old Merlin dies, she and her young friend Grundo, come across a conspiracy, seemingly involving Grundo’s mother and the new Merlin, they must do all they can to uncover the truth.

But, when Roddy’s grandfather summens her for a visit, she has not choice but to go althgough she does insist on being accompanied by her young friend. During their visit they discover Roddy’s grandfather knows more about the situation than he can tell them, and although he does all he can to help, but it will be down to them both to discover all they need to know.

When the time comes to return to the progress, they discover that it has moved on and no one seems to know exactly where it is.

Meanwhile, back on earth, Nick Mallory dreams of once again visiting other worlds, but the only place he appears to be visiting is a literary convention with his father.

While there someone bumps into him and he is thrown into a dreamlike adventure where he meets the powerful wizard Romanov and embarks on a wild journey of his own. Along the way he picks up an charming elephant called Mini (and I challenge you not to love her!), and a malevolent goat named Helga.

As Roddy and Nick’s seemingly separate journeys begin to mesh they must work together in a mission to save the worlds from the upset planned by the conspiracy.

My Thoughts

Like Deep Secret before it, Diana Wynne Jones drops the reader straight into the story and trusts the reader to know what is going on, and I don’t know whether it’s just the better book or that after recently reading Deep Secret I was more familier with the style, and plot, but I enjoyed this one a whole lot more.

I really liked the character of Nick Mallory and his interactions with Roddy when they finally meet were a joy to observe. There is an obvious attraction between the two of them – Nick more outright and honest than Roddy’s denile, and I like the fact that Wynne Jones, doesn’t take the easy route and put them together romantically at the end, and just leaves the prospect there for the reader to decide what happens next.

Saying that I wouldn’t mind another return to the world, just to find out what happens next, both their prospective future  journeys whether seperate of together would be interesting to read about. 

[rating:4/5]

Other Reviews of Consider

• Fyrefly
• Books and Other Thoughts
• Fiddle-de-dee’s Not English

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