Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
Publication: Starscape (2002), Paperback, 384 pages / ISBN 0765342472
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Teen
Rating: 4.5/5
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I am well familiar with Diana Wynne Jones’ books, and she’s firmly lodged at the top of my favorite authors list. So you can imagine how excited I was to find this at the bookstore when I hadn’t been able to find anything besides the Chrestomanci series and various Howl’s Moving Castle books.
Summary from Amazon (I’m still finding summaries harder to write than reviews. Darn!):
Rupert Venables is a Magid.
It’s a Magid’s job to oversee what goes on in the vast Multiverse. Actually, Rupert is really only a junior Magid. But he’s got a king-sized problem. Rupert’s territory includes Earth and the Empire of Korfyros. When his mentor dies Rupert must find a replacement. But there are hundreds of candidates. How is he supposed to choose? And interviewing each one could take forever.
Unless…
What if he could round them all up in one place?
Simple!
When I saw that Deep Secret was written in first person, I had some doubts on how much I would end up liking it. The other DWJ first-person narrative I read was Conrad’s Fate, which I disliked (though not necessarily hated– it has Christopher Chant in it, after all, and he’s my favorite DWJ character). The plot was slow-going, and while I don’t think every book has to get a running start I do prefer books that start to pick up after the first 100 pages. Anything more than that and I tend to feel frustrated and impatient. This one didn’t really until around 200-something, but I stuck with it anyway because it’s DWJ. (I’m happy I did!)
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