Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones
Publication: Greenwillow Books (1994), Hardcover, 295 pages / ISBN 006029888X
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, YA/Teen
Rating: 4/5
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Challenges: Read Your Own Books 2009 (#15)

Okay, so, sometimes sci-fi gives me problems. If it’s heavy on the science or if the plot structure is a little different than the norm, it can take me a while to get into it. Dune, for instance, or Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom– they both gave me some trouble when I first started reading them, but I stuck with it and eventually really enjoyed myself. So too is my experience with Hexwood!

Summary from Amazon:

Strange things happen at Hexwood Farm.

From her window, Ann Stavely watches person after person disappear through the farm’s gate — and never come out again. Later, in the woods nearby, she meets a tormented sorcerer, who seems to have arisen from a centuries-long sleep. But Ann knows she saw him enter the farm just that morning. Meanwhile, time keeps shifting in the woods, where a small boy — or perhaps a teenager — has encountered a robot and a dragon. Long before the end of their adventure, the strangeness of Hexwood has spread from Earth right out to the center of the galaxy.

Hexwood starts off weird, continues to be weird, and then never really clears up the weirdness. It does get easier to understand, however, around page 50. But one of the main points of the plot is that the characters are part of a field that runs a program that runs possibilities. It’s constantly changing time (seasons, years, etc.), events, people, and so on. It can all get horrible confusing, and I’m still not sure that I entirely understand everything that happened. I’m not sure I’m supposed to, but I would have liked the book better if I did. Eventually I had to stop worrying about what was going on when and just hang on for the ride, and I made it to the end okay.

Besides the confusing bits, the plot is both exciting and horrifying. There’s some really nasty characters in here, and they’re not afraid to do nasty things. Reigner One, for instance, does genetics experiments with children of his enemies, and runs Ender’s Game-like programs to train more children into being his Servants. Skeevy skeevy skeevy! Made me feel all icky, so I was really glad when he got his comeuppance.

There were some good characters, of course, that did good things. I liked Ann and Mordion, one of the Servants, and I adored their little romance subplot. The ending scenes were really fantastic, with lots of action and revelations and tidying up and so on. For all that, though, I never entirely understood what was going on, and I don’t know if that’s a failing in myself or in the text. But then, I’ve never much liked DWJ’s sci-fi books.

(But at least I understood all of A Tale of Time City!)

There’s a LOT of different covers for this one. I might have to do a separate post just to showcase them all. In fact, I think I will!

Other reviews: The Occasional Blog of Phil Masters | Scholar’s Blog | Books Love Me!