Power of Three, by Diana Wynne Jones; MagicQuest

[rachelmanija]

This might have been the first book I ever read by Diana Wynne Jones.

I know that the edition I read, and still own, was from the MagicQuest line, which was much better than it sounds, a line of fantasy novels for children and teenagers, not connected to each other and selected for quality. Jane Yolen had a rather minor novel, The Magic Three of Solatia; Peter Dickinson had Tulku (I have never really enjoyed Dickinson, though I respect his craft and ambition), and Jones also had The Magicians of Caprona, a wacky, surrealistic retelling of Romeo and Juliet in an alternate Italy, with Punch and Judy playing a major role. Probably the best book in the line - and it was an excellent line - was Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard.

Did anyone else read these? I have always been curious about Paul Fisher, whose novels were somewhat standard fantasy made notable by intense, dreamlike atmosphere. I have never seen his name anywhere else.

The Power of Three uses a number of standard elements of fantasy - magic Gifts, shapeshifting, curses, elves (sort of), giants (very sort of) - but gives them a whole series of unique twists. It also has one of the very few prologues which is actually worth reading, in which a girl (who later becomes the mother of the protagonists) watches in horror as her brother kills a shapeshifter boy to get his golden collar. It comes with a curse...

When the main story picks up, about fifteen years later, it's from the point of view of Gair, the oldest child of three and the only one without a magic Gift. He's from one of the three cultures living on the moor, all of which simply call themselves people. His people sometimes have magic gifts, but otherwise their strangeness is slipped in piecemeal. I remember reading it and only very slowly realizing that no, Gair's people are not just magical people, they're not what I would call humans. This is very, very well-done, and his culture is convincingly and fascinatingly odd.

The other people are what Gair's folk call Dorigs, who live underwater and shapeshift, and Giants, who are... us. All three are on a collision course, if not outright at war, but begin meeting and interacting with each other halfway through. (Warning: One of the human characters, who turns out to be quite likable and heroic, is fat, unhappy about being fat, and has others thinking that being fat is unattractive.) The lessons they learn are unsurprising but, again, well-done and with unexpected details.

A plot description doesn't capture the atmosphere of the book, which is alternately mythic, magical, and down to earth and funny. It's not one of Jones's best books, but it's well worth reading. I'm very fond of it.

Feel free to put spoilers in comments.

Power of Three

Comments

[coffeeandink]

I loved the same MagicQuest books you did, as well as the other Elizabeth Marie Pope included and McKillip's The Throme of the Errill of Sherrill. I am pretty sure the line was edited by Terri Windling, which explained a lot when I learned it.

[ironed_orchid]

I loved the realization that Gair's people are not human. For me the confirmation was the bees.

[anime_babble]

This is one of my favorite DWJ's books. I remember buying this one vividly, or not buying it rather. I think I must have been between 10-11 years old, and had a huge stack of books I picked out during a rare trip to the huge bookstore downtown (yes, I'm old enough that big box bookstores were rare in my childhood). This was the only copy of Power of Three in the store, but the cover was becoming unglued the pages (still bound together) were falling out of the cover piece. The manager let me have it for free.

I think my favorite thing was the slow realization that the Giants were humans.

[skygiants]

This is one of a very few Diana Wynne Jones books that I could never seem to find as a kid, which makes it one of the very few that I've only read once, and don't remember well at all. It is therefore on my list to reread several more times until it sticks in the back of my head as well as the rest of them have.

(Also, Elizabeth Marie Pope's books are among my favorites, and I think I did read them in the MagicQuest editions, but unfortunately I never worked out the connection between book and publishing house well enough as a kid to seek out others in the line.)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I only noticed because they were all shelved together in the library spin racks.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check out Perilous Gard. MagicQuest was indeed a lot better than you'd think from the terribly cheesy name and graphics, and I also remember those Paul Fisher books.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I bought all of these as they came out. I don't think there was a single one in the line that I didn't like, and a few I reread several times.

ETA: I don't remember the stories, but I deeply remember Fisher's covers!

[sovay]

Did anyone else read these?

Absolutely. They were also responsible for the original version of Patricia Wrede's Talking to Dragons (1985), Patricia McKillip's The Throme of the Erril of Sherril and The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath (1984), and something very odd by Delia Hubby called Time Piper (1984). They were all around the house when I was growing up.

Probably the best book in the line - and it was an excellent line - was Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard.

Also the only edition of Pope's The Sherwood Ring (1974) I've ever seen; I had a copy once before I lent it.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

The Sherwood Ring was the only one I could never find, though I did read a different edition later.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I don't remember ever seeing the MagicQuest line. Since it started when I was 15, it's possible it got shelved exclusively in the children's sections where I lived, which I wasn't in the habit of looking in at that point.

I remember the way the information about the world was presented in Power of Three. As you say, it is very well-done. However, I don't remember much else at this point. Stupid memory.

If you care to say which Jones book you will read next, I for one will undertake to re-read it (assuming I have it available) so I have something vaguely intelligent to add. :)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Probably Witch Week.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I've only read the Chrestomanci books once, so I am certainly up for that.

I re-read Fire and Hemlock earlier this week. I still don't quite get the ending. :)

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I wrote an essay on said ending the other day. (http://rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com/406003.html) Don't know how helpful it would be, but maybe.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

That did make things clearer - thanks!

I will admit that I was hoping that what I was missing was a bit... simpler, I guess. Maybe I would have understood everything better had I read the book as a child, but it kind of makes me feel old and slow. :)

I also am still not sure I really get how they get around Laurel at the end. I think it might make more emotional sense to me if they couldn't.

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

I loved the bit where Gair finds out that his father's heroics were basically 'going around talking to people' and being a bit bummed - until he finds out just how useful and difficult talking to people can be. A lot of the book feels like 'diplomacy is cool!' to me.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the others, but I adored The Perilous Gard and still loved it when I reread it as an adult.

[eredien]

Was "The Seventh Swan" a Magic Quest book? I read that over and over in 5th grade, and thought it was brilliant. Ended up getting a copy a few years ago, and really hated it. :(

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was very fond of this one, too. Mysteriously developed a bit of a crush on Hafny.