Unexpected Magic
Collected Stories

By Diana Wynne Jones

     Diana Wynne Jones is best known as the premiere fantasy children's author of this or any day and age. Now at last she has brought together a variety of her best short stories as well as one novella in a sweet collection entitled, "Unexpected Magic". Ranging from a story she first began in 1966 to a delightful tale completed as recently as 2003, the book is a truly enchanting journey into a variety of different times and places. There are fantasy tales that make fun of their genres, like the distinctly Dungeons and Dragons inspired, "The Green Stone". There are some stories in which a person's imagination is so vivid that it can bring stories to life, as in "Nad and Dan and Quaffy" and "Enna Hittims". There are also several tales involving cats that come directly from the feline's point of view, and a story involving dogs/werewolves that will leave you in little doubt of which pet species Jones personally prefers. The book begins with a tale that doesn't contain a jot of magic or mystery in it, entitled, "The Girl Jones" (a story that turns out to be an accurate retelling of a moment in Diana Wynne Jones's personal life). And finally, at the end, we have the novella, "Everard's Ride". This particular story is an engrossing 192 page read that involves (amongst other things) knights, parallel worlds, epic battles, and some truly heinous villains. No true fan of fantasy can call themselves such without reading a little Diana Wynne Jones and no true Diana Wynne Jones fan can call themselves as such without reading, "Unexpected Magic". A joy to read.