Diana Wynne Jones

[dianeduane]

For those of us who work with wizards, the world is a little shadowier today.

I can't say that I knew Diana well -- except in the way that any Constant Reader of a favorite Constant Writer may, when after much reading you begin to suspect that you know some of what's going on "behind" the written word. (And you may still be pretty wrong about this: an occupational hazard). As a migrant to this side of the Bitter Water who started attending British conventions in the late 80's, naturally I knew Diana to sit down and have a drink with in the convention bar. Mostly I knew her through her connection to Peter: he had known her far longer than I (and he's blogged about that here).

When we first met I was far too junior in the field to do much except Sit in Awe of her. (No one in a British convention bar does much Standing in Awe unless there are just no seats to be had in the place.) She was always funny and kind, in a very particularly dry-Diana kind of way, and a lot more interested in the business -- and joy -- of writing than in having anyone be in awe of her.

Everybody is going to be talking, for the next while, about the Chrestomanci books and Howl's Moving Castle and all the rest of it. And with good reason. Diana was, and will remain, one of the definitive voices in YA fantasy -- a craftswoman who was doing what she bloody well wanted to do long before YA fantasy became Cool. (And she remains one of the great proofs of the axiom: Don't follow the market: do what you love to do. If you do it well enough, and long enough, the market will start following you.)

But I want to head off in a slightly different direction. From the time I met her until now, the most perfect encapsulization for me of that "tone of mind" of hers was and is in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, possibly the most excellent early-cliche-warning and trope-squashing device that the young working fantasy writer could desire. It is a pitch-perfect freeform deconstruction of the Elf Opera in particular, and of all the ways that epic fantasy can go wrong (mostly through laziness or inattention to what's been done before) in general. Diana had seen it all in her time -- the pioneers, the amateurs (in the original correct sense of the word) and those who took up fantasy writing to make a fast quid or buck. As a serious and thoughtful practitioner of the art, she was in a perfect position to comment, at length and in trenchant mode, on how to screw up fantasy... while (in her comments) being hilarious at the same time.

Our copy lives up in the bathroom off Peter's office. (I think he commandeered it because she clearly nods at him in its pages.) I can see that over the days to come I am going to be spending break time up there, snickering: the kind of tribute I'm sure Diana would prefer. Over entries like this:

Turncoats are people who change to the side of the DARK LORD in mid-Tour. This can happen to anyone except CHILDREN, Gods and the TALENTED GIRL. Turncoats are particularly dangerous because they have no REEK OF WRONGNESS. You will have got to know them as a friendly COMPANION, GOOD KING, TOUR MENTOR, etc., and you will trust them with your life / QUEST OBJECT / SECRET without suspecting that they now operate on behalf of EVIL. Such people will have been taken aside during the Tour and been blackmailed, threatened, put to the TORTURE, fed POISON, hypnotized, enchanted by a MAGIC OBJECT or simply been made an offer they couldn't refuse. After this they will be working very seriously for your downfall. But take heart. The Rule is that only one person becomes a Turncoat at a time. The Management does not allow everyone in Fantasyland to turn against you at once.

Note that the term Turncoat is never used to describe a person who leaves the cause of the Dark Lord to join yours. This is reasonable. Your side is in the right. People who join you are merely becoming converted.

See also BETRAYAL, MINIONS OF THE DARK LORD, SPIES and UNPLEASANT STRANGER.

(Snicker.)

Godspeed, Diana. You'll be missed.

(And one word to the rest of you still breathing: LAY OFF THE SMOKING. First Dave Gemmell, and Auntie Gytha, and now Diana too? How many more writers and other valuable human beings and friends of ours is this pestilent weed going to kill? ALL OF YOU CUT IT OUT RIGHT NOW.)

Comments

[eleika.livejournal.com]

Rest peacefully, Diana.

*grabs her copy of TTGTFL and reads*

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

(And one word to the rest of you still breathing: LAY OFF THE SMOKING. First Dave Gemmell, and Auntie Gytha, and now Diana too? How many more writers and other valuable human beings and friends of ours is this pestilent weed going to kill? ALL OF YOU CUT IT OUT RIGHT NOW.)

(I'm so glad you said this. I had this very reaction-- well, naming different people, of course-- but didn't say it out loud. I already hated smoking for stealing so many people I loved, and that someone else has been added to the list now just makes me LIVID about it).

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I know. I saw a T-shirt today (in a secondhand store, not being worn, thank goodness) that had the Joe Camel ad on the back of it that says "75 and still smokin'!" and it just about had me shaking with rage. My mother was 67 ...

[mrs-norris-mous.livejournal.com]

So be it.

[hrrunka]

The Tough Guide was the first of Diana's books I bought, and it was Peter Murray who brought it to my attention...

Rest in peace.

[squirrelette.livejournal.com]

This is the very first I've read about this sad news. I've only recently got to know Diana Wynne Jones' work. In that way with really good writers you form a fast bond, I do feel the loss of someone whose writing I admire. That her work will endure through current and future readers (and in that awkward way may even boost it temporarily in a newsworthy sense) gives that amazing chance for people to visit her worlds in all their beauty and complexity for years and years.

By the way, re: the smoking thing. I'm sorry there was long-term ill-health and an unkind death. But, not to be provocative, if you want to be angry about addiction then part of that is down to the person. If you want to hate all addiction and its variety of forms and promotion that is fine. Part of that is being angry at the person too though. No drug works on its own.

[deire.livejournal.com]

I...oh damn it. Some of the best stories in my life, the ones that have followed me over decades, have been hers. Would the people that we need so much please stop dying? (Terribly selfish, but I would appreciate it so.)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

The selfishness is all too understandable in this context.

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

I grew up with Diana's books and admire her work tremendously. It's time for a glass of wine, a handkerchief, and my copy of the Dalemark Quartet.

[jerel.livejournal.com]

I heard about the "Tough Guide" recently, and I said "Oh, that sounds like a great read!" but I haven't got to it yet.

May her memory be a blessing, and may her work continue to bring pleasure and inspiration to the generations.

[kayshapero]

I loved the way she followed up The Tough Guide with Dark Lord of Derkhelm, where the inhabitants of Fantasyland had to deal with The Management... :) And a sequel or two iirc, also fun. Of course I really like gryphons.

I never met her but have always loved her writing. Fungus.

[kosarin.livejournal.com]

Oh no... This is the first I'd heard of it. She is one of the few authors that I've always really wanted to meet, because she seemed like such an interesting person. I grew up with her works and am still amazed when rereading certain ones at how much more there is to get from them... She is missed.

[darksunlight.livejournal.com]

Seeing this, has hit home to me that, as a person, I haven't told the people who influenced me that they have, and those people aren't going to be around forever. It always hurts when we lose another talented soul.

So, I would just like to take a moment to say I've been reading your stories for quite some time, and they always inspired me, and brightened up my day. Thank you.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

This is how I feel, too. I'm relieved I sent a fan-email to DWJ last year, because I still haven't gotten over that I never mailed the letter I WROTE (but didn't mail) to George Harrison ten years ago.

So I should take this opportunity to point out to you, Ms. Duane, that the Young Wizards books made my list of Top 40 Favorite Books of All Time (http://rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com/216001.htm) I put together a few weeks ago-- coincidentally just one spot below Howl's Moving Castle. So, thank you!

[dagbrown.livejournal.com]

I discovered her due to a well-known movie by a famous Japanese animator. Actually, I think I'd read Howl's Moving Castle years beforehand, but it somehow didn't sink into my head. But after I saw the movie, I read the novel, and thereafter endeavoured to read as much of her writing as I could get my hands on.

I'm going to miss her, I know,

But she left a wonderful legacy behind--a legacy of fantasy written in a genre-aware fashion, where the characters know their genesis and react accordingly. In a way, Howl's Moving Castle is a kind of background reading for...well, the Young Wizards stories. She set the precedent that while magic has rules, they're not necessarily the rules you think they are. Sophia weaving suggestions into her dresses is as much within the rules of magic as Dairine banging away at her computers, even though neither of those are within the standard swords-and-sorcery oeuvre of Magic By Incantations.

But that's why I'll miss her. When she was just writing normal stories, she was excellent. When she was really stretching herself--like in, say, The Spellcoats--she was sublime. And while I respect her decision to pass away when she did (and it really was a decision) I do admit that I'm going to miss seeing new stories by her on the bookshelves a lot.

Rest in peace, Diana. Your stories will outlive you.

[serenya-loreden.livejournal.com]

I loved Howl's Moving Castle when I read it years before the movie, and her Tour Guide is seriously funny. She will be missed.

[pauamma]

I quit smoking 11 years ago. Can the cravings go away? Please?

[lysythe.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've cried this hard since, well... I can't remember anything that made me cry this hard, so basically, this is the first time I've ever cried this hard. Her books are a staple of my life; I can't imagine having coped with my tween and teen years without them.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

I loved Tough Guide To Fantasy Land. It's a pity she didn't get to write more of the Dark Lord series, it was hilarious reading something that poked so much fun at the genre.

I only met her at one Convention and she was a delight to know.

[lauowolf.livejournal.com]

oh no.

I've been hiding from the internet, emptying out my late mother-in-law's house, and only just took the first break since before the weekend.
And passed by here.
Yes, I have my own tobacco list, and now it's longer.

The Dalemark books were read aloud multiple times to my kid.
There aren't that many books that will hold up to that kind of thing.
Tolkien, Pooh.
And, btw, Duane.

I'll have to email my kid, now off at college, and break the news.