Howl's Moving Castle

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book and ALA Notable and Best of the Year in Young Adult Fiction, Howl's Moving Castle is by acclaimed fantasy writer Diane Wynne Jones and was transformed into an Academy Award nominated animated motion picture by Hayao Miyazaki. On a rare venture out from her step-mother's hat shop, Sophie attracts the attention of a witch, who casts a terrible spell transforming the young girl into an old crone.

©1986 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A wonderful blend of humor, magic, and romance." ( Publishers Weekly)

Second time listening :)

The reader's accent is perfect and her character voices are wonderful. She's got a very impressive range while still having a lovely reading voice!

excellent

Great reading style. I loved the story with Howl and Sophie. I read it first last year, and wanted to revisit the delights again. I listened to it in less than 2 days. Brilliant.

A great adventure!

so many twist and turns leaving clues everywhere but never could pull the pieces together until it was revealed.

Wonderful Book

I love this book. It is so different that Miyazaki's interpretation in the movie, which makes the book a more exciting read.

Awesome!

I love Howl's Moving Castle! I really love the Studio Ghibli movies! Jenny Sterling has a really great voice! Awesome

love love love!!!!!

I loved this book! I would absolutely recomend to everyone! Cute story, characters and wonderful voice performance :).

This is my favorite story!

I love the story, the characters, the narrative. This is a great audio book to play as your falling asleep. If you are a fan of the Studio Ghibli version of Howl's Moving Castle then you will love the original story. I feel like it flushes out the characters more. It gives you a better understanding of the world they live in. This is a classic and I recommend it for children and adults.

Surprising romance hidden in young adult novel

I saw the Studio Ghibli animation based very loosely on this novel, and that is no doubt why this story was completely unexpected!

While this novel sometimes reads like a 1930s screwball comedy, in a completely proper way, it's a surprisingly sexy comedy romance between two imperfect characters. Their extended community of friends and family sometimes bump against or misunderstand each other, but still love each other as would a gentle family with good boundaries. I love this novel! It instantly put me in good mood every time I started the car, narrator Jenni Sterlin came through the Bluetooth, and in my mind I reentered the castle. After I listened to it once I had to listen to it again to pick up on what I'd missed the first time. It is just as delightful the second time through.

I read an interview of the author, she said young girls wrote and told her they want to marry Howl! I also want to marry Howl! Despite being a bit a drama queen, which he makes fun of himself for, he is keenly observant and indulgently patient. He may act as though he doesn't notice everything that is going on but don't be deceived. I dare you to NOT fall in love with him, and the other characters in this book!

Excellent and enjoyable!

Excellent narration. You are never confused about who is speaking and the narrator does male, female, and demon voices all charmingly. The story is wonderful too! Can't wait to hear what else she has written!

Loved it!

I loved the movie and found out about the book through the movie. I have to say though that the book is more enjoyable and Jenny Sterlin made me laugh and her voice made the story come to life. I recommend this to anyone that has seen the movie! You will fall even more in love with the characters in the book, both the ones mentioned in the movie and the ones only mentioned in the book. Well deserved 5 stars for both narration and novel!!