Deep Secret

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Chris Webster, Harriet Carmichael

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A fantasy adventure about saving the universe one world at a time from Diana Wynne Jones. The companion novel to the bestselling The Merlin Conspiracy.

Magids look after all worlds, steer them towards magic, and keep history happening. But Rupert Venables’ mentor has just died, and as the junior magid on earth he has to find a replacement while also trying to find the lost heir of a collapsing empire, worlds away.

Rupert interweaves the fate lines to get all the candidates together at a sci-fi fantasy convention, and havoc ensues as they all converge on a very strange hotel, where everything is always linked, the walls keep moving, people are trying to kill him, and nothing is as it seems...a magical, epic story from the Godmother of fantasy.

©2013 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

“....Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones’s most outrageous plots to her readers’ hopes and fears....” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Diana Wynne Jones ought to be crowned with coloured garlands because she is the best writer of magical fantasy for children in this country.” ( Evening Standard)

“Diana Wynne Jones could teach Stephen King and JK Rowling a thing or two...[she] has a skill for inserting just the right amount of detail in her written words, leaving you satiated but not stuffed.” ( SFX)

I loved every bit.

I didn't think I would like it as much as Chrestomanci or Howl but I did. Looking forward to "The Merlin Conspiracy".

One of my favourites

Love this book.
I don't understand why Audible don't have an unabridged version of the sequel to match 'the Merlin Conspiracy'.

Love it

I enjoyed the book, and I am enjoying the audio version even more. Good readers,fantastic story. Two small quibbles. The spacing between chapters was uneven, sometimes long enough that I would wonder if it had turned off, and at least once so short there was barely a pause. The other was the voice for Maree wasn't deep, and given her "booming sob" was fairly important in the plot, it seemed a bit wrong. But the reader is very good, so it wasn't a major issue.

More DWJ's books, Audible!

Great story, great performance.
I must admit, at first I had to tolerate the smuggish Rupert by Chris Webster, but, after a few chapters I was so into him. The reason is that the character develops, the plot thickens and the performance masterly develops as well. Bravo! It cost me a sleepless night, though - I could not just find it in myself to turn it off until the very end.

It is a pity, there is only 4 books by DW Jones on audible at the moment. I would love to have more. Please, make it happen, Audible.

Wonderful story, compellingly read

This is one of my favourite DWJ books and my delight in it was enhanced by masterful reading. I think I may actually prefer the Audible version to actually reading! A+++

Sometimes I couldn't hear the male narrator

That's all. the book is brilliant and the interpretations were really good. I loved it