Honestly, I enjoyed both interpretations of the story. While both versions start out very similarly, by the end they've gone in very different directions. Even so, Sophie works her way into his household along with Michael, his apprentice, and Calcifer, the aforementioned fire demon.Because I've seen the anime adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, it makes sense that I would compare the two. Not to mention the womanizer's made some sort of pact with a fire demon. It turns out he might no be quite as bad as the rumors make him out to be, but he is rather vain and self-absorbed. Sophie's only chance at returning to normal is to seek the aid of the Wizard Howl, who is said to eat the hearts of young women. After a case of mistaken identity, it is Sophie's luck to be on the wrong side of the Witch of the Waste who puts Sophie under a spell that not only turns her into an old woman, but she's prevented from telling anyone about it, too. Additionally, she's actually a stepsister to the other two. She doesn't expect anything great or interesting to happen in her life, all the good fortune is reserved for the youngest daughter of course. It made me very happy to see so much excitement over a book that is almost three decades old it made me look forward to reading it even more.As the oldest of three sisters, Sophie Hatter is resigned to her fate. When I let people know I was finally reading Howl's Moving Castle, there was a huge outpouring of love shown for the story. I have only read one other work by Jones, her novel Hexwood, but I remember really enjoying it when I was younger. What I didn't realize was that Howl's Moving Castle is actually the first book in a series and that it is followed by Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways. My first introduction to the story was through Hayao Miyazaki's 2004 anime adaptation I enjoyed the film well enough that I wanted to read the source material. I have no idea how I completely missed reading this novel growing up. Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones was first published in 1986.

Castle in the sky diana wynne jones