The Game

Diana Wynne Jones (author)

HarperCollins, UK: 2008; 200pp

ISBN: 9780007267132

Genres: adventure, fantasy,  myths/legends

Issues: family, identity

Travelling the strands of the mythosphere, Haley stumbles across many family secrets and discovers her true identity.

Hayley lives with her grandparents. Her grandmother, with her rule-based and controlling nature, thoroughly disapproves of anything slightly imaginative or creative.
If it were not for her grandfather introducing Hayley to the ‘mythosphere' and an accidental meeting with two unusual street musicians, the child's life might have continued on its incredibly boring course. But Flute and Fiddle show her how to travel the mythosphere, much to her grandmother's horror. Packed off to Ireland in disgrace, Hayley meets a clan of cousins and finds that she is not the only family member to break ‘the rules' as laid down by Uncle Jolyon.

 Why is something so wonderful and so creative forbidden? Hayley finds herself rebelling against the grey, limited world of her grandmother and embracing the mysterious, slightly dangerous world of ‘The Game' that her cousins play. Travelling the strands of the mythosphere, Haley stumbles across many family secrets and discovers her true identity. Can she free herself and many others to return to the mythosphere?

Diana Wynne Jones excels at writing entertaining fantasy adventures that are often embedded in traditional stories, myths or legends - and this is an excellent example. Gifted readers will appreciate the reinterpretation of traditional characters but recognition of their ‘real' personas is not essential to enjoyment of this delightful story.

The chaotic nature of the adventure - wonderfully bizarre leaps of narrative that nevertheless make perfect sense within the logic of the characters' world - are both stimulating and entertaining. A large cast of colourful, comic and sometimes plain crazy characters enriches a beautifully crafted piece of writing.

Highly recommended.