The accurate representation of authors was the greatest thing ever. Quentin was stereotypical but not so much so that he got annoying, and he was still very real and unique. He was one of my favorites. As the Autumn equinox slips away and the nights start getting longer, I find myself reaching more for comfort books; books that I know and love, that have engaging, magical storylines and bright, vibrant characters. And one of the best at that, for me, is Diana Wynne Jones. All in all, the book is okay. The story is interesting and worth reading, but it's not a fast-paced story and some might not be able to finish the book because of it. I like the fact that not once do the seven siblings get referred to as some kind of magic wielders, even though people like to simplify and categorize and I've seen them called "wizards". I like it that you don't really know who they are or where they come from. The story carefully balances realism with fantasy, and although there is some kind of magic at play (in what is otherwise a normal world), each story beat follows the previous with logic, making it relatively easy to follow the action. (Note: the book avoids the term “magic”, or anything associated with it such as “wizards”.)

Ambiguously Gay: Torquil. Has a great love for theatrical outfits (eyeliner included), shopping, and disco dancers. This trope is even more true for the TV miniseries.This seems to be one of her first books, and it really shows how much she has developed as a writer. The book, while not bad, sometimes loses it's drive and I can't really put my finger on why. Sometimes I just don't want to get things resolved or see how they could be. When some things are revealed, I would have liked the book to end, but it kept going and I didn't particularly care for the ending. I don't really feel that the Bad Guys who get dealt with in the end necessarily are the ones who should be punished. This amazing fanart. And also this by the same artist. (Note, there's some other Diana Wynne Jones artwork in there as well. Also excellent.) drugi, treći i četvrti nivo su, međutim, fantastika u stilu Dajane Vin Džouns, što će reći atipična i komplikovana za praćenje i urnebesno duhovita i istovremeno rovari po nekim solidno ozbiljnim problemima identiteta i porodične dinamike i i i. The anticipation was well worth it, too. The book starts immediately with the introduction of the Goon of the title (an oversized ogre of a man) crowding the Sykes household, which consists of the protagonist Howard, aged 13; his little sister Awful; their live-in sitter Fifi; their father Quentin, a writer; and their mother Catriona, a music teacher. Archer sent the Goon there to collect 2,000 words from Quentin, something that Archer...and Archer's brothers and sisters...believe is keeping them from ruling the world. Wait? What was that again?

In a similar fashion is Howard's escape from Erskine, running through the town causing chaos as all the other siblings give him various forms of aid. The trouble started when Howard Sykes came home from school and found the “goon” sitting in the kitchen. He said he’d been sent by Archer. But who was Archer? It had to do with the 2,000 words that Howard’s author father had failed to deliver. It soon became clear not only that Archer wanted those words, but that his wizard siblings, Hathaway, Dillian, Shine, Torquil, Erskine, and Venturus, would also go to any lengths to get them. Although each wizard ruled a section of the town, he or she was a prisoner in it. Each suspected that one of them held the secret behind the words, and that secret was the key to their freedom. Which one of them was it? The Sykes family become pawns in the wizards’ fight to win their freedom, wrest control from one another, and fan out to rule the world. Diana Wynne Jones skillfully guides the reader through a riveting, twisty plot, with satisfying surprises at every amazing turn. An exciting science fiction adventure where, happily, nothing is what it first seems to be. Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones – eBook Details Fifi reveals to Howard that she did not deliver the two thousand words as she was busy and gave them to one of Quentin's students at the college, Maisie Potter, to deliver. Howard, Awful and Fifi go to Maisie Potter's house to find out what she did with them.She tries to fob them off with excuses as to why the words were not delivered but they finally get the truth out of her: that she gave them to one of the wizard siblings, Dillian. The trio force her to take them to see Dillian. The rest of the plot is far too convoluted to briefly summarise, nor is it desirable to indicate how it may ultimately resolved; all we’re aware of is that it’s up to Howard, who dreams of designing spaceships, to investigate — with both help and obstacles from Archer’s Goon — and that the teenager is somehow key to all the mysteries.Howard gets his own bullet because he was just awesome. I liked how he was both similar and different than Blade from Dark Lord Of Derkholm? Although that revelation at the end... yeah. More about that later.

THIS IS THE BEST AND UTTERLY BRILLIANT AND MIND-BLOWINGLY UNIQUE AND I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS AND I ADORE IT AND IT'S PERFECT.This six-part children’s sci-fi comedy-thriller series was based on the fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones and won the BAFTA Award for Children’s Programmes in 1993. It’s 1983, and the Sykes family find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of squabbling siblings who plan to ‘farm’ the world; can Quentin Sykes, the father and a struggling author, stand up against the malevolent forces who besiege the family house and seek to use the power of the written word for nefarious purposes? Some of the fantastical elements remain unexplained by the end of the book, such as the origins of the mysterious siblings, but the story doesn’t feel incomplete without them; rather, I suspect that it would drag if Jones had included those details as well. I loved how everything worked. And the Goon! He was kind of great! Until you find out that he's ... not really a Goon, that is.