"Castle In The Air"

"Castle In The Air" is Diana Wynne Jones' sequel to "Howl's Moving Castle" which I saw as a movie version and may have also read but it has been quite some time ago so it didn't dawn on me (nor did the author let me in on this secret) that Howl and his family would be in this book, too.  They play a very important part as the end of the book nears.  There is a third book in the series, ""House of Many Ways" that I just requested from my local library.

The hero in "Castle In The Air" is a young carpet dealer named Abdullah -- a day dreamer.  His father has died and his older siblings (to his dismay) try to interfere in his life.  When he purchases a magic carpet, meets a princess he wishes to marry and discovers a genie in a bottle, his life is changed forever.  What was once sedate becomes an adventure with many interesting encounters along the way.  It took me a bit to get into this book but it has been a fun read.  pazt