The Game (Firebird) [Hardcover]

Diana Wynne Jones has dabbled in mythologies in a modern setting before, though she usually sticks to multiverses. But she tries out a new approach in "The Game," a solid fantasy novella that dips into Greek mythology for the biggest family drama this side of Olympus.

After angering her grandmother -- she's not sure how -- Hayley finds herself being shipped off to her aunts in Ireland. Upon arriving, she finds herself swamped in dozens of family members, including quite a few cousins. Soon her cousin Harmony introduces her to The Game, where the children travel into the mythosphere (all the legends and great stories), and fetch back enchanted items.

But they have to do it in secret, lest the forbidding Uncle Jolyon learns of it. And when the children play the last round of the Game, Hayley finds herself having to fetch a golden apple from a dangerous garden -- and learns of her mysterious past, and the prophecy that has Uncle Jolyon wanting her out of the way.

Jones always comes up with the most incredible ideas -- in this case, a sort of mythological scavenger hunt, and a story that includes a bunch of minor Greek deities. In fact, it's kind of surprising that Jones didn't expand this novella into a slim book, with a few more adventures in the mythosphere and some more family antics.

The family antics and descriptions are tightly written, but Jones really hits her stride when the Game comes into play -- then we have the larger-than-life depictions of things like the Hesperides, as well as a very modern version of Hades. And the dialogue has that touch of humor, with a nod to J.R.R. Tolkien during one round of the game.

Hayley's a pretty likable kid, with a melancholy side about her missing parents and her ultra-strict grandmother. The book really flourishes when she discovers what she can transform into. And Jones sprinkles the story with a few nasties -- the bratty Tollie and dictatorial Jolyon -- as well as a bunch of minor deities, Titans and the odd celestial hunter. (One of the few plot threads that gets lost).

"The Game" is a solid little novella from Diana Wynne Jones, a mythological adventure with a likable heroine. A nice little fantasy with an unusual twist finale.

I am a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones -- at her best there is no one who writes better (easy reading) fantasy in the English language. This novella (too short to be called a novel) is not her best. She has a grand concept here (though one that is not entirely unique as a similar notion is employed in Neil Gaiman's American Gods novels): that the collective beliefs we call myths take on a life of their own, in a parallel series of realities she calls the "mythosphere." Some individuals can "slip" in and out between their mythical existence and the world we call home.

Given that premise, "The Game" seems like a rough draft of a possible opening story that would introduce such a universe. The problem is that she published it, and it appears to stand alone. On its own this novella doesn't really do justice to the grand idea behind it.

The story only hints, for example, at what might happen when mythical beings from different strands interact. It doesn't go very far in clarifying the precise relation between the "mythosphere" and "mundane existence" and doesn't explain how these realms connect -- as another reviewer mentioned: the time scales of both seem to be very different but there is no indication of how that affects the characters' experiences of "mundane" reality. It also never really fleshes out the characters and especially the main character -- except to depict her as the standard type of fantasy hero/heroine: an orphan who is raised by adults who don't understand her and fear what she can become, finally gets a chance to escape and meet others like her and discover that her destiny is great.

Part of the problem is that what Jones is trying to do is keep the true identities of the characters a mystery until the very end when we are supposed to discover who they really are, and have an aha! moment that explains why they are the way they are. But to make that work we have to really connect with the character first on mundane terms before we discover their "extra-mundane" identity -- Jones did this very well in "Dogsbody" where I really felt that she gave me a window into the inner life of a dog before showing that this was no ordinary dog. But another major part of the problem is that we didn't get a long enough or clear enough view of what it was like to enter the mythosphere -- her descriptions didn't bring this to life for me but only seemed to sketch it. This is in contrast with her wonderful Chrestomanci series where I really felt like the world she described of parallel universes and some who could move between them was a living world.

I think she could have developed this world into something as compelling and real as the Chrestomanci world, and that this would have made a nice introductory story if it were developed a bit more. Even though we only have a glimpse here of what might have been it remains an imaginative and exciting set of possibilities she allows us to glimpse, and remains worth reading for that reason.

I'm a fan of Diana Wynne Jones, but I was disappointed by this one. Hayley, the main character, joins her cousins in a game in the mythosphere. You can read about the plot in some of the other reviews. The mythosphere, a place where all the myths have some sort of physical reality, is a wonderful idea, and I hope Jones goes back to it. But in this book there's no character development and very little at risk, so the story just doesn't hook the reader. And though the book is intended for children, say 10-13, it assumes a familiarity with myth that American children, at least, will not have. There isn't even enough description--I wanted to know a lot more about the mythosphere, and about the objects the children gather there.

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