Archer's Goon

by Diana Wynne Jones

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy

324 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 1984

About the author

Diana Wynne Jones was a celebrated British writer best known for her inventive and influential works of fantasy for children and young adults. Her stories often combined magical worlds with science fiction elements, parallel universes, and a sharp sense of humor. Among her most beloved books are Howl's Moving Castle, the Chrestomanci series, The Dalemark Quartet, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and the satirical The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Her work gained renewed attention and readership with the popularity of the Harry Potter series, to which her books have frequently been compared.

Admired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling, Jones was a major influence on the landscape of modern fantasy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, two Mythopoeic Awards, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2004, Howl's Moving Castle was adapted into an acclaimed animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, further expanding her global audience.

Jones studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She began writing professionally in the 1960s and remained active until her death in 2011. Her final novel, The Islands of Chaldea, was completed posthumously by her sister Ursula Jones.

Reviews

[Melissa McShane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have a favorite Diana Wynne Jones book; I have a cluster of five favorites and six more second-tier favorites. Of those top five, three were published consecutively, and Archer's Goon is the first of those. DWJ's sixteenth published book, Archer's Goon represents, with Howl's Moving Castle, the peak of the humorous writing that characterizes much of her 1980s period. The core is a strong, beautifully plotted story, but it's overlaid with so many funny bits that it isn't until you get to the end that you realize how complex it is.

Part of that complexity is the sheer number of important characters present in the book. Not only do we have the seven siblings who "farm" Howard's town, we also have Howard's family, their live-in student Fifi, and Shine's bully boy Ginger Hind, and all of them have well-developed, interesting, but above all unique personalities. And never once do we forget who anyone is. DWJ does this with a few well-chosen quirks, but doesn't leave it at that. Torquil, for example, is a flamboyant, exaggerated character, but then Howard sees him in a moment of quiet that reveals his deeper sadness. Howard's sister Awful bears a striking resemblance to the vicious gangster Shine. And Archer, to his credit, actually cares about Fifi. Of them all, it's Howard whose character is the least well developed (or interesting) and it turns out that even that has a reason.

But what I'm truly impressed with here is the way the plot unfolds, starting with the Goon in Howard's kitchen and proceeding through the introductions of the seven siblings. Parallel to this is the secondary plot (and I do think it's secondary despite its being the motivation for all the action) in which Howard scrambles to figure out who wants the 2000 words his father writes each month and what that person does with them. It's probably a mistake to say they run in parallel; it's more accurate to say that they are intertwined, and I think they are perfectly balanced, one plot advancing the other and then handing off the lead to be advanced in turn. In the climax to the story, both plots intersect, with Quentin Sykes's words being the device that keeps the world from being run by the megalomaniac Archer--a scene that is a true delight.

I don't know how many times I've read this book, but it never bores me. I think some of this is that DWJ embeds so much potential in it, not for a sequel, but for the future growth of her characters. In the scene where Howard and Awful struggle into the future, each passes through stages of their future lives, and those futures emerge so realistically from the people they are in the book that I have no trouble believing that they will go on, after the last page, to grow up and conquer the world (or not) in their own ways.

[nastya · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is how Neil Gaiman describes this one:
The last book you’ve chosen for comfort reading is Archer’s Goon.

Diana’s Archer’s Goon is set in a city very much like Bristol, where she lived. The father is a university professor, just as Diana’s husband Charlie was a university professor. The novel itself involves seven strange entities or demigods who are bound to this town. They cannot leave, although they want to, and they each control a specific thing that happens in the town: crime, perhaps, or technology. One of them, we learn, lives, literally, in the past. A young boy gets to the bottom of what’s going on. It’s a complicated story, as much written for adults as for kids.

This also happens to be one of his favourite books.
I love Diana Wynne Jones. I like Diana Wynne Jones. I also go "eh?.." sometimes. This is an "eh?..." book. I can see why Neil Gaiman would love a book about 7 demigods who live amongst us and control different spheres of people's life, the theme that keeps popping up throughout his works. But honestly, this book is a bit too much, when the plot went into high gear I just wanted a second of peace and quiet. Suffice to say, it's very complicated. And a bit silly. But also very inventive, Jones doesn't cuddle her kid audience, she knows they can take it!

This is also Jones of the 80s, my favourite decade of hers, not the mellow and a bit obsessed with domesticity Jones of the aughts, but Jones who is full of energy and ideas. And scenes that couldn't be written today in children's literature, like for example a 10 year old getting drunk and having a grand hangover the next day.

Fascinating book but not my favourite of hers.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archer's Goon is a mysterious large man who shows up one day in Howard Sykes's kitchen, refusing to leave until Howard's father Quentin delivers the two thousand words he owes. When Quentin won't deliver, the Sykes family finds out that their town is run by seven competing siblings who are wizards - and one of them needs those words.

Jones's plots are always mysterious, and I think Archer's Goon is up there with her most bizarre. But she does a wonderful job keeping the mystery intriguing right up through the end of the book, as Howard and his sister Awful try desperately to figure out what's going on before the seven siblings drive them all to distraction or worse.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very pleased to finally share one of my favorites with my kids! As a writer, the idea of beating writers' block by turning in two thousand words about anything is pleasing and reassuring to me. As a parent, seeing the way the parents deal with their children and the chaos around them is also pleasing and reassuring, and I had forgotten how much sly humor there is about the parents. And it holds up well for children, too. My kids loved it, though (since we read it aloud over a month's time) I did have to stop occasionally and remind them what had been happening and etc.

[Tijana]

Umesto uvoda sledeće: negde na trećini knjige palo mi je na pamet da proverim kako je prevođen naslov romana i da li bi bilo adekvatno rešenje "Arčerov siledžija" ili ima neko bolje. Gudrids kaže da ruski odnosno nemački prevodi naslova glase "Zamka za čarobnjake" odnosno "Tajna sedmog čarobnjaka".
:'(
Oba naslova su istovremeno spojlerična i zavode na pogrešan trag, što je stvarno redak uspeh. Jer dečja knjiga sa "čarobnjacima" u naslovu nekako priziva livadice i zamkove i bradate čike sa šiljatim šeširima. A Archer's Goon je zapravo vrlo realističan prikaz života u Britaniji za vreme Margaret Tačer. Čitav jedan nivo knjige (mada bi mi on verovatno promakao sa 10-15 godina) jeste vapaj protiv Tačerkine ekonomske politike.
Čitav 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.
Sam početak romana, prvih recimo pet-šest strana (jer sve dalje od toga zalazi u teritoriju spojlera) deluje kao Harold Pinter za decu. Trinaestogodišnji junak dolazi kući iz škole i u kuhinji zatiče osobu koja se predstavlja kao "Arčerov siledžija". Osoba izgleda kao Vini Džouns, samo je trideset santimetara viši i srazmerno širi. I došao je zato što junakov otac njegovom gazdi (za koga nikad nije čuo a kamoli poslovao s njim) duguje dve hiljade. I sedeće u kuhinji dok ne dobije te dve hiljade (hint: nisu funte u pitanju).
Odatle kreće ludilo, i žao mi je da ga spojlujem, ali predlažem da neko od vas što pre pročita knjigu pa da možemo da kršimo ruke nad suludim komplikacijama i stvarima koje su namerno ostavljene nedorečene.

[Deborah O'Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREAD July 14, 2016

Rereading this aloud was so FUN. Doing the voices etc. for this crazy cast of characters was fabulous. I also loved reading it a second time because this time I actually understood what was going on, after all those mindbending plot-twists in the first reading. A.k.a. IT WAS EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME AND I DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS POSSIBLE.

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.

THAT IS ALL.

First read: November 10, 2015:

This was fabulous and mind-boggling and I adored it.

It effortlessly blends past, present, future, ordinary contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi, of which I have NEVER seen the like.

Also the characters are in a constant state of changing around in the eyes of the reader: who’s good, who’s bad, who has devious intents, WHO IS UP TO WHAT AND WHAT ON EARTH OR POSSIBLY OFF OF IT IS GOING ON??? O_O

Basically it broke my brain, mixed impossible things together extraordinarily well, had mind-blowing plot twists (SERIOUS. PLOT. TWISTS. WOW. *flail*) and was exciting and breathtaking and downright HILARIOUS!

Just. Gaaah. Let me flail.

All Diana Wynne Jones books are brilliant. I just love them so much. <3

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing can take over the world.

When even random daydreams are important signifiers you know you are in the grip of a superbly plotted extravaganzer. There is so much to admire here, and a huge cast of characters, each of whom is important, is distinctive and memorable, despite only appearing briefly in person. The story rolls along at speed without ever feeling forced.

As usual with DWJ lots of acutely observed moments, the epic hypocrisy of taking the taxpayers moral high ground when you aren't one, the tantrums that instantly subside, the delight in forgetting old quarrels, the heroic effort put in to avoiding music practise, the dreadful responsibility of looking after the youngest child, the marvellous screams of Awful and the sheer quantity of smooth lying.

Though, considering the state of the town, which isn't too bad at all, you can't really say that if the family had taken over the world it would have really been such a terrible thing.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit tricky to follow on occasion, but I liked the twists.

[Ivana Nešić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jedna od onih knjiga zbog kojih mi je žao što sam drugim knjigama dala 5 zvezdica pa ne mogu da je izdvojim
Dakle 5+
Zbog:
1. misterije koja traje od samog početka i koja je toliko misteriozna da ne znaš ni šta je to što treba da otkriješ
2. razrešenja misterije od koga ti se zavrti u glavi, šta god da očekuješ
3. likova koji su svi dobri i užasni i sve u isto vreme, kao i svi ljudi na svetu
3a. devojčice koja je tako grozan karakter da je i rođeni roditelji zovu Awful
3b. starijeg brata koji kad ga sestra zamoli da se pobije sa njenim školskim drugaricama, to i uradi i ošine ih školskom torbom bez milosti. Ja sam kao mala bila žešće razočarana kad neko od moje starije rodbine nije hteo da sažeže moje neprijatelje, a niko nikad nije hteo.

[Siv30 · Rating 4 out of 5]

ספר מקסים.

הווארד סייקס בן ה- 13 הוא נער נורמאלי המתגורר עם אביו הסופר, אימו המוזיקאית, אחותו המכונה "איומה" והבייבי סיטר בת ה- 16, פיפי.
יום אחד מגיע לביתם גבר ענק המכונה הבריון של ארצ'ר והוא נמצא שם כדי לתבוע מאביו של הווארד את החוב. בתחילה לא ברור לא לאב ולא למשפחה באיזה חוב מדובר, אבל אחרי בירורים מסתבר שקוונטין חייב לארצ'ר מאמר בן 2,000 מילים לחודש והמאמר של החוד�� לא הגיע. בתמורה המשפחה פטורה מתשלום מיסים.

אבל קוונטין מסרב לכתוב את המאמר, הוא מתעקש שהוא מסר אותו ובכלל הוא מתעקש שאחרי 13 שנים נשבר לו מהמאמרים המטופשים האלה ולכן הוא לא מתכוון לכתוב אפילו לא עוד מאמר אחד. ההתעקשות הזו שלו מביאה על המשפחה שלל צרות מגוונות: החל מחפיר של הדרך שסובבת את ביתם, עובר דרך חסימת חשבון הבנק שלהם וניתוק החשמל וכלה ברעש תזמורת בלתי פוסק לאורך כל שעות היום.

כך הבריון של ארצ'ר הופך לחלק מהמשפחה כשהוא מתלווה להווארד ול"איומה" בחקירה לאן הגיע המאמר החודשי במטרה לשחרר את המשפחה מהצרות שנופלות עליה כמו ברד ביום חורף קר במיוחד.

הסיפור משעשע והומוריסטי במהלכו האוורד מגלה דברים על משפחתו ועל עצמו. שלל דמויות מגוונות והעלילה מפתיעה.

בספויילר דוגמית משעשעת, אל תקראו את הספויילר אם אתם מתכוונים לקרוא את הספר הוא חושף קטע מהותי מהעלילה.

"עכשיו תספר לי איך אימצתם אותי." אמרה איומה.
"אני לא יכול." אמר קוונטין. "כי לא אימצנו אותך. את נולדת בדרך רגילה. אני לא יודע על מה נענשנו שקיבלנו אותך."
"זה לא הוגן! גם אני רוצה להיות מאומצת! לא מישהי רגילה ומשעממת."
"אני אמסור אותך ברצון. בעיקר אם את מתכוונת להישאר במצב רוח רע."

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day Howard and his sister Awful (you soon discover just how "awful" Anthea is and the reason for her nickname becomes evident)come home from school to find a huge goon in their kitchen. He says he was sent by Archer because Howard's dad hasn't turned in his quarterly payment of 2000 words. Just who Archer is and how 2000 words can be payment for anything turn are the beginning of a quest that take Howard and Awful on an adventure that truly is indescribable. It is a mystery that constantly shifts. Just when you think it's figured out, an entirely new dimension is revealed. It is fantasy where every detail matters. Every detail. Perhaps this preface will show just how indefinable the plot is:

This book will prove the following ten facts:
1. A Goon is a being who melts into the foreground and sticks there.
2. Pigs have wings, making them hard to catch.
3. All power corrupts, but we need electricity.
4. When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, the result is a family fight.
5. Music does not always sooth the troubled beast.
6. An Englishman's home is his castle.
7. The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
8. One black eye deserves another.
9. Space is the final frontier, and so is the sewage farm.
10. It pays to increase your word power.

And it does. Just read it.

I must add that I read this book in one day. One day. I was astounded by the fact that three-fourths of the way through, Jones did a "reveal" about a character I loved which completely ruined my previous love. I hated that betrayal. THEN, she did it again with a different character. Again, I felt betrayed.

THEN, by the end of the book, she had flipped those reveals so that I loved those characters as much as before. Simply amazing.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

...This is brilliant. And to think I was nervous about reading it, after Eight Days of Luke didn't work for me! This is very much in the vein of Eight Days of Luke, actually, but whereas I found that novel derivative, this is original and surprising and densely plotted - and it feels new and somehow grounded, because of its amazing familial interactions, even in the ridiculous lengths it eventually goes to.

Sometimes it's a bit too self-aware, particularly when Quentin is griping:

"Well, [writer's block is] a terrible condition," Quentin said plaintively. "You three are lucky not to know what it's like. You haven't a thought in your head, or if you have, you can't somehow get it down on paper, or if you do manage to put something down, it goes small and boring and doesn't lead anywhere. And you panic because you can't earn any money, and that makes it worse. It can go on for years, too -"

Howard was just thinking that he was glad he did not intend to be a writer - designing spaceships seemed much easier - when Awful interrupted. "I know," she said. "It's like when they tell me in school, 'Make a drawing of the ancient Britons,' and I can't because I'm not in a drawing mood."

Even when it feels too self-aware, the joke is expanded on, or compounded, in a way that makes it very clear from where Hilary McKay inherited some of her style.

This is hilarious, and a masterful bit of writing. Even when it merges genres. Even when it doesn't bother to explain itself.

[J C Steel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've liked this book for decades. In fact, the edition I have is old enough to still have 'mail to this address with postage enclosed' book order forms in the back.

While it was YA before YA was mainstream, the characters are perfectly plausible, there's no love triangle (can it still be YA, in that case???) :) and the atmosphere of 1980s UK is perfectly evoked.

What it does contain, which to me has always been one of the key components of YA, is an otherwise unremarkable, imperfect teen protagonist who is shocked, surprised, and rather horrified to find out that he's not ordinary after all. Self-discovery on the macro scale, if you will.

Add a dash of magic, parental embarrassment, and a rogue bagpipe band, and you have a thoroughly entertaining read for any age.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book from the library. The best part was that on the last page, someone had written neatly in pencil: "this book comes with free spider." A spider was evenly pressed between the pages. Seriously, this was the best part of the whole book.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the books of Diana Wynne Jones to be the perfect exemplars of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ - or title or plot synopsis. Fantasy can be a slog: all of that world-building becomes a steep barrier to entry. The investment pays off when you’re reading Tolkien, but hard to justify with lesser authors. But Jones, while certainly not on a par with Tolkien, immediately draws me in with compelling characters, engaging and unexpected plots, and humor. My favorites are still Howl’s Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm, but it was fun revisiting Archer’s Goon. The off-putting cover is *almost* part of its charm.

[J.M. Stengl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh! Another DWJ book. I've owned this one for a while, sort of keeping it around as something extra special to anticipate. And all that anticipation was rewarded: This story is delightful. Now I want to read it again so I can better appreciate its complexity!
Other reviewers have explained its brilliance--I won't try to repeat or compete.
Just . . . read it and enjoy!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written and published during the Reagan-Thatcher years, when it felt as though some of the world at least was taking a dangerous lurch towards an confrontational and authoritarian triumphalism, Archer’s Goon explores some of that state of affairs in what presents merely as children’s fantasy.

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?

Or is the situation more complex than at first appears, and will the Sykes’ household of parents, son, daughter and student lodger each find they have a role to play, where their decisions and actions have unexpected consequences and their relationships be revealed as contrary to appearances?

The scene is hardly set in an urban family home when the author throws in the inciting incident: a intimidating pinhead giant is sitting sprawled out in the Sykes kitchen and won’t leave until he’s given the “two thousand” due to a certain Archer. Known simply as the Goon because of his menacing persona the required payment turns out to be 2000 words from Quentin, due “every quarter day”, a task originally devised to deal with Quentin’s writer’s block which bad followed on a successful first novel. But Mr Sykes is adamant that he won’t replace the missing words with a new set, leading to the inevitable impasse.

It turns out that seven individuals, siblings all, are vying for total control of the world, having already farmed out among themselves various bits of city administration. It’s up to 13-year-old Howard, his younger sister Anthea (known as “Awful”), the mum Catriona and student Fifi (who must be a nod to the Fiona to whom the novel is dedicated) to discover how to resolve matters. And it’s urgent: the siblings have laid siege to No 10 Upper Park Road with music torture and continuous road excavations in an attempt to convince Quentin to yield up his 2000 words.

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.

There are two essential approaches to a Diana Wynne Jones novel: to go with the flow or to puzzle out the significances of what she presents, preferably in retrospect following a second or third reading. Here are some indications of the inspirations I think I’ve detected in this novel:

* Much of the action takes place in a town not too dissimilar to Bristol, the author’s home town, clues coming from (for example) street names like Corn Street, Zed Alley, Woodland Terrace, and Park Row (disguised as Upper Park Street).
* Hints as to the identities of the seven magical siblings come from the mention of sun, moon and star, and the link of Archer with Alpha Centauri, all suggesting astrological and zodiacal significances.
* Time travel is a constant theme in the author’s novels (most obviously in titles like The Time of the Ghost and A Tale of Time City) and so it proves here.
* Creative subjects, in the form of literature, music and the arts vie with science and technology, to the ultimate detriment of the latter, in philosophical terms at least.
* Fairytale elements abound, principally seven siblings (with the youngest being special) as also absent parents, and hints of other fantasies (The Hobbit, Arthurian legends), with underground sequences hinting at mythology.
* Finally, I should like to indicate how much words have an import beyond their superficial appearances, and that one should beware of McGuffins.

Above all, one should continuously refer back to the Author’s Note which holds clews to several of the strands in the novel: its ten points include helpful and memorable hints such as “Music does not always soothe the troubled breast,” “All power corrupts, but we need electricity,” and “One black eye deserves another.” And if you have problems envisaging the action, the inside and cover illustrations by Paul Hess for this edition may be of some benefit, unless you’ve already seen the BBC TV serialisation of the novel from 1992. I now look forward to a future third reading, if that’s any indication of how much fun is to be had here.

[Иван Величков · Rating 5 out of 5]

Може би най-любимата ми книга от Даян Уейн Джоунс (колебая се между нея и „Дълбоки тайни”). Авторката за съжаление не е известна в България. Имаме преведен само „Подвижният замък на Хоул” и то най-вероятно само заради прекрасната анимация на Миазаки.

Джоунс има невероятното умение да слива магичното и всекидневното, футуристичното и фантазията. Героите и са живи, а историите без така дразнещото морализиране, незнам защо типично за книгите за подрастващи напоследък.

„Бандита на Арчър” се появява в къщата на тринадесетгодишния Харолд и твърди, че бащата – Куентин, дължи два бона на господаря му. В последствие се оказва, че това са две хиляди думи, които Куентин изпраща и той не знае къде, четири пъти в годината. Когато Хауърд и Бандита тръгват по следата на изгубения ръкопис, момчето открива, че малкият му роден град се управлява от едно щуро семейство магьосници, които не могат да се измъкнат от границите му, за да завладеят света. Всички те смятат, че някой от тях седмината задържа останалите благодарение на думите на Куентин, но не знаят кой и как. Докато Хауърд разследва случая и се запознава с магьосниците, баща му е подложен под натиск поне от трима от тях. Кълбото мистерии се разплита бавно и на хлапето му се налага бързо да израстне.

Авторката много добре успява да подаде уликите на читателите си, като към средата на книгата вече имаме главни заподозрени за двете основни мистерии. Въпреки това финалните обрати успяват да те хвърлят в музиката. Книжката е образец за детска литература, поне според мен.

[robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first of Dianna Wynne Jones' books that I ever read, and I went on from there to read and reread them all, or at least all of the ones on the library shelf.

Archer's Goon is without a doubt one of the most genuinely oddball books you will ever read. Wickedly witty, is how one "real" reviewer described it. And I'll stick with that, since an actual description of the plot couldn't give you ANY idea of how good it is. It's funny, it's suspenseful, it's full of characters likeable and hate-able, sometimes both at once, It's surprising. It is utterly unpredictable.

When I finally got old enough to get a job, and earn money, and when I could afford to buy books (oh those heady days when books were bought one at a time with cash, from a neighborhood bookstore, and Amazon was only a dream), this is one of the ones I bought, I loved it enough to spend $6 out of a weekly salary of about $50, in order to actually OWN it.

And maybe that's the most meaningful thing you can say about a book.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been wanting to read Archer's Goon for quite some time, following my discovery of Jones' Chrestomanci series and generally feeling that she was my type of writer, something that hadn't been dispelled by the enjoyment of a couple of her other novels like Eight Days of Luke and Howl's Moving Castle (which, I believe, is soon to be a motion picture). But Archer's Goon had been originally published in 1984 and no one had seen fit to bring it back into print. I searched in vain at used book stores while at the same time refusing to pay for overpriced copies over the Internet.

Then J.K. Rowling happened (the analogy to a force of nature is intended), and young adult novels with magic in them have returned to the bestseller lists and the bookshelves. HarperCollins likely combed through their backlist to find this, and I'm glad they did, for it finally gave me an affordable chance to read this novel.

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?

Yes, Archer is a wizard, and so is the rest of his family. But none of them trust the others, although they've divided the town up into different areas that each of them "farm": for example, Shine controls crime, Torquil music, Dillian law and order, Erskine the sewers, and Archer controls electricity and gas. But one of them is keeping the others from branching out and controlling the world, and it has something to do with those 2,000 words that Howard's father Quentin provides every month. Unfortunately, Quentin refuses to write those words for any of those people--not wanting to help them take over the world--and the wizards begin causing all sorts of problems for the Sykes family very quickly.

The pleasure of Jones' books is how the magic is integrated as a natural part of her worlds. While the characters who aren't magicians still see the magic as surprising, they quickly come to accept and even understand it. In the context of a children's book, such ready acceptance of the irrational mirrors the arbitrary world around young people, which oftentimes seems, if not actually is, illogical: Why can't I stay out late? Why don't we ever see dad's brothers for holidays? Why don't we always let the answering machine answer the phone, even when we are here?

Archer's Goon has plenty of twists in it, as Howard and Awful learn more about the world around them, including how their parents react to each other and the two of them, not to mention the secret of the Goon. I recommend this one highly.

[aleks · Rating 5 out of 5]

at this point, I don't even know what to say, only that it might be the saddest thing about my life that there's no hope I'll ever meet Diana Wynne Jones, ever

[Valentina Markasović · Rating 4 out of 5]

whack

[Dominika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers from both a not very exciting title and pretty lame cover art. But it's a gem. Diana Wynne Jones's signature delightfully spewing plot structure and irrepressible characters kept me racing to the end. Jones can spin up a world and its inhabitants with such vim and vigor that her books are always a joy to read.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and engaging story. We get to follow Howard as he learns about the mysterious group of siblings who run the town and tries to find out who is using his father's words to keep them all trapped here. The scene at the end was great fun.

I think the author did a great job balancing all the characters and their unique qualities/abilities and the character of Awful was a hoot. Howard made a good, thoughtful protagonist.

[Punk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard Sykes comes home from school and finds his kitchen full of Goon, an enormous man with a tiny head. The Goon says that Howard's dad owes Archer his quarterly payment of 2000 words and the Goon's there to collect.

Consider this a more cheerful version of Jones' Eight Days of Luke with a hint of Gaiman's Endless thrown into the mix. Seven powerful wizards control Howard's town, and he and his family visit each of them, trying to free themselves from their meddling, eavesdropping ways. It's got a quest, fantastic events, and a strong sense of family.

I love the way Jones writes. She can put two words together and create magic: "unshaven growl"! "watching sarcastically"! When she's not creating awesome new word combinations, her writing is crisp and clear and so easy to drink down. And this might be a kids' book (my library put it under Juvenile), but I didn't feel like she was dumbing anything down.

On the contrary, the ending seems unnecessarily drastic and thoughtlessly takes out several civilians without comment. I mean, maybe Fifi didn't want to [spoiler]? It's not like anyone asked her. Also, there's an element of fat phobia, which is the second time I've noticed that from Jones; it's an unpleasant trend.

Four stars. Lots of fun, with some minor concerns.

[Jasey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If ever there is a day when I don't love one of Diana Wynne Jones' books, I shall either be ashamed of myself for losing that bit of myself that appreciates her particular humor and writing style, or I'll be disappointed that Mrs. Jones didn't quite live up to the standards of greatness that I've come to expect of her works.
As it is, her record still stands, and she's still my favorite author!

[Bernice Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book in which I was introduced to Diana Wynne Jones' seemingly haphazard, confusing, crazy but riveting storylines. It's like an amusement park ride! I actually had to re-read the story around three time to fully understand it, and it was an enjoyment every time!

[a ☕︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmmmm! very twisty and endlessly inventive, but not so much my style i suppose. i still love ‘all power corrupts, but we need electricity.’ someone wears a shirt with that line in deep secret 🧸

[Minna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Diana Wynne Jones's books and got to borrow this one from a friend. She wanted me to read it so she could have someone to talk to about it. No one else she knew had read it. It took me almost a year to pick it up.

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.

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.

Even though I didn't find the book amazing I'm sure others will. If you like Jones's other works it's worth checking out if you can find it. It reminded me very much of Charmed Life.

[Alex Sarll]

Reading David Langford's collected Critical Mass columns recently, I was startled by how many of the books I loved I'd first encountered on those reviews' original magazine publication. For some I had always remembered Langford as the vector; for many more, I did not until I encountered again the phrases which had first sold them to me. Others, I've since determined to read. And a couple sounded like things I should have read, but I genuinely couldn't remember if I had. This was the first one I investigated, and as soon as I saw that cover I remembered: of *course* I read this as a kid. It's strange that it didn't stick with me more; surely I would have identified with young Howard, who likes drawing spaceships, and whose loud younger sister always gets away with murder? But no; I'd forgotten him almost entirely, and the plot with him (even if some deep-buried memory did have me picking up the odd twist remarkably early). The architecture, though - that was what I recognised at once. A small English town divided between seven sibling demigods, each 'farming' different aspects of the place. I know Neil Gaiman likes Wynne Jones, and I wonder if these seven might have been at the back of his mind when, a few years later, he created seven Endless siblings of his own?