Year of the Griffin
The Wizards' University is short of money. Nothing comes in from tourists any more since Mr Chesney's offworld tours have stopped. High Chancellor Querida has left Wizard Derk and his family to run the work and handsome Wizard Corkoran to run the University. Corkoran is really only interested in being the first man to walk on the moon, but he does send begging letters to the students' parents. But Wizard Derk's daughter Elda turns out to be a large golden griffin, King Luther's son is penniless, the Emperor's sister has been disowned by the senate and the dwarf, far from owning a hoard of treasure, turns out to be a runaway slave. And then the first answer arrives: in the form of assassins... The situation is definitely out of control.
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Diana Wynne Jones
Long before fantasy became mainstream, Diana Wynne Jones was quietly rewriting its rules—building magical worlds that felt both whimsical and wise, mischievous and deeply human. Her stories didn’t just sparkle with enchantment; they carried a quiet intelligence that dared young readers to think deeper, look sideways, and always expect the unexpected.
Born in London in 1934, Jones grew up amid wartime evacuations and an often-chaotic household—experiences that would later inform the strange, shifting families and fractured realities in her fiction. She studied English at Oxford under tutors like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, though she later remarked she learned more by not imitating them. Instead, she carved out her own voice: lyrical but grounded, funny but never flippant, magical yet steeped in emotional truth.
Derkholm
Derkholm consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
