Drowned Ammet
Watching a novelist really getting it all together is one of the great pleasures of life. This is why I so hugely enjoyed Diana Wynne Jones's [Drowned Ammet]—itself surely ranking as one of the best examples of 'sub-creation' of recent years…. [Magic] is not used arbitrarily but to further the developing insights of the main characters. Humour and near-farce intermingle with vivid danger and action; relationships and responsibilities are portrayed squarely and unsentimentally. There are echoes towards the end of [John] Masefield and [Ursula K.] Le Guin—nevertheless, the whole brew is unique. It is a story which illustrates perfectly Jill Paton Walsh's image of 'the rainbow surface'—for here indeed is a brilliant outside with real pressure behind it.
Dennis Hamley, in his review of "Drowned Ammet," in The School Librarian, Vol. 26, No. 2, June, 1978, p. 161.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.