Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father,
who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open
a modest booth in the Bazaar. When he was not selling carpets, Abdullah
spent his time daydreaming. In his dreams he was not the son of his
father, but the long-lost son of a prince. There was also a princess who
had been betrothed to him at birth. He was content with his life and his
daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.
In this stunning sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones has
again created a large-scale, fast-paced fantasy in which people and
things are never quite what they seem. There are good and bad djinns, a
genie in a bottle, wizards, witches, cats and dogs (but are they cats
and dogs?), and a mysterious floating castle filled with kidnapped
princesses, as well as two puzzling prophecies. The story speeds along
with tantalizing twists and turns until the prophecies are fulfilled,
true identities are revealed, and all is resolved in a totally
satisfying, breathtaking, surprise-filled ending.