Cart and Cwidder

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Title: Cart and Cwidder1
Series: Dalemark Quartet (book 1)
Publication Date: 1975
Number of Pages: 240
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Synopsis: "When their father, a traveling minstrel, is killed, three children involved in rebellion and intrigue inherit a lute-like cwidder with more than musical powers."

Cart and Cwidder was so good that I had the hardest time putting it down and started the second book in the Dalemark Quartet immediately after.

While I really liked the story for Cart and Cwidder, I absolutely loved the characters in it.
One of the things that I like the most about Diana Wynne Jones' books is the worlds that she creates and the atmosphere of her writing. It just sweeps me into the story and leaves me itching to read the next book.
The best part of the story would have to be how a couple of the adult characters had their own agenda, which added to the intrigue of the plot, like how the "Porter" was a spy for the North and passing on information about the South.
My favorite part of Cart and Cwidder would have to be when Moril and Brid and Dagner are trying to get Kialan safely to the North after the death of their father. This was my favorite part because it held more adventure and danger for the characters then previous parts of the book.
My least favorite part of the book would have to be shortly after their father's death; it was just kind of anticlimactic, but then it picked up considerably.
Cart and Cwidder was definitely one of Diana Wynne Jones' best and one of my new favorite fantasy reads.

Cart and Cwidder earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.

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1. Cart and Cwidder was borrowed from the library.