Howl’s Moving Castle

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

Now an animated movie from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, the oscar-winning director of Spirited Away

The beloved modern classic, released as an unabridged audiobook for the first time in 2019.

In the land of Ingary, where seven league boots and invisibility cloaks exist, young Sophie Hatter catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell . . .

Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones’s unique combination of magic, humour and imagination.

©1986 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

“Imaginative and terribly funny.” (Michael Morpurgo)

Favourite

One of my all time favourite books. The narration didn't really do it for me.

Me encantó

Una narración que trae a la vida los personajes y una historia poco convencional, hermosa y un poquito oscura.

Funny and entertaining

Excellent narrator!, first time I hear Kristin. loved Calcifer because of her. I do think it is way better than the movie, as it takes the story in a different path. I would have like d to know a bit how magic work in this world but I had a lot of fun.
Score 3.8/5
I think it is an entertaining story but I do feel that the world building is missing something. There are tons of explanations that went missing, although maybe getting to the next books will clear this out

Wonderful!!

A really good story that will appeal to many different ages (I’m an adult). Different to the film, but so much better in a lot of ways too. The reader is exceptional, and one of the best that I have come across. I recommend this book and the reader 10/10.

Love the story

Lovely story and reading of it. Different from the movie if u come from there but that makes it all the more worth reading

nostalgic and beautiful. full of memory.

I remember watching Howl's moving castle as a child and loved it so much. A lot of memory brought back by listening again. And an excellent performance.

Audible: write the name of the chapters!

Great book, lovely performance.
Absolutely recommended to dreamers and magic lovers.
Only flaw is that the chapters on the app do not correspond to the ones narrated and they are only written with a number. Audible... please, write titles and check them before publishing.
Enjoy a wonderful book!

Absolutely loved it

I'd only ever seen the Ghibli movie, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started listening to this. I really really enjoyed it. I liked the difference between the movie and the book equally.

The narrator did a magnificent job with the character voices and I feel in love with Howl's welsh accent.

Overall a fun little listen that I highly recommend.

Recommended

This was cute—decided to give it a listen as I have always liked the anime it inspired.

Ended up binging it as I very much enjoyed it while going about my day. The performance was easy to listen to and entertaining.

Amazing narration

To be completely honest the best part of the book was the narrator. Not that I didn't like the story, but her voices were the cherry on the cake for me.