In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. “I’ll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I’m under.”

One of those worlds is the Royal Mansion, where a king and his daughter are in a desperate search for a legendary “Elfgift.” It’s not long until a certain sorceress, Sophie, is called upon to help, with Howl and Calcifer in tow.“How about making a bargain with me?” said the demon. In 2008, Jones also published House of Many Ways ( Howl’s Moving Castle 3), which tells the story of the heroine Charmain Baker, who, while looking after her great uncle’s cottage, discovers the house can bend space and time and meets a number of magical friends in various magical worlds. When the princess is kidnapped, Abdullah flies on his magic carpet to save her, but not before Howl and Sophie get caught in the mess. Castle in the Air( Howl’s Moving Castle 2) takes place a year after Howl and Sophie’s initial story and focuses on the lands far to the south of Ingary, where a young carpet dealer named Abdullah meets and falls in love with a princess. Perhaps that’s why Jones decided that one book about Howl and Sophie wasn’t enough, going on to write two sequels to Howl’s Moving Castle. But Jones has her own strong connections with the story, being the oldest of two sisters herself, her own allergy ailments kick-starting the creation of Sophie, and one of her “more formidable” aunts being the model for the Witch of the Waste. He asked her to write a book called “The Moving Castle,” and the story was born. On the inside of the book, there’s also a dedication that reads, “This one is for Stephen,” and goes on to explain that Jones began writing Howl’s Moving Castle after the idea was suggested to her by a young boy at a school she was visiting.

Of course, their affection grows, as it does in the film, but there’s plenty more outbursts to be enjoyed in Jones’ novel, with the additions of brand new characters and wizardly adventures, none of which are seen at all in the film. Sophie’s being under a spell is only known by Calcifer for a majority of the story, and Howl and Sophie are very much at each other’s throats, between Sophie’s incessant cleaning and Howl’s constant chasing after girls who aren’t Sophie.

Howl's castle book