Castle in the Air (novel)
Castle in the Air is a 1990 fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones. It is the sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle and takes place in the same magical world, following Abdullah, a handsome carpet seller from Zanzibar who dreams of being a prince. He buys a magic carpet, sleeps on it, and wakes in a magical garden with Flower-in-the-Night, who believes Abdullah is a prince and plans to marry him. But Flower is kidnapped by a flying djinn, Abdullah is blamed by the Sultan of Zanzibar, and he escapes with the help of his carpet. He travels to Ingary with a gruff soldier and a magical cat that can sometimes become a person, and they discover that the djinn Hasruel is kidnapping princesses for his brother, Dalzel. Their journey leads them to Kingsbury and then to the Castle in the Air, which is Howl’s enlarged flying castle, where they free the kidnapped princesses. The genie who helps them turns out to be Howl Pendragon, Sophie Pendragon’s husband and Morgan’s father, after Flower wishes him free. In the end, Abdullah’s adventures connect him to Howl’s world and his own family, while the story features other characters from Abdullah’s circle and various princesses who were taken by the djinn.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:36 (CET).