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{{Short description|1993 novel by Diana Wynne Jones}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Hexwood
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| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Fantasy]], [[
| publisher = [[Methuen Publishing]]
| release_date = 1993
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'''''Hexwood''''' is a [[1993 in literature|1993]] fantasy/science fiction novel for young adults. It is by British author [[Diana Wynne Jones]].<ref>[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/diana-wynne-jones/hexwood.htm ''Hexwood'' at Fantastic Fiction]</ref>
The book was dedicated to author [[Neil Gaiman]], who later wrote a poem about the honor and gave it to
Jones said of the book "it's very strange but people who've read it so far say that it's absolutely fascinating, I mean it's really weird — I couldn't begin to describe it. It demanded to be written back to front and sideways."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/interview.htm |title=Diana Wynne Jones Interview |website=www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625171859/http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/interview.htm |archive-date=25 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Plot summary ==
The Sector Controller, who is responsible for overseeing Earth, among other worlds, receives a message that
In a wood, an amnesiac boy meets an [[Android (robot)|android]]. The android, who is called Yam, tells him that his name is Hume, because he is a human.
In a small village near London, a teenage girl, Ann Stavely, recovers from a serious fever. While ill, she talks with the four voices in her head: The King, The Prisoner, The Boy, and The Slave. Through her window, she witnesses
The next day, greatly recovered, she explores the tiny woods beside Hexwood Farm. When she enters it, she finds that the woods have expanded, and she encounters a futuristic chamber with a famished, exceptionally tall and skeletal man
Mordion creates a boy from a pool of his and Ann's mingled blood, and sends him off on his own into the woods. The boy appears to be Hume
▲The next day, greatly recovered, she explores the tiny woods beside Hexwood Farm. When she enters it, she finds that the woods have expanded, and she encounters a futuristic chamber with a famished, exceptionally tall and skeletal man - Mordion Agenos - inside. He claims he has been asleep for centuries, but Ann knows she saw him enter Hexwood Farm just a few days ago.
Ann visits Mordion and Hume several times in the woods over the next few days, but on different visits Hume is years older or younger. While she is in her own town, she and her brother see more and more people appearing to enter Hexwood Farm Estate and still none ever emerge. During one of her visits to Mordion and Hume, she helps Hume recover Yam from what looks like a future, ruined Hexwood Farm, where they encounter and escape from armored men armed with crossbows. Yam then tells Mordion, Ann, and Hume that they are all in the field of the Bannus, which warps time and space in order to run scenarios for some mysterious purpose. This is why things seem to be happening out of order.▼
▲Mordion creates a boy from a pool of his and Ann's mingled blood, and sends him off on his own into the woods. The boy appears to be Hume, who we have already met in Chapter 1. Ann is horrified by Mordion's callous attitude and tells him that he must look after Hume - after all, he created him.
▲Ann visits Mordion and Hume several times in the woods over the next few days. While she is in her own town, she and her brother see more and more people appearing to enter Hexwood Farm Estate and still none ever emerge. During one of her visits to Mordion and Hume, she helps Hume recover Yam from what looks like a future, ruined Hexwood Farm, where they encounter and escape from armored men armed with crossbows. Yam then tells Mordion, Ann, and Hume that they are all in the field of the Bannus, which warps time and space in order to run scenarios for some mysterious purpose. This is why things seem to be happening out of order.
Vierran of House Guaranty, one of the major guild houses ruled by the Reigners, is a young woman works in the Reigners' basement, managing costuming for when the Reigners or their servants need to travel to a distant world. She has repeatedly worked with the Reigner's Servant and assassin, Mordion Agenos, and considers herself a friend of his. When Reigner One and Reigner Three come to Earth, they take Vierran as a luggage-carrying assistant.
▲Later, we meet the five Reigners, tyrants who have ruled the galaxy for over a thousand years. They are very concerned about the Bannus, which, before they seized power, was used to pick new Reigners. Reigner Two and the Reigner's Servant (Mordion) have disappeared while trying to deactivate the Bannus. The remaining Reigners go to Earth (Reigners Four and Five alone, but then Three and One go together) to turn off the Bannus, but they too get caught in the Bannus' field of influence, forget who they are, and find themselves in the huge forest, which is somehow the little wood beside Hexwood Farm.
The Bannus is playing with the minds of all the characters and running scenarios in order to determine who the next five Reigners should be. He is also getting his revenge on the current Reigners, who locked him away on Earth so they could permanently remain in power. The Bannus has confused several of the characters as to who they are in order to run these scenarios. Vierran and Ann turn out to be different representations of the same person, Vierran of the House of Guaranty. Mordion Agenos is the Reigners' Servant, and by looking after Hume, is making up for when he was a child and failed to protect other children in the Reigners' care. Hume turns out to be [[Merlin]], and "Ann's" brother is discovered to be Fitela, a dragon-slayer mentioned in "[[Beowulf]]".
==Principal
Characters' true identities are shown in bold.
*'''Mordion Agenos''' - The Reigners' Servant. Known to his voices as the Slave. Later appointed as First Reigner.
*Ann Stavely - '''Vierran, of the House of Guaranty'''. Known to her voices as the Girl Child. Later the Second Reigner.
*Hume - '''Martellian Pender''', also known as [[Merlin]], of Arthurian legend. Known to his voices as the Prisoner. Later Third Reigner.
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*Yam (Yamaha) - '''The Bannus'''. A machine, designed to make sure that the process of selection of the Reigners would be absolutely fair.
*The Dragon - Orm Pender, the original '''Reigner One'''.
*King Ambitas - The original '''Reigner Two'''. Ambitas and Mordion represent different aspects of the [[Fisher King]] in the Arthurian legends.<ref name="ang 2010">{{cite journal | url=https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/404265 | title=Dogmata, Catastrophe, and the Renaissance of Fantasy in Diana Wynne Jones | author=Ang, Susan | journal=The Lion and the Unicorn | year=2010 | volume=32 | issue=3 | pages=284–302}}</ref>
*Morgan La Trey - The original '''Reigner Three'''.
*Sir Fors - ''' Reigner Four'''
*Sir Harrisoun - '''Harrison Scudamore''', the new and unpleasant owner of Hexwood Farm Estate. He
*Lady Sylvia - '''Siri, of the House of Guaranty'''. Vierran's cousin.
==Reception==
It received mostly positive reviews: [[Kirkus Reviews]] called it "an elaborate, fascinating, and superbly crafted adventure", [[School Library Journal]] praised it for its "knife-sharp prose" and for being a "marvelously mind-stretching" book, while [[Booklist]] said it was a "satisfying tale" and that "[t]he action is fast paced, the mysterious circumstances are compelling, and there's even a nice bit of humor."<ref name="amazon">{{cite
Books For Keeps were more noncommittal, noting simply that it would need a "doughty readership", describing the novel as "a demanding read" with "page after page of challenging ideas".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/90/childrens-books/reviews/hexwood|title=Issue 90 : Hexwood review |accessdate=2011-08-11 |date=January 1995 |publisher=Books For Keeps}}</ref> But [[Publishers Weekly]] were critical of the novel, due to its "muddled narrative" and "confusing finale".<ref name="amazon" />
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[[Category:Novels by Diana Wynne Jones]]
[[Category:Methuen Publishing books]]
[[Category:Modern Arthurian fiction]]
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