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{{Short description|1993 novel by Diana Wynne Jones}}
{{Infobox Book ▼
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
| name = Hexwood
| image =
|
| author = [[Diana Wynne Jones]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language =
| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Fantasy]], [[
| publisher = [[Methuen Publishing]]
| release_date = 1993
| media_type = Print
| pages = 288
| isbn
| oclc = 29472956
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
{{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}}
'''''Hexwood''''' is a [[1993 in literature|1993]] fantasy/science fiction novel for young adults. It is by
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
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.
The Bannus
Yam turns out to be the Bannus itself; by getting Mordion to repair the broken Yam, he was returning the Bannus to full power. Several other characters in the book turn out to be other legendary figures of note and the Reigners are all ousted and punished. Mordion and Vierran are selected by the Bannus to be two of the five new Reigners.
==Principal Characters==▼
Characters true identities shown in bold.▼
▲Characters' true identities are shown in bold.
*'''Mordion Agenos''' - The Reigners Servant. Known to his voices as the Slave. Later appointed as First Reigner.▼
▲*'''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 "
▲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 |year=1995 |month=January |publisher=Books For Keeps}}</ref> But [[Publishers Weekly]] were critical of the novel, due to its "muddled narrative" and "confusing finale".<ref name="amazon" />
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hexwood}}
[[Category:1993 British novels]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Young adult fantasy novels]]
[[Category:British young adult novels]]
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[[Category:Children's science fiction novels]]
[[Category:British science fiction novels]]
▲[[Category:1990s science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Diana Wynne Jones]]
[[Category:Methuen Publishing books]]
[[Category:Modern Arthurian fiction]]
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