Themes

• Bad Mothers
  • The inspiration for this theme was explained quite simply by [DWJ herself]. [Phyllis Melford]? of The Time Of The Ghost, DWJ's most autobiographical book, is actually one of the gentlest portraits of a bad mother in DWJ's work; like Franconia Grant, she is shamefully neglectful, but not otherwise abusive. Ivy Whittacker is paranoid, jealous, and self-absorbed as well as neglectful. Sybil Temple ignores her dyslexic son in favor of her clever, beautiful daughter, while Miranda Chant and Janine Mallory narcissistically use their sons for their own purposes.
  • There are, however, good mothers in DWJ's books, most notably Mig's mother Betty in Black Maria and Roddy's mother Annie? in The Merlin Conspiracy, as well as Mara in Dark Lord Of Derkholm and Catriona in Archer's Goon. Both Jamie and Helen miss their mothers in The Homeward Bounders.

• Family relationships
  • DWJ's book often deal with family quarrels of one sort (Power of Three) or another (The Magicians of Caprona), and the chief villain is often related to the hero, sometimes quite closely (ex: Charmed Life, Aunt Maria). In books that deal with time, one set of characters is almost always descended from another character (ex: The Homeward Bounders, Dalemark Quartet, Archer's Goon).

• Secret identity
  • Nearly every DWJ book has one or more characters with secret identities, which are sometimes unknown even to themselves. Commonly, a seemingly weak and vulnerable character turns out to have vast powers, or a seemingly unimportant character is revealed as vitally important --the rightful monarch, or a wizard or even some kind of deity.

• Subtle allusion
  • Many DWJ stories contain specific allusions to legends or myths -- some of which are more obvious than others. Eight Days of Luke, Fire and Hemlock, and Hexwood -- and, to a lesser degree, The Merlin Conspiracy -- draw attention to their use of mythic material. Allusions are still apparent in The Homeward Bounders and Aunt Maria, but the reader must recognize and identify them for herself or himself. And even fewer readers will identify the [Lykewake Dirge] as a source text for Deep Secret or the use of T.S. Eliot's ["Four Quartets"] in Fire And Hemlock. The science-fantasy writer Gene Wolfe places similar demands on his readers.

• Complex Time Travel
  • Many DWJ stories, such as Fire and Hemlock, Archer's Goon, and Hexwood, have non-linear time flow. Others, such as Eight Days of Luke and The Homeward Bounders, occurs over epochal time scales (though in both these last two cases that's a product of the subtle allusions mentioned above).

• Crowd Scene Climaxes
  • DWJ novels tend to end with a massive crowd scene in which every main character and many of the peripheral characters crowd into one room and start talking all at once.

• Imprisonment and Release
  • Characters are almost always imprisoned or enslaved in DWJ books, and the resolution often entails either the release of an imprisoned power, or the defeat of a power which enslaves and controls, or both.

• Sacrificed Child
  • Children are frequently exploited or sacrificed in DWJ books, and the sacrifice is often quite literal. Examples include Christopher and Cat Chant, Conrad and Anthea Tesdenic, Lady Felice and Count Robert, Maree and Nick Mallory, Grundo Temple, Seb Leroy, Thomas Lynn, Polly Whittacker, Mig and Naomi Laker, David Allard, Mordion, the Melford sisters, and Jamie Hamilton.

See also:

• boyfriends
• telepathy
• travel sickness
• Real People