This book is a difficult one to review because it is such a highwire act which on the whole succeeds. Superficially it is more science fictional than most of DWJ's work but some of the elements - such as dragons and the role playing virtual reality which dominates the book - steer its feel towards fantasy. The story opens when an alert comes into an area controller that an emergency has occurred on a backwater planet called Earth. It seems that a machine stored there, called the Bannus, has been switched on by an interfering library clerk and has begun creating virtual reality scenarios which have sucked in various personnel. It soon becomes clear that aliens have been a presence on Earth for centuries - which was populated by criminal or political prisoners - and that they have secretly been exporting flint, as only Earth flint is of the right quality for use in the instantaneous transport links on which the galactic corporation depends. That corporation is dominated by five individuals called Reigners who have artificially extended their lives and who have engineered things so that they exercise tyranny over the rest of the galactic community. A few brave souls in the rival families hope to one day overthrow them but are having to play a long game.

Meanwhile, a 12 year old Earth girl called Anne, daughter of greengrocers, lives near the gates of a derelict farm called Hexwood - except the farm is actually the site where the Bannus is stored. She soon becomes drawn into the virtual reality and becomes a key player.

That only gives a basic outline because the story has a multiplicity of characters who interact in different time frames which are presented out of order so that a child is seen older then younger - because of the machine's creating of a field of play. There is also a huge twist partway through when we start to discover that no one is who they appear to be. Other aspects include a pseudo Arthurian set-up complete with Fisher King and Morgan le Fay imposter, dragons, robots, the raising of children ruthlessly to become loyal assassins, power struggles in the past and present between the ruling classes, a form of telepathy where certain people hear voices in their heads to whom they can only give role names such as the Prisoner, the Boy, the King etc, magic enabled by the Bannus and real magic from a wider entity the archetypal Wood which once covered all England . A couple of minor things that might cause offence are a stereotypical cameo appearance by a Japanese person and a somewhat negative attitude to overweight people.

The ending is not quite as rushed as some of DWJ's more complicated tales, such as Fire and Hemlock but still involves a lot of sorting out of who various characters really are, and certain people getting their just deserts. It has a more satisfying ending than some of the others I've read. Possibly this is one that would benefit from a re-read when you know what is really going on. A solid 3 star read. ( )

In an enchanted forest, heroes and aliens struggle with distorted time and inscrutable tests of character.

Hexwood is a string of surprise twists -- no one is who they seem, their memories are unreliable, and events are not chronological -- that manages to stick together as a story. As a technical achievement, it's a magnificent performance piece. The structure, in fact, is superior to the content, which is broadly about trauma and recovery. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'll remember it clearly. Hexwood is more than convoluted; complication itself seems the novel's goal. ( )

Reread, yeah, but I do so like this book. Wild fantasy/sci-fi/Arthurian legend mash-up with time travel and reality-warping mind games. What's not to like? I still haven't completely sorted out the details of how the events are ordered, but I don't doubt there is one (you can count on DWJ!), and you can enjoy it and make sense of it without having to go to that level of analysis. ( )

This book starts out confusing, then gets more confusing, then when you think you maybe have a handle on the whole thing it branches out, then unbranches, and at the end you are probably still sorta confused but you're used to it now so you just kinda go with it. Good book! ( )

Diana Wynne Jones can mix up the most disparate of speculative fiction tropes and make it work. In this we have robots, Arthuriana, time loops, dragons, and galactic travel, beginning in a London housing estate, but not finishing there. Other than one particular moment that has not aged well, it's great.