Castle in the Air definitely wasn’t as good as Howl’s Moving Castle, but it was still quite an entertaining read. It’s only loosely a sequel – the characters from Howl’s Moving Castle basically stay on the periphery. You only get a brief idea of what happens to Sophie and Howl after the events of the first novel.

Castle in the Air does, though, provide some insight into how and why Miyazaki veered so far from the story line of Howl. Wondering where Miyazaki got the war from? Here, though it’s not all too important.

I liked it well enough.