This tale of moving between worlds has a lot of imaginative touches though some of them are downright bizarre such as Helen, the character who can transform her withered arm into another appendage. It starts with Jamie, who is dictating the story to a recording machine for a reason which eventually becomes clear, telling how he climbed over the wall into an odd garden in the city where he lived in what seemed to be Victorian times, and is later confirmed as 1879, and spied on some strange beings. These beings are always referred to, both by himself and everyone else he later encounters who knows about them, as Them. They kidnap him and declare him a 'discard' who must remain out of play by being made to walk the Bounds and cross from world to world. He is told that if he can return Home, he will be back in play as a normal piece and this is the hope that sustains him in the long interval where he has to adapt to one world after another.

Jamie goes on by himself for a long time, ageing very slowly and unable to settle anywhere because after an interval, which can be hours or months, he experiences the 'call', a very uncomfortable sensation which pulls him to the nearest boundary where he can cross over. Eventually he encounters people like himself, but most are adults to begin with no interest in him. He also finds an unusual man chained to a rock, whom he manages to give a drink to and who will eventually become a key factor in the story. It is only when Jamie encounters the strange and prickly Helen who wears her hair over her face that he begins to find friends to share his plight and eventually work with him against Them. Helen's world knows much more about the other worlds and they are able to travel together and eventually find a boy called Joris who is an apprentice demon hunter, slave to a man he idolises, Konstam. Konstam and Joris were able to travel through worlds together to hunt demons, as They allowed this, and it slowly becomes clear that They might be a form of demon themselves.

I found the story sagged a bit around the middle or a bit later though it did eventually pick up to the surprising conclusion. It was obvious to me that Jamie had reached Home but too late for any of his family to still be living long before the evidence stacked up and he finally realised what had happened, but it might not have been so clear to a reader of the intended age group. I also realised right away that the man he had found was Prometheus, even before the vulture arrived (I thought it was an eagle in the original) though interestingly he isn't given that name in the story. It is clearly him though as he is the last of the Titans and his name means Forethought. Perhaps DWJ thought any child who knew Greek mythology would get the references too soon.

Against the fantasty backdrop, a lot of the story deals with how people develop tolerance of others and learn to get along with others including those with unusual differences. The ending itself is certainly not a standard happy ending that might be expected in a book for this age group, and has a bitter sweet element. ( )

What I love about Jones' books is how perfectly she builds up reader empathy with her protagonists. We go along with them, step by step, believing that they are wonderful and misunderstood, like we ourselves are; it is a blow to the throat when they abruptly realize their own weaknesses. "Hey," they think, "I was really childish back there." And the reader -- who thought nothing of the regretted action at the time -- goes, "Yeah! You really were quite childish back there, come to think of it! And the protagonist says, "And that person? That I hate? That person actually has some good qualities." "Yeah! You totally misjudged them, now that you mention it!" shouts the reader. Jones manages to wrap the reader utterly in the protagonist's natural solipsism, and their inevitable rude awakening is doubly rude for the unsuspecting reader. The protagonist only has to confront his own prejudices; we have to confront our gullibility in initially endorsing those prejudices. The genre of YA fiction is full of creaky moralizing and obvious "life lessons", but Jones is the only author that I've read who can successfully sneak behind the reader and sock them in the head when they least suspect it. She is full of cunning and guile, and I adore her for it. ( )

if this book was written today theres a few parts that could use a sensitivity reader but overall its a solid and interesting story and concept. Alternate tagline; Demons D&D game gets out of hand. ( )

Diana Wynne Jones was full of original ideas which has made her one of my favorite authors for years. The Homeward Bounders is an interesting concept, where the characters are forced to become pieces in a war game played by demons. I don't believe I have ever read another book with a similar plot. I did enjoy this book, however I don't feel it is as good as some of Diana Wynne Jones' other books. I read it several years ago and could not remember anything about it before reading it this time. It did not make any lasting impression on me, though I can see myself reading it again several years from now. ( )

This is such a clever and charming book. Would that I had the imagination of Diana Wynne Jones. ( )