Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doors through space and time, 20 Jul 2008
A few years ago, Hayao Miyazaki made a gorgeous anime movie based on the classic fantasy novel "Howl's Moving Castle," about a wizard and the artificially-aged girl who falls for him.
It must have made Diana Wynne Jones nostalgic for her flamboyantly-dressed, quirky wizard hero and his little family, because he plays a pivotal role in "The House of Many Ways." And the rest of the book is the kind of work Jones has been producing for many years -- a complex, tight little plot full of magical mysteries and bizarre problems, and at least one gutsy adolescent hero.
When the Wizard of High Norland falls ill and has to be hospitalized by elves, his great-great-niece-by-marriage Charmain is roped into taking care of his cottage.
But Charmain has a rather difficult time with the magical cottage and all the odd spells it contains. She also struggles with the cooking, cleaning, vast seas of soapsuds, a timid dog, a tribe of angry kobolds, and the arrival of Uncle William's new apprentice Peter -- who never gets magic quite right. In the middle of all this, she finds that she has a new job working with the King in his library.
But there are no fewer problems in the King's mansion, where Charmain is ordered to find information on something called the Elfgift. And the sorceress Sophie Pendragon -- along with her toddler, fire demon and cutesy, too-smart "nephew" -- have arrived to do some investigating as well. But even with powerful wizards nearby, this conspiracy's key may lie with Charmain -- and the vile magical creature lurking near the House of Many Ways...
It's been almost twenty years since Diana Wynne Jones last visited Howl, Sophie, Calcifer and the magical moving castle -- although they're presented so freshly in this book that you wouldn't know they'd ever been gone. And though Charmain is indisputably the heroine of this piece, she still gets the spotlight stolen by Howl -- or "Twinkle" -- whenever he appears.
And around this, Jones crafts a complex plot full of magical Elfgifts, missing gold, elves and a very suspicious heir to the throne. There are various minor plot threads, puzzles and developments that don't seem very important at the time, only to have Jones suddenly weave them all together. And I'll say this -- she knows how to spin up a brilliant fictional conspiracy.
And it's written in Jones' signature style, with plenty of English villages, castles, and wizards, and plenty of mildly eccentric characters -- not to mention the forays through the various space'n'time-bending doorways. Plus a wacky sense of humor, of course ("How DARE you do that! I'm not used to it!"). Charmain produces most of this, with her disastrous (and bubbly!) attempts at keeping house.
Charmain is a pretty good heroine for the book -- she loves books and dogs, and has been living with a mother who thinks magic and housework aren't nice or respectable. You can guess how long that lasts. And she works well alongside the understandably irritable Peter, a likable kid who has more real-world experience than Charmain has ever had.
And then there's the Howl Brigade -- our favorite wizard spends most of the book disguised as a truly nauseating, golden-curled, lisping child, which understandably drives Sophie crazy. His cleverness, power and vanity are undiminished, but it's a relief when "Twinkle" stops lisping. And the fire demon Calcifer gets to play a pivotal role in the story.
"The House of Many Ways" could as easily be called "The Story of Many Ways" -- a brilliant, sparkling book full of fantastical humor and mystery. Definitely a must-read.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Worthy Sequel, 28 Jun 2008
Having read Howls Moving Castle and Castle in the Air, I was waiting for this to come out with a great deal of anticipation. And I can safely say that it was worth the wait.
Howl, Sophie and Calcifur make a welcome return and have more prominent roles in the story, which was a welcome surprise. The new main character Charmain, a sheltered young woman sent to take care of her wizard uncles magic house, is an engaging character who gradually comes to realise that she has magical talents of her own.
If I have any complaints to make its only that the villains of the story, the lubbock and the lubbockins, never really seemed like much of a threat in the story. And the ending, although satisfying, was slightly abrupt.
Overall this story is definetely worth a read, though I definetely recommend reading the first 2 books first if you havn't done so already.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It was a great read!!, 7 Feb 2009
It was a typical DWJ book, it was fun, exciting and kept you hooked from the first page. I thought that it was in some ways better than castle in the air because this time sophie, howl and calcifer are more focused on and have more of a part in the story but the book is nowhere near as good as howls moving castle (like anything is). I just wish that it was a little bit longer and more thorough with it's plot and it unlike castle in the air does not really go into the emotions of the new characters as much. Thank you DWJ for another fantastic book and I hope theres another sequel very soon!!
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