House of Many Ways: A Magical Fantasy Adventure about an Enchanted House and Royal Intrigue for Children (Ages 8-12) (World of Howl, 3)

Charmain Baker lives in the small, shabby realm of High Norland. (Her age is not stated, but I imagined her to be about twelve.) Her father runs a successful pastry shop; her mother has a nouveau-riche obsession with propriety. Both treat Charmain as though she is made of glass. They've indulged her bookishness to the point that, when she is called upon to house-sit for an eccentric uncle-by-marriage, Charmain is as helpless at washing and drying dishes as she is at managing her newly-discovered magical talent. In the meantime, the elderly King and his almost as elderly daughter, the Princess Hilda (whom we met briefly in Castle in the Air), are frantically attempting to save their country. For hundreds of years High Norland has been leaking prosperity, morale, and any sense of security. Now almost nothing is left. Charmain, who has grown up oblivious to all this, on a whim writes to the King offering to help in the Royal Library. She figures that hundreds of other Norlandi kids have done the same thing, and doesn't expect to hear back from him. But she does, and soon finds herself with two jobs--in both of which she is way in over her head. Charmain learns that some dark and dangerous creatures live right outside of town, in particular the insectile lubbock, which claims to own High Norland and everybody in it. Jones knows how to show the face of pure evil, and she does so fearlessly--although always with a light touch. The Princess Hilda, meanwhile, has called in an old friend and the best fighter-of-evil she knows, the sorceress Sophie Pendragon. Sophie brings along her son Morgan, now in his terrible twos, her fire demon "Sir Calcifer," and her husband Howl, who wasn't officially invited because he is already somebody else's Royal Wizard, and the rather passive King believes it would be "poaching" to use him. Howl's affronted, and behaves accordingly; just when you thought he could not be any more endearingly obnoxious or outrageous than he already is, Howl surprises you! Great characters, many twists and turns, and much food for thought: House of Many Ways is another fascinating novel from a uniquely gifted writer.

This is book 3 in the "Howl's Moving Castle" series and it's back in more familiar territory than book 2 was. The setting is pseudo-European rather than pseudo-Arab, and our favorite characters (i.e., Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, etc.) have larger parts in this book than the previous one -- although they're not the POV characters again, this time around. Perhaps because I'd just finished book 2 and knew what it was like, I expected the structure of this book to be what it was. Charmain is a young-ish woman, a bookworm, and she's been given the duty of watching her great-uncle's home while he is away for medical treatment. The great-uncle is a wizard and Charmain has neither household skills nor magical training (her mother doesn't believe it's respectable). She uses the opportunity of being away from home to write to the King and ask to assist him in making a catalog of all the documents/books/etc. in his library, a task she's heard is ongoing. Somewhat to her surprise, the King accepts her help. Early in her stay at the wizard's home, a boy named Peter shows up, claiming to be apprenticed to the wizard. Charmain is rather frustrated by Peter, who attempts all manner of spells but can't seem to get them right, no matter what. Also joining Charmain and Peter at the wizard's home is a small dog, Waif. I rather enjoyed the descriptions of the house. It seems like a total dump at first, with bags of laundry strewn everywhere (the source of all these bags of laundry is never mentioned) and half-empty teapots covering many surfaces. And only a few small rooms, including a kitchen sink without any taps for getting water out! Charmain soon discovers that there is more to the house than there seems. I like the process of discovery of the house's secrets very much, and the idea that the sequence of steps and turns you take in a hallway can make the hallway lead somewhere other than what you expected. I also enjoyed the humor of some of Charmain's and Peter's attempts at housekeeping, some of which turn out better than others. All is not right in this kingdom, though, and Charmain is given a second task as part of an investigation into the kingdom's problems, so there's a bit of a mystery involved, as well. It's nicely worked into the story, and even ties back to some seemingly unrelated events from the earliest part of the book. So the whole thing comes together very well into a unified whole. Charmain isn't my favorite lead character from Diana Wynne Jones, but she's suitably complex. I think the main thing I don't get about her is the notion that she ALWAYS wants her head in a book, to the exclusion of nearly anything else. She's also rather short with Peter, even though he's actually willing to step in and do the housework on occasion (though she often resolves to be nicer to him). However, she does undergo a bit of a transformation and becomes more well-rounded as the story progresses. Peter is reasonably well-developed for a secondary character. None of the other characters have a lot of depth (though of course we know Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer from before, as well as Jamal the cook and his dog from book 2). But this is really Charmain's book. As with the previous two books, I'd say this is fairly suitable for children. The book contains no adult language or situations. There's some violence with respect to magical creatures and transformed magical creatures in this volume that seems a little darker than anything in the previous books, so watch out for that. It's not described in gory detail or anything. It was just a little surprising considering the tone of the earlier books. Finally, if you liked the madcap nature of the final confrontation scenes from the previous two books, well, the author has done it again -- gathered a lot of people (and sometimes a few animals) in the same room for a bit of action, some revelations, and a lot of noise. I think these scenes are always great fun, and this book's final confrontation was no exception. In the end, I think book 1 was the best in the series, book 2 flagged a little for me, and book 3 is a pretty strong comeback, although not quite as near and dear to me as book 1. 4.5 stars.

Beautiful cover art. Great story. Came in good condition.

I adore the creativity in this series! The characters are unique, interesting and sometimes, amusing. The storytelling is so engaging that I don’t want to put the book down for a second. I, also, don’t want the books to end. I highly recommend it. Kindle Unlimited

She is such a delightful writer, the trilogy is a joy to read. Twenty words are required in a review!

Like everyone else, I was hoping for Howl, Sophie and the rest of the family to be more present, but once I got into Charmain's story, I didn't really miss them at all. Charmain, Waif, and Peter carry this new adventure beautifully. There are many familiar places, people, and elements to feel comfortable to those already acquainted with the previous books, though enough new ones to be exciting. Jones' writing and ideas are as enchanting as ever. Some of my favorites: the lubbock and lubbockins were appropriately frightening, and Great-Uncle William's house was terrific fun. I like this book better than Castle in the Air, and it was certainly more of a sequel than that sequel, but really, both are stand-alone books. And if you don't compare it to Howl's Moving Castle (which is truly one of the best fantasy books out there), House of Many Ways was a highly entertaining, quick read, and -- as a reviewer stated before -- much like one of Mr. Baker's cream pastries. I certainly gobbled it up.

This is a good one. I love how the series follows different characters, but you still see the characters you know from the start of the series. I loved this one a lot because it is a good coming of age story and a great adventure. I love the characters and I loved the plot.

Loved all the characters, esp Waif, the little scraggly white doggy!! Thanks for the many nights and days of entertainment! I appreciate it! A fun series and a great book!

Snel en goed verzonden, heel mooi verhaal wat makkelijk weg leest met leuke personages.

They look aesthetic together. However, I got the old covers which I prefer.

Uppskattades av mottagaren

La "suite" de "Howl's Moving Castle" et de "Castle in the Air" est une histoire tout aussi fantastique et pleine d'humour que les précédents volets, avec de nouveaux personnages attachants et des anciens que l'on retrouve avec plaisir.

Maravilhoso, assim como toda a série. Aqui temos muito mais de Sophie e Howl do que o anterior, sendo tão divertido e mágico como todos os volumes. Já fiz diversas releituras, e nunca deixo de me encantar. Essa versão (Kindle e inglês) foi de fácil leitura, um inglês intermediário dá conta.