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| House of Many Ways | 
 enlarge | Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Category: Book
List Price: $18.89
Buy New: $17.76
You Save: $1.13 (6%)
New (21) Used (7) from $12.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1245174
Media: Library Binding
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.5
ISBN: 0061477966
EAN: 9780061477966
ASIN: 0061477966
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
Charmain Baker is in over her head. Looking after Great-Uncle William's tiny cottage while he's ill should have been easy. But Great-Uncle William is better known as the Royal Wizard Norland, and his house bends space and time. Its single door leads to any number of places—the bedrooms, the kitchen, the caves under the mountains, the past, and the Royal Mansion, to name just a few. By opening that door, Charmain has become responsible for not only the house, but for an extremely magical stray dog, a muddled young apprentice wizard, and a box of the king's most treasured documents. She has encountered a terrifying beast called a lubbock, irritated a clan of small blue creatures, and wound up smack in the middle of an urgent search. The king and his daughter are desperate to find the lost, fabled Elfgift—so desperate that they've even called in an intimidating sorceress named Sophie to help. And where Sophie is, can the Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer be far behind? Of course, with that magical family involved, there's bound to be chaos—and unexpected revelations. No one will be more surprised than Charmain by what Howl and Sophie discover.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 A welcome return to the world of Howl's Moving Castle June 12, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
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.
Perfect English Magic June 15, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
If books are like the food we must have, then Diana Wynne Jones' House of Many Ways is a bit a like a cream bun and a bit like the meaty pasties from the bake shop of Charmaine Baker's dad. How tasty! How quickly they go down! Perhaps, like Mr. Baker's, they are written with some kind of helpful enchantment because we always seem to come away happy but yearning again soon for another dose of Jones' perfect brand of English magic.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Jones' books are so charming is that one of their important elements is not heroics or dragons or kings of ancient lineage -- although she can use those at will -- but balance, a fine tuned ecological balance between creatures, magical or otherwise, who behave as they ought. Master of the roller coaster plot, Jones uses magic to restore that balance and return her world to harmony in the tidiest way by the end of the book. No wonder we begin now on the countdown for the next.
Librarians and Fantasy Collide in House of Many Ways June 10, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Like many seniors, my attentions have shifted recently from life at college to life after. In my own case, that means thinking about the start of rigorous librarian training which others might know more commonly as graduate school. Since I've consequently been thinking even more about libraries than usual, I decided to focus on two of my favorite things for my latest CLW review here: fantasies and libraries. Specifically, Diana Wynne Jones' newest fantasy novel House of Many Ways due out from Harper Collins in June 2008, which centers on an aspiring librarian of sorts.
Surprisingly few recent fantasy novels feature libraries. After some deep thought, I could only come up with The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and Lirael by Garth Nix. I am going to go out on a limb and say that "House of Many Ways" does a better job as a fantasy novel with a library angle than either of those books.
House of Many Ways is Jones' third novel featuring Howl and Sophie, following Howl's Moving Castle from 1986 (also a movie adaptation made by Hayao Miyazaki in 2004) and Castle in the Air from 1990. Although all of these novels stand alone very nicely, certain nuances of the story will make more sense if you read the novels in sequence. Certain characters' cameo appearances will also be more satisfying with the background afforded by reading all three novels.
This particular story starts in High Norland with Charmain Baker. Born to lovely parents determined to make their daughter respectable, Charmain is ill equipped for almost everything besides eating and reading--a fact that has escaped the notice of her parents and doesn't much bother Charmain.
The only problem with her tame existence is that Charmain is unable to do the one thing she has always, desperately, wanted to do: work in the royal library with the elderly Princess Hilda and her even more elderly father, the king of High Norland.
As part of her plan to gain entry to the library, Charmain agrees to watch the royal wizard's house while he undergoes treatment from elves for a mysterious illness. Upon her arrival at the house, it becomes clear that this house-sitting venture will be more than Charmain had expected what with the angry kobolds and the sudden arrival of the wizard's new apprentice, Peter. It may, however, also be exactly what she needs.
There are a lot of reasons that I like this book and its predecessors in the series. Diana Wynne Jones has a particularly charming writing style that is both cozy and engaging. There is something decidedly old fashioned about the prose, ranging from the chapter titles reminiscent of those found in E. M. Forster's A Room With a View to the swift and casual narration so similar to the voice Jane Austen favored in her novels. At the same time, amazingly, Jones integrates elements of the fantastic like magic and wizards and elves without ever seeming outlandish or contrived.
House of Many Ways is a particularly appealing title, by an already well-liked artist. First and foremost, for obvious reasons, I like that Charmain is a bookish character who wants to work in a library. The other characters that populate this novel, including some from both Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air, are original and appealing though not by any means perfect.
Even Charmain, the novel's heroine, has moments where she is quite mistaken about a variety of things. Happily, never long enough to become problematic for readers. At the same time, it is refreshing that Charmain is utterly useless despite her being so well read. When she arrives at the wizard's house she cannot cook, wash clothes, or do many other things that most people take for granted.
This story is about magic and a fair bit of adventure. But it is also about what every college senior has to think about sooner or later: being an adult. As the novel progresses, Charmain learns about more than books and magic, she learns how to grow up and take care of herself, even when that means admitting she might need some help.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too June 13, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
When book lover Charmain Baker has to go and take care of Great Uncle William Norland's (a wizard) house while he is away, she is in for a surprise.
Soon after arriving, she discovers that the letter she sent to the King was answered, and he wants her to work with him in the Royal Library. Then Sophie Pendragon, Wizard Howl, and Morgan arrive, making the palace almost a nursery.
The Wizard Howl and Sophie ask Charmain to help them look for the King's disappearing gold by looking for any mention of debts or loans in the records she is reviewing for the King.
With help from new characters Waif and Peter Charmain, the plot gets thrown into a confusing mystery. Diana Wynne Jones's sequel to HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE will keep readers breathless as they follow Charmain through her never-ending surprises and encounters with kobolds, lubbocks and elves.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Diana Wynne Jones's writing or wants a fascinating fantasy mystery. Although this book is a sequel, it can be read without any prior knowledge of the first book.
Reviewed by: Elly
Excellent New Book From Diana Wynne Jones and a Fun Sequel to Howl's June 11, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Charmain's mother doesn't ever let her do anything that's not respectable--not laundry, not cooking and certainly not magic. But when her Great-Uncle William (a famous wizard) gets sick, no one in the family wants to take care of his house, so Charmain is volunteered for the job. She doesn't mind; in fact, it's her chance to leave home and apply for her dream of working in the king's library. Nearly as soon as she arrives, Charmain's Great-Uncle is whisked off to be treated by elves, leaving her alone with dirty dishes, piles of laundry, a small white dog named Waif and a magical house which at first glance only has two rooms, but in fact the right turn could take you anywhere from the bathroom to the stables--and the wrong turn could leave you horribly lost. Charmain thinks she will have plenty of time to do some reading while her Great-Uncle is away, but instead finds herself dealing with an exasperating wizard apprentice named Peter who suddenly shows up at the doorstep, angry kobolds, spells that go wrong, a sinister blue insect-like creature called a lubbock, and the mystery of the kingdom's emptying treasury.
Diana Wynne Jones just seems to keep getting better as time goes on. Her recent additions to the Chrestomanci series were amazing, so when I heard that there was a new addition to the Howl's Moving Castle series I was excited. Like the first sequel, Castle in the Air (1990), Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer aren't the main characters--they show up at nearly the halfway point to help the king figure out why his gold has disappeared and play mainly supporting (but indispensable) roles. As much as I love seeing Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer again, I didn't mind that this was a book about Charmain and not about them. Charmain's story was fun to read and I really liked her as a narrator. I also absolutely loved her Great-Uncle's house. It would be fantastic to live in a place like that! In fact, my only complaint is that I often read Charmain's name as Chairman, which confused me whenever I did it (it made me picture a man in a business suit, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the story). This is a small complaint, though, and Jones acknowledges how confusing Charmain's name is, since many of the other characters end up thinking Charmain's name is "Charming" (as in, Charming Baker instead of Charmain Baker).
Although House of Many Ways can stand alone, to get the full experience you should read the first two books in the series (though I did like this one a lot more than Castle in the Air). Fans of Diana Wynne Jones won't be disappointed by her latest book: it's as funny, charming, and addicting as the rest of her works.
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