Unlike the slow build-up of menace in the previous Howl books or Chrestomanci series, the antagonist never really seemed to be that much of a threat. ' Not Wynne Jones' best work as the characters felt very mis-managed and the build-up to a villain was rather too quick. ' It's.it's over!! D': ' - NocturnalRavings(Jodie), Overall Performance: Narration Rating: Story Rating:.When the main character discovers a partially completed map of the wizard's house, with lines from some doors reading, 'Unexplored' the sense of discovery and adventure and possibility is complete.' The sense that dungeons and dangers, as well as other civilizations and kingly comforts are only a few doors away at any time, makes it a very unique fantasy. But as the way you manipulate each door can take you to hundreds if not thousands of possible other locations and rooms, the sense of adventure is as grand as a journey across a continent. Early in the story, we are introduced to a little cottage with a little dog.

How did respectable Charmain end up in such a mess, and how will she get herself out of it? And where Sophie is, the great Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer won’t be far behind. The king is so desperate to find the Elfgift, he’s called in an intimidating sorceress named Sophie to help.

Now, somehow, she’s been targeted by a terrifying creature called a lubbock, too, and become central to the king’s urgent search for the fabled Elfgift that will save the country. She didn’t realize that the house bent space and time, and she did not expect to become responsible for an extremely magical stray dog and a muddled young apprentice wizard. Ages 12–up.When Charmain Baker agreed to look after her great-uncle’s house, she thought she was getting blissful, parent-free time to read. Beguiling enough on their own, Charmain's big and small adventures (bickering with the boy who comes to stay attempting housework with hilarious results mediating the disputes of the disgruntled tiny blue men who work behind the scenes) gain an added urgency thanks to the lurking menace of the Lubbock, who is easily among the scariest villains Jones has ever created. Yet she easily holds center stage, even when the flamboyant Wizard Howl (of Moving Castleįame) appears midway through the novel. Brought up by her doting parents to be utterly “respectable” (which in her case translates to being astonishingly useless), Charmain is an unlikely heroine. When bookish, utterly selfish Charmain leaves home to care for her ailing great-uncle's magical house, she surprises herself by discovering her own hidden talents-and ends up helping save the kingdom of High Norland from the fearsome Lubbock.

Longtime fans and new readers alike will revel in Jones's self-assured return to the realm she charted in Howl's Moving Castle,Ī riff on English and German fairytales, and its Arabian Nights–themed sequel, Castle in the Air

House of many ways by diana wynne jones