(no subject)
Jun. 25th, 2008 06:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonsheenThanks to everyone for their advice and support in response to my last post. It's proved really helpful, and the situation's looking a lot less grim.
So, I finished House of Many Ways! About three days after grabbing it off the shelves! I guess it's about time I write a proper review.
-Here we are in High Norland! Otherwise known as 'That Other Country That Went To War With Ingary and Had That Really Old Princess'. Hooray for more worldbuilding! As it turns out High Norland is a very quaint little mountain country with financial issues and strong political ties (re: intermarriage) with Strangia, thus explaining their participation in aforementioned war with Ingary!
-CHARMAIN. Oh my god Charmain. I do love DWJ's protagonists dearly, but so often they tend to be the archetype of 'put upon, sensible, polite little girl in the face of madness and/or HORRIBLE ABUSE'. Charmain is not sensible. Charmain is not polite. Charmain is not very nice. Charmain is, however, very put upon. Charmain also has an AWFUL TEMPER and has no trouble SHOWING it. 'Fierce' is definately the word to describe her. The fact that she's also an avid reader who just wants people to go away so she can SIT DOWN with her BOOK is also quite refreshing. It's nice to have an anti-social character who's anti-social for reasons that really don't involve horrible persecution. But I think DWJ's proven she's quite good at that. (See also: cast of Witch Week. I should talk about Witch Week some day.)
-Her parents are also refreshingly functional! I LOVE HER DAD, THE ALL OF ONE SCENE WE GET OF HIM.
-Peter is also enjoyable, although he had less of a clear role until the ending revelation. And even then it was hilariously underplayed. I pretty much guessed what was up with him when we saw the first page in that one book. Who loves a poor dyslexic would-be wizard's apprentice who thinks he knows what's best for everything? BOY I SURE DO. Him and Charmain play off of eachother very well, and he's definatley a necessary force in the exploration of the house.
-There is a house. It does have many ways. It is a character in its own right, as much as the castle in the first book. It seems like we've gone back to the roots of the Howl's Moving Castle series: hysterical domestic antics in a magic household! I approve.
-... the thing with the Lubbock made me stop and wonder if children should really be reading this though.
-NO SERIOUSLY, HOLY CRAP THAT WAS THE THING OF NIGHTMARES. OR ALIEN.
-lubbocks and kobolds and elves, oh my!
-Good to see Madame Pentstemmon is still apparently a gigantic badass by way of the CONTINUED NUMBER OF RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME FORMER STUDENTS OF HERS TURNING UP.
-I love the King of High Norland! And PRINCESS HILDA. Oooh boy do NOT mess with Princess Hilda! Also, are we supposed to assume she's gay or that she just isn't interested in men, period? I'm waffling on that. "I heard she never married because she was crossed in love." "No, it was nothing like that. She's just never been the marrying type." (p.s. THE KING AND CHARMAIN. ARE. SO. CUTE. I love sweet student-teacher relationships like that)
-I, too, am happy that Jamal's dog has finally found love.
-SOPHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
-SOPHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE oh my gosh it's SOPHIE (who, from other POVs who are not poor traumatized abdullah is evidentally quite gorgeous and NOW DRESSES HERSELF PROPERLY)
-And Morgan. (now a toddler!)
-And Calcifer (who is weirdly sweet in this book. FACT: apparently Sophie reads to him sometimes. He likes murder mysteries the best)
-... ...and Howl. What. WHAT. (...I really got nothing on Howl in this book. What the HELL, HOwl)
-"But don't you think I'm pwetty?" "Yes. DISGUSTINGLY pretty." ♥ ♥ ♥!
-sometimes I wish DWJ would do more with royal/magic politics as she sets them up, because the hints we get of them over the books are really just plain interesting. ONce again there's a funny little note the King gives about how you can't poach another country's Royal Wizard, and likewise we have another "Witch Of' title. I'm so very curious about what goes into all of that, but am willing to accept that we don't get to learn all this because most would not want to read a book that is all politics.
-"Or I won't deserve the years Sophie gave me." CALCIFER.
-'In Which Calcifer is Very Busy' no. kidding.
-On that vein, the castle's got nukes.
-The CASTLE HAS GOT NUKES.
-I sort of wish the Many Ways aspect of the House had come more into play. It's okay, though. Overall I think this is the mostly strongly plotted of the books yet. Howl's Moving Castle was really a collection of domestic antics woven together by a fairly loose plot. Castle in the Air was an adventure story with its odd clumsy bits. House of Many Ways is a mystery that ties its threads together pretty dang decently.
-Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer make a really surprisingly functional team, not to mention a fairly awesome family dynamic as well. (Sophie pulling BIG SCARY MOTHER LIONESS over Morgan is one of the highlights) Sadly, Michael once again did not get invited to the party. I can only hope one day he'll get to appear again. But overall I think the book did a great job of balancing characters we know with characters we don't know. Charmain and her adventures was genuinely entertaining and exciting. And Howl and crew's part both made sense and didn't upstage her in any way.
-AND THE CASTLE'S GOT NUKES
So, I finished House of Many Ways! About three days after grabbing it off the shelves! I guess it's about time I write a proper review.
-Here we are in High Norland! Otherwise known as 'That Other Country That Went To War With Ingary and Had That Really Old Princess'. Hooray for more worldbuilding! As it turns out High Norland is a very quaint little mountain country with financial issues and strong political ties (re: intermarriage) with Strangia, thus explaining their participation in aforementioned war with Ingary!
-CHARMAIN. Oh my god Charmain. I do love DWJ's protagonists dearly, but so often they tend to be the archetype of 'put upon, sensible, polite little girl in the face of madness and/or HORRIBLE ABUSE'. Charmain is not sensible. Charmain is not polite. Charmain is not very nice. Charmain is, however, very put upon. Charmain also has an AWFUL TEMPER and has no trouble SHOWING it. 'Fierce' is definately the word to describe her. The fact that she's also an avid reader who just wants people to go away so she can SIT DOWN with her BOOK is also quite refreshing. It's nice to have an anti-social character who's anti-social for reasons that really don't involve horrible persecution. But I think DWJ's proven she's quite good at that. (See also: cast of Witch Week. I should talk about Witch Week some day.)
-Her parents are also refreshingly functional! I LOVE HER DAD, THE ALL OF ONE SCENE WE GET OF HIM.
-Peter is also enjoyable, although he had less of a clear role until the ending revelation. And even then it was hilariously underplayed. I pretty much guessed what was up with him when we saw the first page in that one book. Who loves a poor dyslexic would-be wizard's apprentice who thinks he knows what's best for everything? BOY I SURE DO. Him and Charmain play off of eachother very well, and he's definatley a necessary force in the exploration of the house.
-There is a house. It does have many ways. It is a character in its own right, as much as the castle in the first book. It seems like we've gone back to the roots of the Howl's Moving Castle series: hysterical domestic antics in a magic household! I approve.
-... the thing with the Lubbock made me stop and wonder if children should really be reading this though.
-NO SERIOUSLY, HOLY CRAP THAT WAS THE THING OF NIGHTMARES. OR ALIEN.
-lubbocks and kobolds and elves, oh my!
-Good to see Madame Pentstemmon is still apparently a gigantic badass by way of the CONTINUED NUMBER OF RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME FORMER STUDENTS OF HERS TURNING UP.
-I love the King of High Norland! And PRINCESS HILDA. Oooh boy do NOT mess with Princess Hilda! Also, are we supposed to assume she's gay or that she just isn't interested in men, period? I'm waffling on that. "I heard she never married because she was crossed in love." "No, it was nothing like that. She's just never been the marrying type." (p.s. THE KING AND CHARMAIN. ARE. SO. CUTE. I love sweet student-teacher relationships like that)
-I, too, am happy that Jamal's dog has finally found love.
-SOPHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
-SOPHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE oh my gosh it's SOPHIE (who, from other POVs who are not poor traumatized abdullah is evidentally quite gorgeous and NOW DRESSES HERSELF PROPERLY)
-And Morgan. (now a toddler!)
-And Calcifer (who is weirdly sweet in this book. FACT: apparently Sophie reads to him sometimes. He likes murder mysteries the best)
-... ...and Howl. What. WHAT. (...I really got nothing on Howl in this book. What the HELL, HOwl)
-"But don't you think I'm pwetty?" "Yes. DISGUSTINGLY pretty." ♥ ♥ ♥!
-sometimes I wish DWJ would do more with royal/magic politics as she sets them up, because the hints we get of them over the books are really just plain interesting. ONce again there's a funny little note the King gives about how you can't poach another country's Royal Wizard, and likewise we have another "Witch Of' title. I'm so very curious about what goes into all of that, but am willing to accept that we don't get to learn all this because most would not want to read a book that is all politics.
-"Or I won't deserve the years Sophie gave me." CALCIFER.
-'In Which Calcifer is Very Busy' no. kidding.
-On that vein, the castle's got nukes.
-The CASTLE HAS GOT NUKES.
-I sort of wish the Many Ways aspect of the House had come more into play. It's okay, though. Overall I think this is the mostly strongly plotted of the books yet. Howl's Moving Castle was really a collection of domestic antics woven together by a fairly loose plot. Castle in the Air was an adventure story with its odd clumsy bits. House of Many Ways is a mystery that ties its threads together pretty dang decently.
-Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer make a really surprisingly functional team, not to mention a fairly awesome family dynamic as well. (Sophie pulling BIG SCARY MOTHER LIONESS over Morgan is one of the highlights) Sadly, Michael once again did not get invited to the party. I can only hope one day he'll get to appear again. But overall I think the book did a great job of balancing characters we know with characters we don't know. Charmain and her adventures was genuinely entertaining and exciting. And Howl and crew's part both made sense and didn't upstage her in any way.
-AND THE CASTLE'S GOT NUKES
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-25 02:35 pm (UTC)(Yeah, the Lubbock part made me go "....?!?!?! HOLY CRAP")