Diana Wynne Jones

Tim Stevens

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. In no time at all, Charmain becomes involved in a magical adventure.

House of Many Ways

Bria

it was a little boring, so it was harder to get into. the first book is my favorite of the series but nothing hits like the movie.

Sarah Sammis

Marginalized	Uhoria	Maze	66CCCC - I have a feeling book three was inspired by the author watching the adaptation of the first book. There are a lot of scenes that are straight up from the movie version of Howl's Moving Castle, just recast.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

Christine

Ryan LaFerney

House of Many Ways introduces a new set of characters, much like Castle in the Air did. Charmain Baker is our hapless heroine who gets more than she bargained for when she house sits for her Great-Uncle William, who also happens to be the royal wizard. All she wants to do is read! She doesn't want to be caught up in magic and adventure! (As a joke, Charmain is often mistakenly called Miss Charming, which she is decidedly not.) Charmain’s little get away in her Great-Uncle’s house is interrupted by the arrival of Peter, a wizard apprentice who can’t do magic correctly. He’s there to study under Charmain’s wizard uncle, as arranged by his mother. Too bad Great-Uncle William has been carted off by elves to be treated for his illness. Now there are two hapless people living in a house that is more than it seems.

House of Many Ways is another fun romp in the world DWJ's has created. If you’re looking for a book with great female leads who are more than just a Strong Female Characters trope, read this!

The sequel to Jones's bestseller "Howl's Moving Castle." Charmain looks after Great-Uncle William's house while he is away, but she's unprepared for the house itself. But she "is" prepared for reading--and that makes her indispensable to the Wizard Howl.

Kira Del Caro

The Howl's Moving Castle serires was my first from DWJ but I love her style of writing and fell in love with her characters. Personally, I liked this book (even though it was the third in the series) the most of all three. The main character was so funny to me and I just couldn't put it down.

Mark Wadley

HOUSE OF MANY WAYS by Diana Wynne Jones: May was a rough brain month, which means I had a hard time focusing on a book instead of blankly staring at my phone. Enter this lovely 400 pages of comfort reading.

A sequel to HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, HOUSE takes place in the next pseudo-continental kingdom over and follows the adventures of burgeoning witch Charmain as she grows into herself and helps save her country from the looming threat of giant purple bug people.

Like HOWL, it's a delight, if a bit more chaotic. Jones has an incredible knack for worldbuilding through story, with the focus entirely on the adventure at hand and all the important little details falling into place on the way to a satisfying end. 

Is HOUSE as good as HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE? Not really—that book has more going on in a tightly-wrapped package than this wild sprint. But if there’s one trope in all of fantasy literature I find completely irresistible, it’s a complicated magical house with plenty of secrets—and the titular HOUSE OF MANY WAYS delivers.

Ken Yuen

Feels like the lowest point of the trilogy. As adorkable as Charmaine is, she's just not as funny or charming as Sophie or Abdullah. Also, housesitting a magic house is still as boring as housesitting is. It's too bad, since a bookworm that just wants to escape into books is a pretty good set up for a heroine.

jiaqi kang

i loved charmain as a character, but oh my god this was chaotic, meaningless, and impossible to follow. no wonder i couldn't remember a single thing about this book before i reread it. if i have to read about both morgan and twinkle again i will commit arson.

roosmarijn

i can’t articulate thoughts right now but boy oh boy i loved every second of this series

House of Many Ways

Reviews