Name: The High House
ISBN: 9780446606790

James Stoddard

When, as a child, Carter Anderson loses his father's key ring which holds the keys to doors in the High House--a place which controls the balance of the universe--it has disastrous effects when a sinister group of anarchists gain access to the House

The High House

** spoiler alert **
           3.5, but I'm rounding up to four, I think. 

Hmm - bit of an odd one. On one hand, if you've read the Oz books, Gormenghast, and especially Narnia, the book will feel very familiar. It seemed like a weird hodge-podge of all the fantasy books I read as a child. There's something very familiar and comforting about that, but also just a tiny bit irritating?

I did appreciate Carter's vulnerability. He's an adult man who isn't afraid to cry or get frightened, and I really felt he was overcoming the challenges that lay before him to become master of the house. He obviously suffers from a lot of trauma and that colours his view of things.

Not really any women in this book. There's the evil stepmother, of course - the evil siren/temptress for a little while - and a stoic leader we see for a few pages, but that's about it. 

I read another review that said this was "such a Tory book". I had to laugh, because yeah, kind of? 

Oh, yeah. Christian themes. (There's a Jewish guy who's actually mates with God as well and has hung out with him?). God made the house probably, just like he made Narnia. So...there you are.

This debut novel introduces an extraordinary talent which mixes Mervyn Peake's GORMENGHAST with epic fantasy. A masterful allegory of Good vs. Evil, it features a living, sentient house where each room constitutes its own disparate, fantastic world populated by strange and wondrous characters. Already lauded by writers such as Greg Bear, R. A. Salvatore and David Feintuch, THE HIGH HOUSE is a triumph of the imagination which will electrify readers and critics alike.

Janice Hopper

I liked this book the way I remember liking some William Morris (e.g., The Well at the World's Inn) or William Hope Hodgson books. The writing is rather baroque, more reminiscent of late 19th century than current 21st century. 

The book takes place in a house, Evenmere, that may be the world, or it may affect the world, or something. It has endless rooms and corridors. It's full of marvels, both wondrous, and fearsome. It seems to contain whole countries, oceans, peoples.

Carter Anderson, son of the old Master of the house, was sent away for his own safety years ago. But now he's back! He's battling the forces of chaos that are embodied in the anarchists. The anarchists are led by the Bobby, who in appearance is an English policeman (a bobby, hence the cover illustration.) Carter's father vanished ten years ago, and no one know what became of him.

Can Carter become the new Master of the house? Can he mend fences with his step-mother and step-brother? Can he keep the stars burning and save the far-flung areas of the House?

If you like books like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, or Morris or Hodgson, you might like this book. I happen to like both real Victorian and pseudo-Victorian prose stylings, so I liked that about the book. The endless tramping through corridors of the house got a bit tedious sometimes. But balance that with lavish descriptions of decorations, clothing, foods, etc. 

It's not bad. I read it in smallish chunks. That worked for me.

The High House

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