House of Many Ways (World of Howl, 3)

This is book 3 in the "Howl's Moving Castle" series and it's back in more familiar territory than book 2 was. The setting is pseudo-European rather than pseudo-Arab, and our favorite characters (i.e., Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, etc.) have larger parts in this book than the previous one -- although they're not the POV characters again, this time around.Perhaps because I'd just finished book 2 and knew what it was like, I expected the structure of this book to be what it was. Charmain is a young-ish woman, a bookworm, and she's been given the duty of watching her great-uncle's home while he is away for medical treatment. The great-uncle is a wizard and Charmain has neither household skills nor magical training (her mother doesn't believe it's respectable).She uses the opportunity of being away from home to write to the King and ask to assist him in making a catalog of all the documents/books/etc. in his library, a task she's heard is ongoing. Somewhat to her surprise, the King accepts her help. Early in her stay at the wizard's home, a boy named Peter shows up, claiming to be apprenticed to the wizard. Charmain is rather frustrated by Peter, who attempts all manner of spells but can't seem to get them right, no matter what. Also joining Charmain and Peter at the wizard's home is a small dog, Waif.I rather enjoyed the descriptions of the house. It seems like a total dump at first, with bags of laundry strewn everywhere (the source of all these bags of laundry is never mentioned) and half-empty teapots covering many surfaces. And only a few small rooms, including a kitchen sink without any taps for getting water out! Charmain soon discovers that there is more to the house than there seems. I like the process of discovery of the house's secrets very much, and the idea that the sequence of steps and turns you take in a hallway can make the hallway lead somewhere other than what you expected. I also enjoyed the humor of some of Charmain's and Peter's attempts at housekeeping, some of which turn out better than others.All is not right in this kingdom, though, and Charmain is given a second task as part of an investigation into the kingdom's problems, so there's a bit of a mystery involved, as well. It's nicely worked into the story, and even ties back to some seemingly unrelated events from the earliest part of the book. So the whole thing comes together very well into a unified whole.Charmain isn't my favorite lead character from Diana Wynne Jones, but she's suitably complex. I think the main thing I don't get about her is the notion that she ALWAYS wants her head in a book, to the exclusion of nearly anything else. She's also rather short with Peter, even though he's actually willing to step in and do the housework on occasion (though she often resolves to be nicer to him). However, she does undergo a bit of a transformation and becomes more well-rounded as the story progresses. Peter is reasonably well-developed for a secondary character. None of the other characters have a lot of depth (though of course we know Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer from before, as well as Jamal the cook and his dog from book 2). But this is really Charmain's book.As with the previous two books, I'd say this is fairly suitable for children. The book contains no adult language or situations. There's some violence with respect to magical creatures and transformed magical creatures in this volume that seems a little darker than anything in the previous books, so watch out for that. It's not described in gory detail or anything. It was just a little surprising considering the tone of the earlier books.Finally, if you liked the madcap nature of the final confrontation scenes from the previous two books, well, the author has done it again -- gathered a lot of people (and sometimes a few animals) in the same room for a bit of action, some revelations, and a lot of noise. I think these scenes are always great fun, and this book's final confrontation was no exception.In the end, I think book 1 was the best in the series, book 2 flagged a little for me, and book 3 is a pretty strong comeback, although not quite as near and dear to me as book 1. 4.5 stars.

This is yet another independent book from Howl's castle series. A new character Charmain took the leading role of the book, and the author introduced a new story. The readers can also find the appearance of Sophie, Howl, and Calcifer, and those familiar appearance makes the reader more related to the book.

This is the third book of the "Howl's Moving Castle" trilogy. I discovered Diana Wynne Jones's books thanks to Miyazaki's brilliant animation of the first novel. Now that I've read all three, here are my thoughts. Wynne Jones is funny, wildly imaginative, and creates fantasy worlds at least as compelling as J.K. Rowling's and Neil Gaiman's. In the "Howl's Moving Castle," she teases us with the possibility that the entire set of fantasy kingdoms is a metafiction created by the hero (or antihero?) Howell Jenkins, a young Welsh designer of computer games with an overbearing sister in law. In the second, she takes us to a world of Arabian Nights tales, in which another young man with big dreams and bossy relatives may have created the whole thing out of his fantasies. The heroine of the third is an obsessive bookworm. You get the picture. The novels feature battles between dueling magicians, characters transformed into animals by enchantments, and of course real animals with magical powers. I suspect that the utterly adorable and irresistable Waif, a little shaggy dog who loyally attaches himself to the heroine in "The House of Many Ways," inspired the equally loveable little dog Heen in Miyazaki's film of "Howl's Moving Castle." Anyway, if you love fantasy and British humor, you're going to enjoy Wynne Jones's books.

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.

This book was preferable to the second book, though the first book was still my favourite of the series. I enjoyed being able to read more about Sophie and Howl.Charmain was an interesting main character who started off as a rather irksome person, but developed to become a bit nicer (in a realistic way). Waif was a wonderful dog, loved this addition to the world. Peter didn't get a massive amount of page time, but he was interesting enough.Though this book leans more towards being character driven, the way the plot unfolded was compelling, and the settings and descriptions were rich and imaginative.Despite this technically being a children's book, I would recommend this to any age group that enjoys reading things with a touch of magic.

Book came quickly and as was as expected.

Es un libro perteneciente a una trilogía que también se puede leer como historia aparte.La historia fluye muy rápido y es interesante.De los pocos libros que da gusto tener en el librero

Initially I was after the same vibe as Howl's Moving Castle had, which is a nice fairytale romance with incredibly charismatic main characters and very subtle humour. I wanted more of Sophie and Howl. But it's not their story, although very enjoable as well. Zero romance, a lot of coziness, and yes, a quite charismatic main character. Can definitely recommend!

House Of Many Ways von Diana Wynne Jones ist nach Sophie im Schloß des Zauberers und Ziemlich viele Prinzessinnen der dritte Teil der Trilogie um den Zauberer Howl und sein wandelndes Schloß.Dieser Teil ist bisher nur auf englisch erschienen.Da ich es nicht abwarten konnte, zu warten, bis er auf deutsch erscheint, habe ich mich an diese Orignalfassung gewagt.Nun, das Lesen war gar nicht so leicht. Ständig mußte ich im Wörterbuch nachschaun. Viele, viel zu viele Vokabeln sind mir nicht geläufig. Auch wenn ich mein Abi in Englisch gemacht habe, muß ich gestehen, englische Bücher sind schwer zu lesen, auch wenn es Kinder- und Jugendbücher sind. Oft war ich dem dauerndem Nachschlagen müde und habe versucht, mir aus dem Zusammenhang den Inhalt zurechtzulegen. Grob gelang das auch. Schade war es aber trotzdem, nicht alles zu verstehen, denn so blieb die Fantasie ein bißchen auf der Strecke und ich konnte mich nicht so richtig ins Buch fallen lassen. Und gerade dieses Versinken und intensive Eintauchen in die Geschichte liebe ich so bei fantastischer Literatur.Trotzdem, die Mühe hat sich gelohnt! Dieses Buch ist einfach wundervoll! Von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Und wieder bin ich unendlich traurig, dass die Geschichte zu Ende ist.Es wäre so toll, wenn noch ein vierter Teil erscheinen würde! Nun, wenn das Buch auf deutsch erscheint, werde ich es noch einmal lesen. Bis dahin bleiben mir noch viele andere Werke von Diana Wynne Jones.Zum Inhalt:Zunächst erscheint auch dieser Teil unabhängig von seinen Vorgängern. Doch schon bald tauchen Sophie, Calcifer und Howl, sowie Jamal und sein Hund auf. Hauptfigur dieser Erzählung ist Charmain Baker.Charmain ist ein verwöhntes Mädchen, dass ihre Zeit am liebsten mit Lesen verbringt. Als eines Tages ihre Tante Sempronia mit einem Beschluß ihre Eltern aufsucht, ändert sich ihr bequemes Leben schlagartig. Großonkel William, ein Zauberer, ist schwer krank. Charmain muß sich ab sofort um sein Haus kümmern. Und dort herrscht Chaos. Die Küche ist übervoll mit Abwasch. Die Wasserleitungen explodieren und und und.Wie gut, dass Charmain nicht allein bleibt. Da ist zum einen der drollige Hund Waif. Und Peter, der plötzlich unerwartet vor der Tür steht. Das kleine Cottage des Zauberers entpuppt sich schon bald als ein riesiges Labyrinth, als das Haus der vielen Wege. Oberflächlich betrachtet scheint es nur aus Küche und Wohnzimmer zu bestehen, weiss man aber um die Tricks, so kommt man in eine Vielzahl anderer Zimmer, und sogar zum Palast des Königs und zu den Kobolden und auch die Vergangenheit.Wenn da nur nicht dieser Lubbock wäre. Irgendwie scheint das gesamte Königreich ein düsternes Geheimnis zu verbergen...Fazit:Ein großes Werk! Ich liebe es!Es hat wirklich Spaß gemacht es zu lesen, auch wenn es auf englisch war. Man sollte sich öfters mal so einer Herausforderung stellen. Es wäre sehr schade gewesen, hätte ich mich davon abschrecken lassen, dass es nicht auf deutsch ist.