House of Many Ways
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| Written by: | Diana Wynne Jones |
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| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | Charmain Baker looks after her great-uncle Wizard Norland's house and gets roped into far more than what she agreed to do. |
| Genre(s): | Fantasy |
| Series: | Howl's Castle |
| Preceded by: | Castle in the Air |
| First published: | June 7, 2008 |
| More Information | |
| The Wiki Rule: | Howl's Moving Castle Wiki |
House of Many Ways is the second sequel to Diana Wynne Jones's novel Howl's Moving Castle.
It is set a couple of years after its predecessor. Again, a new protagonist is introduced as the book follows the story of Charmain, a sheltered bookworm who is assigned to caretake a cottage for her Great Uncle (who is also the Royal Wizard) but soon discovers the cottage is a magical labyrinth in disguise. The cast of the first book are given more involved roles than their cameo appearances in Castle in the Air, but still stay secondary to Charmain's plot.
See Howl's Castle for the list of tropes common to all of the books in this franchise.
Tropes used in House of Many Ways include:
- Berserk Button: The moment the fire demon Calcifer hears about lubbocks, lubbockins, or lubbock eggs, things won't go well for anyone within a very large radius. The demon will relentlessly pursue a fire demon, making thunderstorms appear in the sky and sending Howl's moving castle after it. Blinding lights and deafening noises will appear, along with a large crater where the lubbock used to be.
- Bizarrchitecture: Wizard Norland's house. It's called House of Many Ways for a reason. Turn left at a door, you'll end up in one place. Turn right, and you'll end up in another. Go straight, and you'll find yet another room. The house appears to only have two rooms, but once you start turning left after stepping through the kitchen door, the vastness of the house reveals itself.
- Body Horror: In the description of how lubbocks reproduce. They normally tear up a human being and eat them for food, however in breeding season, they lay their eggs inside someone. After twelve months — the delay makes the process more horrifying as hosts think they are safe — they claw their way outside of their human hosts. Females give birth to them, like they give birth to children, and males straight up die. What's more horrifying is that the offspring lubbockin is very easy to mistake for a human, and one can have a child with the offspring.
- Bookworm: Charmain and Princess Hilda. In almost every chapter Charmain does something with books, whether it be reading or sorting letters out in the royal library. She often dives into a book instead of helping Peter with house chores.
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"Yes, but I want to help you with the books!" |
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- Deliberately Cute Child: Twinkle, who is actually Howl in magical disguise.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Twinkle talks like this. This is especially infuriating for Sophie because it's just Howl being chaotic and unpredictable. Again.
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"They forgot to invite me," Twinkle's sweet little voice replied. "That'th thilly. You can't tort out thith meth on your own, Thophie. You need me." |
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- The Evil Prince: Prince Ludovic, contrasting the much nicer King of High Norland. Justified, in that he is an Exclusively Evil lubbockin.
- Exactly What it Says on the Tin: The spells in Great-Uncle William's The Boke of Palimpsest (yes, it's spelt Boke), with things like "A Spell to Start a Fire" and "A Spell to Become Invisible".
- Exact Words: Charmain's letter she writes to the Royal Library, applying for a position of being an assistant. She says she is of age, which should be interpreted as someone being over twenty-one or at least eighteen, but Charmain has never specified what age she is of. She also left out the fact that she has no qualifications.
- Charmain told the kobolds to not cut down Great-Uncle William's flower bushes, so they cut down the flowers growing from the bushes instead. Why? Because they believe that the only valid colour for flowers is blue.
- Exclusively Evil: Lubbocks and lubbockin.
- Face Full of Alien Wingwong: How lubbocks reproduce. If you're male, then you'll have the mercy of dying. If you're female... shivers and good luck.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: High Norland, in which House of Many Ways is set, is quite Switzerland-like--with the rolling, snowy mountains and meadows, the cuckoo clocks/sleds, tiny impish creatures, and all.
- Gambit Pileup: Reading the last chapter, it's amazing how pretty much every single main character had a plan of their own in action, or was following someone else's, and how everything connected so well.
- Gender Bender: The dog Waif transforms himself -- um, herself -- into a female after Charmain arrives.
- The Illegible: Howl's handwriting is frankly horrible -- Charmain wonders to herself if he uses a pen or a poker when he's writing.
- Info Dump: Peter's mother, the Witch of Montalbino, gives one in the last chapter, explaining how she and her husband Hans moved away because they don't want to become king and queen, then had Peter as a child. She consults Mrs. Pentstemmon, introduced in the first book, who tells her that her cousin Prince Ludovic is a lubbock. Peter is sent away for protection, and she hunts down the Elfgift to provide this protection.
- Large Ham: Howl, and Melicot.
- Lethal Chef: Peter is a terrible cook. Charmain gets so desperate, she asks her father, a baker, for a cookbook for him.
- She is an even worse cook and still likes his food better than her own. She didn't even know how to cook.
- Little People: The kobolds such as Rollo.
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Charmain flinched away and nearly screamed again when the hydrangeas bent aside to let a small blue man hop out onto the path. "Are you in charge here now?" this small blue person demanded in a small hoarse voice |
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- MacGuffin Girl: It turns that Waif is the fabled Elfgift. She's a dog.
- Mama Bear: Sophie. Do NOT harm Morgan Jenkins if you know what's good for you. Howl also has a Papa Wolf moment when Prince Ludovic threatens Morgan, leading Howl to punch him in the face. Twice.
- Meaningful Name: Charmain Baker is the character main. Her family, surprisingly, bakes.
- Mystical Waif: Guess who. It's a bit difficult, but we'll give you a hint: it starts with 'W' and ends with 'F'. Did you guess the dog Waif? Congratulations! The dog is said to be an enchanting dog, who adopted Charmain. She is the holder of the Elfgift, able to protect members of royalty. This is especially needed, as Prince Ludovic turns out to be a lubbock, and characters desperately need protection from him.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: In the last chapter, Sophie stubs her toe, and "said a bad word".
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"Naughty-naughty", Twinkle said. |
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- Oh, Look. More Rooms.: The book is called House of Many Ways for a reason. From the outside, the house is small and modest, and there only appears to be two rooms -- the living room and the kitchen -- inside. But turn left from the kitchen door, and you'll reach the bathrooms and bedrooms. Turn right, and you'll arrive at a dark conference room. Keep going, and you can eventually go back in time or to the royal mansion.
- Opposite Gender Protagonists: Charmain Baker and Peter. Charmain, sent to look after Great-Uncle William Norland's house, encounters Peter. Peter asks to be apprenticed to Wizard Norland, but arrives in the house while he's sick, when Charmain was in charge. The two do not get along, and their interactions provide some humour. Charmain, being a secluded child lacking many basic skills, has to learn from Peter how to wash dishes and hang up the laundry. Charmain only wishes to be a Bookworm, reading books instead of helping Peter out. She volunteers to sort out letters and books in the royal library, leaving Peter alone to do jobs in the house -- a fact which he complains about.
- Our Elves Are Better: House Of Many Ways has a few brief appearances of elves of the "very tall, very beautiful" variety. They're also the best doctors! So although they're aloof, they aren't entirely stuck-up.
- Parenting the Husband: Poor Sophie has to deal with Howl's many, many childish antics.
- Portal to the Past: Among the house's many ways. Peter stumbles across one of those while exploring the house.
- Purple Is Powerful: Lubbocks and lubbockins have purple eyes. And oh boy, they are powerful, able to lay their eggs inside a human. You do not want to stumble across one in the wild.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The King of High Norland. Not only is he willing to listen to Charmain and consider her opinions, but he respects her and is thankful to her for offering to help him in the library. Plus, he's just a generally good person. Prince Ludovic, on the other hand...
- Redheaded Hero: Charmain.
- Samus Is a Girl: Waif the dog was originally thought to be male. Even the third person omniscient narrator makes the mistake until Peter points out that Waif is female. Then, it is revealed that Waif pulled a Gender Bender after meeting (and effectively imprinting upon) Charmain.
- Stable Time Loop: So, Wizard Norland specifically wants Charmain to watch his house because earlier in his life Charmain's friend whom she met while watching the house appeared to the Wizard and told him about Charmain?
- Spell Book: Great-Uncle William's The Boke of Palimpsest, containing instructions and ingredients needed to cast various spells. The book is Charmain's first introduction to magic. The book has a mind of its own, turning its pages whenever Charmain looks away for a single second, leading her to cast many spells at the same time.
- Trash of the Titans: Just like Howl's castle from the first instalment, Great-Uncle William's house is absolutely messy, with dishes piled high in the kitchen, and a squalid bedroom. Charmain dumping her stuff when she arrived does not help.
- The X of Y: House of Many Ways
- In universe, with the book Memoirs of an Exorcist, which Charmain stumbles upon while finding a book to read.
- Vague Age: Charmain said that she is of age, but never says what age she is of.
- What's Up, King Dude?: Charmain volunteers herself to sort out objects in the royal library, and have lots of casual conversations with the king in the process.
- Won't Take Yes for An Answer: Charmain initially writes to the royal library volunteering as an assistant to sort out its contents. She never expect the library to accept her, and repeatedly tell herself that what she is doing is a ridiculous idea and will not work. They accepted. Cue mental panic as she rushes to ask Peter what day it is, and speed walks out the house the next day.