The High House

by James Stoddard

Book Overview

25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe. The lamps must be lit or the stars die.The clocks must be wound or Time ceases.The Balance between... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446606790
• ISBN13: 9780446606790
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

An infinity of rooms

"The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year, /The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear" (from "Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterton). Every good fantasy is allegorical of some view of the universe. "The High House" concerns itself with the battle between the created Universe and Chaos. I use 'created' in the religious sense of the word. This book is filled with robust, old-fashioned Victorian religion--"Onward, Christian Soldiers" and all that--in which God and Newton ordered the heavens and our world. The Master of High House (also called Evenmere) has been given the task of balancing the forces of chaos against those of the created universe. In High House, which seems to have an infinity of corridors and rooms, certain lamps must always be lit against nightfall, and certain clocks must always be kept wound. Leviathan lives in the attic, and the dark river of Entropy is kept behind a locked door in the cellar. There is also a Room of Horrors in the cellar where the Master's little son, Carter is imprisoned by the Forces of Chaos, whose representative is a faceless English Bobby. His father rescues him, but Chaos steals the master keys to the hidden rooms of High House. After the faceless Bobby catches Carter again and throws him down a well, the Master of High House decides to foster Carter out to friends, who live in safe, sane Victorian England. Fourteen years pass before Carter returns to Evenmere and sees it as an adult: "For the first time he realized it was a truly beautiful pile of building, all masonry, oak, and deep golden brick, a unique blend of styles--Elizabethan and Jacobean fused with Baroque...Upon the balustrades and turrets stood carved lions, knights, gnomes, and pinecones; iron crows faced outward at the four corners. The Elizabethan entrance, the centerpiece of the manor, was framed by gargantuan gate piers and pavilions, combining Baroque outlines with Jacobean ornamentation...At the main entrance stood the tall, gray marble sculpture of a figure dressed in the robe of a monk, his hood thrown back from his face, his long locks rippling over his shoulders, eyes to the sky, his muscled arms held before him as if he faced a great northern storm, more like a god of thunder, despite the cross hanging from his neck, than a pious pilgrim." Carter's father, the Master of High House has disappeared down one of the House's hidden corridors to the Land of the Rainbow Sea. In his absence, the Forces of Chaos erupt into the House, and Carter must do battle with them, as he learns the awesome secret of High House and discovers how he might rescue his missing father. "The High House" is a unique venture into fantasy. I had to keep checking the publication date (1998) to convince myself it was actually written in the twentieth, not the nineteenth century. The House itself is lovingly described in all of its beauty and horror. Unfortunately the characters are not as well delineated--the only tw

Wow!

I'm not an avid fantasy fan, but I had a chance to meet Mr. Stoddard and get an autographed copy so I read the book. Wow! I was very impressed! HIGH HOUSE is written with an older style, emphasizing the characters and the description more than the action--although there is still plenty of action!The bad guy, the Bobby, was an excellent character--even though, yes, he was an anarchist! (Look it up, guys, and you'll find that Webster defines the term just like James Stoddard uses it with his characters--lawlessness and disorder.)I highly recommend this book, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel.

"What is the High House?"

"...If we stood here until the end of the world, you and I, the explanation would not be done, for I could tell you...a thousand different ways:...It would all mean nothing--pictures with words painted in mud, tinfoil copies of precious jewels, oil-slick dabbings with watercolor easels. Never close to the real thing. "But I will tell you this, the High House is shooting stars and children's tears, rainbows and the small tiny cracks between the bricks where the young grass grows; cold graves and gooseflesh, clear water when drowning, gray dust when dying of thirst, ancient engineers in railroad yards, mad ladies mumbling in the street. Is that clear? No? It will have to do. What is the next question?" _The High House_ is a fabulous book. Where to start? The writing is amazing. If I hadn't known it was published in 1998, I would have easily believed it was 1898. It reminds me of Tolkien--what Tolkien might have written if he hadn't been so dry and impersonal. The ideas are original and refreshing. From the gnawlings to Jormungand to, especially, the House itself, all the details of this book will remain with me for a long, long time. I can't think of any aspect of this book that isn't just about perfect. All my book-loving friends are getting this for Christmas. Very highly recommended.

A worthy successor to Narnia!

I have not been so taken by a book since I first read C.S. Lewis's "Narnia" books (a comparison that Mr. Stoddard makes mention of in his introduction). I was amazed by his invention and storytelling abilities, especially since this is his first novel.My wife and I spent several evenings reading chapters of this tale to one another, never wanting to put the book down until it was much too late in evening and our eyes simply wouldn't stay open.If you enjoy a fantastic tale with a spiritual twist this is the book for you. From the fantastic house itself to the many worlds that it contains you will be spellbound by this story. If your tastes allow for the occasional oddity of man-eating furniture or faceless villain then you are in for a treat.I look forward anxiously to James Stoddard's next novel.

A delight

Stoddard's account of the High House Evenmere and young Carter Anderson's maturation into power as its master is a superb and original first novel. This book features a house which is the mechanism that runs the universe, the Biblical character Enoch on the household staff, suitably scary villains, and ethical dilemmas (gasp!) which complement rather than drown the story. Above all, Stoddard can write. His prose is skillful and never excessive. Mood and atmosphere are wonderfully maintained throughout, and Stoddard's story never flags or disappoints. I read the book in one single late-night page-turning frenzy, and it was worth every yawn the next day. This is not a tired rehash of worn-out fantasy cliches, although Stoddard has obviously read the classics in the field and pays witty in-joke homage to MacDonald, Peake, Morrison, and others; instead it is a refreshingly unique, deceptively simple, and powerful tale. The book is a delight, and Stoddard is a name to watch for.