Reviews

The High House by James Stoddard

dantastic's review

4.0

I'm about halfway though this one at the moment. How can you not like a book where one of the characters is a talking dinosaur that lives in the attic? High House has some pleasing similarities to the Castle series by John DeChancie but surpasses it in inventiveness.

christineallison22's review against another edition

I usually don't write reviews, but this book deserved it. It was recommended to me as a good read for fans of Narnia, Middle Earth, fantasy in general...So many fantasy books that came after Lewis and Tolkien have been essentially imitations, riffing on themes we've seen before, but Stoddard has truly produced an original work here. I was captivated with his rich descriptions of infinite worlds which are also somehow incorporated into the house's architecture (worlds are not just hills and open lands, but are also comprised of furnished rooms and corridors). Each character, even the servants, are developed such that the reader genuinely cares about them. It is an easy read2 yet thought-provoking at every turn. With a lot of fantasies where the lines between good and bad are often overly blurred, it was refreshing to read a classic 'good vs. evil' tale; but don't mistake this for childish simplicity. There are still one or two characters who seem to toe the line between the two forces, who provide subtlety and complexity to the narrative. I would definitely put this on my list of favourite books ever, and it's been a long time since I've added a new read to that list! Can't wait to read the next books!