Woo! Righteous HMC fangirl annoyance! And the thing about the panel is true. :( Silly people.
Anyway, I agree with you about HoMW primarily. It feels a lot like Conrad's Fate, especially with the arbitrary family ties, which is the weakest of the Chrestomanic books in my opinion. I spent my first read-through convinced that the Lubbock had laid eggs in Charmain and then saddened when the Lubbock had little to do with anything. It's almost a MacGuffin or DWJ's just using it an excuse to get the Charimain into a situation with little or no adult supervision.
I was disappointed to find the plot secondary to what DWJ obviously thought were a few interesting ideas (Howl as a toddler, the house), but I did like the reappearance of the Princess of High Norland, because the distribution of princesses in Castle in the Air was something I always appreciated.
I like House of Many Ways quite a bit, but it's really more fan service for fans of the universe. That said, if DWJ just wants to write fan service, then I'd love a book on Howl's backstory. :3
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-04-24 11:59 am (UTC)Anyway, I agree with you about HoMW primarily. It feels a lot like Conrad's Fate, especially with the arbitrary family ties, which is the weakest of the Chrestomanic books in my opinion. I spent my first read-through convinced that the Lubbock had laid eggs in Charmain and then saddened when the Lubbock had little to do with anything. It's almost a MacGuffin or DWJ's just using it an excuse to get the Charimain into a situation with little or no adult supervision.
I was disappointed to find the plot secondary to what DWJ obviously thought were a few interesting ideas (Howl as a toddler, the house), but I did like the reappearance of the Princess of High Norland, because the distribution of princesses in Castle in the Air was something I always appreciated.
I like House of Many Ways quite a bit, but it's really more fan service for fans of the universe. That said, if DWJ just wants to write fan service, then I'd love a book on Howl's backstory. :3