The High House
The Evenmere Chronicles, Book 1
James Stoddard
Aspect
Fiction, Fantasy
Themes: Buildings with Character, Religious Themes, Weirdness
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Description
The High House of Evenmere is a great conglomeration of rooms and passages that seems to extend forever... and just might. Its labyrinthine halls
and vast rooms contain whole kingdoms, and its many walls and windows and doorways intersect with others. The Master of Evenmere has the task of
keeping order and fighting the forces of Entropy and Chaos across the worlds which the house spans. Should they take the High House, all of Eternity
would perish and Chaos would rule.
Carter is the son of Ashton Anderson, Master of Evenmere. Sent away as a boy on the wishes of an ambitious, power-hungry stepmother, he returns as a
man to find his father missing, the Master Keys in the hands of evil anarchists led by a dark force called the Bobby, and terror spreading through the
kingdoms of the High House. A new Master must be found to make things right, for if the High House falls, whole worlds will suffer.
Review
It looked like a nice idea: a big, old house that touches on and contains whole other worlds. I used to watch the series America's Castles
on occasion, so I'm a sucker for huge, elaborate constructions. At first, that's what I got. Every time the characters entered a room, I was treated to a
paragraph or two describing it, from the carpet to the ceiling. Whenever they found a secret passage, the author generously provided a detailed accounting
of how it opened and where it led, be it a dead end or another room. Every time they ate, I got a description of what they ate, with what decorated
silverware, on what dishes, and under which chandelier. Even when they were being chased and in fear for their very lives, every room, hallway, doorway,
and doorknob encountered was elaborated upon.
Every. Single. One.
I wouldn't have minded if Stoddard had been thoughtful enough to provide a plot to go with it, or at least one interesting character. But he knew that doing
so would detract from his descriptions, so the whole deal with the quest for the Master Keys and such is left in the background while he waxes poetic on the
High House. It was indeed a spectacular house, but there was just a little too much of it. It went beyond interesting to surreal in the first third of the
book, and thereafter passed into mind-numbing repetition. Perhaps if the action had moved outside the house a little more, to take a break from yet another
empty room or dead-end secret passage, it would've been better. As it was, things got really old really fast. The writing style was like something from
another era, with a lackluster hero (who is the hero just because he's the main character, not through any special personality attributes, wisdom, or
accomplishments) traveling from one surreal situation filled with caricature characters to the next. The villains were no more dynamic, following no more
logical a path than the good guys. Try as I might, I just could not take a bad guy named "the Bobby" seriously! Somewhere around the 1/3 mark, I found myself
skimming here and there, and by the 2/3 mark I was only hitting a few sentences a page. It's the only way I made it to the ending, which was just as dull as
the rest of the book. As a topper, there's at least one sequel. After the agony of crawling through this story? I don't think so. I'll stick with America's
Castles. At least they break for commercials occasionally.