Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel): Difference between revisions

| setting= [[The Strange and Wonderful House]]<br>[[Hawk Manor]], [[Universe B (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|unnamed universe]]

| length= 60 chapters<br>32 appendices

| artist(s)=

| dates= May 27th, 2011 - September 10th, 2014

==Contents==

[[The Architect|An individual]] welcomes a group of writers who have gathered to participate in a “challenge”. They explain that what they are actually to do is to participate in the creation of a [[The Strange and Wonderful House|Strange and Wonderful House]], whose blueprints, infinite in proportions, are currently blank.

After stepping through a portal of some sort, an individual finds themself in [[the Courtyard]] of [[the Strange and Wonderful House|the House]], facing the gates of the estate proper, which appear to be made of a glowing golden metal, but are actually made of transparent tubing containing a multitude of luminous insects milling about, fulfilling unknown tasks. The gates open of their own accord and the visitor steps through as the portal sings behind them.

The visitor reaches the Anteroom, lit by a chandelier on which small groups of [[Fae|fairies]] dance. A pillar of cold light, burning [[fairy dust]], occupies the centre of the circular room, a portal that will transport whoever steps into it to the room of their choice. The visitor steps into the light.

[[The Pleasure Pad of Federico Ruiz]], the decadent domed leisure area overseen by [[Federico Ruiz]] is described.

[[The Catamaran Loos of Oceania]], [[The Strange and Wonderful House|the House]]'s bathroom, which contain an entire ocean, with the actual plumbing in the centre of a boat sailing the quiet nightly sea, are described.

[[Elshanor]] steps into [[the Library (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|the Library]] of [[the Strange and Wonderful House]], immediately noticing that the floorboards are as creaky as the doors of Hawk Manor's library. She walks through the Library to find a metallic door curiously ill-fitting for the decor of the room, which turns out to be the gleaming library bathroom, impossibly spotless, in stark contrast to the dust of the library. She notices a paperback copy of ''[[Les Misérables]]'' and debates taking it back to its proper place, but her musings are interrupted by another creaking sound in the room behind her.

[[The Theater Room]] is described. It is a haunting place where the unwary visitor may lose their freedom and sanity as they find themselves drawn into the dance of the inhuman “players” wearing human faces, with them soon performing for the players' amusement instead of the players for the visitor's — and in more permanent terms, the players are “always looking for fresh blood”.

The coat room allows visitors to entrust their outdoor garments to dwarves (or possibly giants), allowing them to move about the House unhindered and retrieve their gear upon departure. To venture into the storage areas alone is… unwise.

The narration promises that inside the closet is a portal to [[Narnia]] – and indeed that one could get to Narnia from any closet in the House. Perhaps it is true.

What they do with the lasers is never explained.

''( Chapter synopsis still in progress )''

====Jenny Everywhere====

Not being limited to a single sequential human lifetime, various incarnations of Jenny Everywhere both passed through the House and settled down to live within it.

Readers should take in the entire work – but some may want to specifically look up where instances of Jenny Everywhere appear.

Jenny Everywhere is named before she appears in person. The eighteenth chapter briefly describes a Jenny Everywhere Museum, where various incarnations of Jenny have stored mementos or dangerous artifacts.

Readers are given background information about the staff of the house, in the form of an interview with Jenny Everywhere.

Jenny is mentioned but does not appear.

No name is given for this person but she’s described as “a small teenaged girl ... dressed in a robe and aviator goggles.” Sound like someone we know?

The Guardian of the Ink Wells and a friend have a teleportation misadventure.

At the end, Jenny Everywhere ensures that not everything of the House is lost...

...and years later Jenny finds out what Lara Dar-Ek did with her souvenir of the House.

In the Epilogue Jenny arrives at the wrong time and told that Lora Dar-Ek passed away long ago, of old age – but also that she used her life well.

*Most of the story takes place in [[the Strange and Wonderful House]], which is “larger than most universes” and seems to connect to a number of alternative realities, though its exterior is physically located in [[Universe A (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|a universe]].

*[[Elshanor]] and [[Alastair (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|Alastair]] are from [[Universe B (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|another universe]].

*[[Will-o'-wisp]]s are found in [[the Courtyard]].

*[[The Pleasure Pad of Federico Ruiz]] is compared to “a pearl on the red rock of [[Mars]]”.

*According to the author's comments of Chapter 3, the Pleasure Pad is not actually “the seedy underbelly of the House” because that name is better applied to “[[The Illegal Underground Greenhouse|the illegal underground greenhouse]]”.

*Among the books kept in [[Hawk Manor]]'s library are various [[Ficlets]] works and the ''[[Ficlinomicon]]'', which needs to be kept in a case wrapped with chains.

*Walking back into her dusty, long-abandoned home makes [[Elshanor]] feel “like [[Pip]] in ''[[Great Expectations]]''”.

*[[PROSE]]: ''[[Overgrown (short story)|Overgrown]]'' served as an epilogue to the story (and is incorporated as such into the 2022 edition). It did not take place in or near [[the Strange and Wonderful House]], but revealed the fate of the [[House seed]] introduced in ''[[The Fall of the Strange and Wonderful House (short story)|The Fall of the Strange and Wonderful House]]'' as the last remnant of the House after its destruction.