The Thief of Always: A Fable

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The point that [Harvey] realizes he is, in a sense, the spiritual child of Mr. Hood is the point at which he realizes he can destroy

Harvey and his friends’ experiences ultimately teach them about gratitude, leaving them with the wisdom to respect their parents and their real lives. Harvey must learn the hard way that actions, including wishes, have consequences and that sometimes it’s better to simply be grateful for what one has instead of focusing on what one could have. Questioning Others and Ourselves It is short, with nice pictures, 'drawn by the man himself,' and moves along at a fair clip. And I'm hoping that there will be readers who come to this book and open it and enter its worlds more readily than maybe they would have done with Weaveworld or Imajica; and then in turn they'll be led on to those books." The man introduces himself as Rictus and explains he flew in through the window. Harvey is caught up by the notion of flying—so much so that he doesn’t even wonder how the man knows his name. Their conversation starts as a brief question and answer session, but when Harvey interrogates Rictus, the man becomes less friendly. Rictus offers Harvey an adventure and tells Harvey he can take it or leave it—he’s just trying to “help.”

The next day, Harvey meets a boy named Wendell. They build a tree house together and plan to fish in the lake until they are stopped by Mrs. Griffin, who says the fish are “poisonous.” Harvey decides to visit the lake anyway but finds there is no sun, and the fish seem to be staring at him. I am so very happy, after all this time, that I finally made the time for this one. It's an absolute treat. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a classic-feeling spooky story. Bonus, it's perfect for this time of year.

Mrs. Griffin offers Harvey plates of food, everything from hot dogs to ice cream. As he eats, a girl named Lulu comes into the kitchen and starts asking him questions. Harvey responds but tells Lulu he won’t be staying long and mentions his parents. Lulu laughs and tells Harvey his parents know he’s here. Confused, Harvey is told to call them. He does, and sure enough, his mother says she set the whole experience up to give Harvey a break from his boredom. So... That's all. I probably would have liked this a bit more had I read it when I was in the target age range, but still, it's a good story. Then he met a strange, smiling man named Rictus, who told Harvey of a wonderful place where boredom could not enter, and there was nothing to be had but fun and adventure. There is no better place for children, Rictus said, than Mister Hood's Holiday House. The Holiday House!!! Where all dreams are possible...four seasons in a day- Halloween every evening, Thanksgiving...Christmas...any gift you can imagine- anything you could ask for. Never a dull moment. Harvey accepts- and is shown a whole new world...This story felt ... old. Not in a bad way (like a story that aged badly) but as in how the story was structured, what it was about etc. It felt like a classic children's story. Maybe it should be.

This is my second read, but I'm doing it decades apart. It's really strange. I kinda feel like I'm Harvey. Lotus-Eater Machine: The House functions as one. Hood uses illusions and magic to keep children happy, making them want to stay. Clue Cat' – Owned by Mrs. Griffin, who happened to die during lunch from burning alive due to a number of factors.After arriving at the house, Harvey considers that his parents will be worried about him, and requests to speak to them on the phone. Harvey’s parents answer and tell him they think it would be a good idea for him to take a break from school to cheer him up. Harvey is concerned by the unusual way their voices sounded in the call, but he brushes it off and starts to relax. Now, onto the characters... I didn't really care for any of them. It didn't help that, besides our protaganist, most felt pretty flat to me. And the reason I cared little for the protaganist is because he didn't really have a dramatic need (besides not being bored anymore...) in over half a book. And that first half is pretty much without major conflict as well. So that didn't help... Publishers Weekly described the book as "both cute and horrifying", noting its similarity to Grimm's Fairy Tales. [3] I don't have anything else to say about this book apart from that it was a wonderful dark story about what you wish and what you get, a story about appreciating what you have and avoiding things you don't need.