House of Stairs

This book was written in the mid-70s and “set in a dystopian America in the near future.” Fortunately, our present isn’t quite like this. Five 16-year-old orphans awaken to find themselves in a building with no ceiling, walls, or floor—only endless flights of stairs in every direction. It’s a story about human nature and the human condition, as well as a cautionary tale about government control. Supposedly written for young readers (what we’d consider “middle grade” today), I believe it’s better suited for teens and adults.

When they take off his blindfold, Peter is on the landing of a stairway. The stairway goes to another landing with more stairways coming off it, and on and on into infinity. What is this place? And what, God help him, is its purpose? When I first read the great William Sleator’s intense study of group dynamics under stress in a sinister, constructed world, it changed my brain and made me look at the world we live in differently for the rest of my life. The secret behind the place invites disturbing questions: how do we rely on other people… show more.

William Sleator’s House of Stairs is the kind of intense read that you blow through in one sitting. I knew little to nothing about the plot when a dear friend recommended the title—in fact, I’d never even heard of the author or his works before receiving the book as a gift!

But now I cannot recommend this book (or Sleator) enough. It’s a dystopian tale that’s equal parts phycological thriller and sci-fi mystery that (mostly) takes place in one setting. The five protagonists are multi-dimensional, layered teenagers with very strong voices. I don’t want to give too much away; I’ll… show more.