Blog Archives

Posted:
May 22, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

The Pinhoe Egg

Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: October 2006
Publisher: Greenwillow
Series: Chrestomanci series #6
515 pages (hardcover)

Summary: Marianne Pinhoe’s family are all witches who frequently misuse magic and as a result, try to keep their magic a secret in order to prevent the Chrestomanci from meddling in their affairs. This proves to be difficult lately as the Pinhoe Gammer — head of their family — has spontaneously gone crazy and started a magic war with the Farleighs, another clan of witches that misuse magic and are trying to avoid the Chrestomanci. With this magic war going on, it will be hard to keep their magic misuse under wraps for long, especially when Cat finds an egg in the Pinhoe’s attic that may prove to be their biggest secret of all.

My Thoughts: I’m so happy to finally read another Chrestomanci book where Chrestomanci and Cat are prominent characters in it! Chrestomanci! Chrestomanci!

This is, overall, a very fun book to read. Looking back at the ratings I gave to the last two Chrestomanci-related books I read, I was very relieved to finally encounter the kind of Chrestomanci book I expect from the series. I have my issues with the book (I always have issues with every book, haha) and in this book, my problem was that it took a very long time until I had an idea of what the conflict in the novel is supposed to revolve around. I mean, the object of the title — the egg — didn’t even show up until halfway through the book! But despite the slow-moving plot, the story isn’t sluggish. It is very entertaining and humorous throughout, for me, one of her most funny works, and, personally, just being able to read about my favourite characters again kept me entranced. Of course, there are also lots of new characters, and Chrestomanci characters always have a way of being very memorable, and I have a suspicion that Marianne and Joe will be in future Chrestomanci novels to come; I have a strong hunch that Marianne will be Cat’s wife someday too, heh. They have that same sort of friendship that Chrestomanci/Christopher and Millie had in The Lives of Christopher Chant, and lo and behold, they ended up getting married.

The only ridiculous thing is that unicorns and griffins can talk. Like, English. That’s too weird, even for me.

But regardless, great book! It has me hungering for more Chrestomanci!

My Rating:

Posted:
May 15, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

Mixed Magics

Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 2000
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Series: Chrestomanci (companion book)
171 pages (paperback)

Summary: Mixed Magics is a collection of four short stories that happen in the worlds of Chrestomanci. Warlock At The Wheel is about a warlock who commits crime as his way of life, but ends up with more than he bargained for when he steals a car that has a little girl and a dog in the backseat. Stealer of Souls involves an evil enchanter trying to become the Chrestomanci himself by going through time and taking the lives of previous nine-life enchanters. Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream is about a little girl who bottles her dreams and sells them for a living (as if they are movies) but recently cannot dream anymore; and The Sage of Theare is about a world of gods that try to alter a prophecy, and it is up to Chrestomanci to set things right in their world.

My Thoughts: I was browsing through the bookstore and saw this book in the bargain section; of course I had to buy it because it’s a Chrestomanci book! The four short stories have little to do with one another as they all take place in different worlds, but they all involve the Chrestomanci (as in Christopher Chant, although Cat does make a few appearances, and so does Tonino from Magicians of Caprona).

None of the stories particularly stood out for me, but they were all enjoyable to read. If I was to pick a favourite out of them all, I think it would be Stealer of Souls because Cat, Tonino and Chrestomanci (and his family) have the largest roles in that one; in the other stories, Chrestomanci is often an extremely minor character. It’s nice to read about familiar characters and that story, in a way, is like telling me what they are up to lately, so that is why that one is my favourite. The rest of the stories are full of Jones’ signature humour, and enjoyable, but personally, I don’t feel there’s anything special about any of the stories. I wouldn’t say they lack heart, but they seem to lack that Chrestomanci story charm. The last one in particular, The Sage of Theare, was my least favourite. It took place in a world that was never introduced before, and Chrestomanci and Cat pretty much only had one sentence devoted to them, so I didn’t feel like I was reading a Chrestomanci story really.

I’m sure every reader will have different opinions on the different stories, as some of the stories are better than others, but which ones depend on your own taste. This is a fun little book that you can finish in two or three hours (or more, depending on your speed of reading, but hey, it’s barely 200 pages and it’s big font). It’s really something you’d only read if you’re a fan of the Chrestomanci series; I can’t imagine a person who doesn’t know anything about the series picking this up randomly, because the only reason this book interested ME was because I knew it was part of the series. Anyway, it was an enjoyable book, not the best thing ever, but it was certainly alright.

My Rating:

Posted:
Mar 10, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

The Magicians of Caprona

The Magicians of CapronaAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1980
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Series: Chrestomanci #2
268 pages (paperback)

Summary: In an alternate world, Italy was never united as one country and cities such as Florence, Venice and Caprona still exist as city-states. The Montanas and Petrocchis are well-respected families in the city-state of Caprona, for their spell-making abilities. Unfortunately, due to the Montanas and Petrocchis bitter rivalry (which is not unlike Romeo and Juliet) and their refusal to work together, the city of Caprona is slowly losing their virtue and power, which it desperately needs at this time because Venice, Pisa and Florence are planning to wage war against Caprona.

My Thoughts: I love the Chrestomanci series, but unfortunately, I had a rather difficult time engrossing myself with this book. The story and plot is straightforward enough, but I still found it confusing because of the enormous cast of characters, which made it difficult to remember who’s who, and I had trouble understanding the concept of singing-magic in this book. Also, Chrestomanci was more of a cameo in this story than a central figure as he is in the other books in the series, which is another reason why this book did not captivate me as much as it could have, especially since I read it with the expectation of seeing more of Chrestomanci/Christopher. While it’s by no means terrible, this is a book I could easily put down. Some parts of it were fun, but there was an equal number of parts that were rather boring to me. All in all, The Magicians of Caprona did not live up to the rest of the Chrestomanci series, and was a bit of a disappointment.

My Rating:

Posted:
Feb 7, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

Conrad’s Fate

Conrad's FateAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 2005
Series: Chrestomanci #5
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
348 pages (paperback)

Summary: Conrad is a young boy living in Stallery, a small town, who is looking forward to starting high school with his friends. However, before he is able to, he receives shocking news from his uncle: Conrad is covered with Bad Karma because someone he was supposed to kill in his last life, he let go, and that person was reborn and living in Stallery Mansion. If Conrad doesn’t kill this person in this life, Conrad will die by the end of the year. Conrad’s uncle sends him on a mission to Stallery Mansion, posing as a servant-in-training, to finish the job he didn’t finish in his last life, and to get rid of his Bad Karma. At the mansion, it turns out Conrad is not the only one there on a secret mission; so is his fellow servant-in-training, Christopher …

My Thoughts: Another book dealing with the Chrestomanci world, and honestly, I can’t get enough of it! This time around, it’s a bit different because the world is not the usual one with Chrestomanci castle, it takes place in Series 7 rather than Series 12. In any case, I was very excited to be reacquainted with Christopher. I’ve met him as an adult, and I’ve met him as a child, so it was very exciting to be able to meet him as a teenager. And he never disappoints with his flourishing, extravagant manners and style.

However, this book centers around Conrad, who has a very interesting story himself. This is the first Chrestomanci book I’ve read where the narrative was in first person (Conrad’s perspective), so I was able to have access to all of Conrad’s thoughts. He kind of reminds me of Cat from Charmed Life — poor guy doesn’t have a clue about what’s happening around him, he just kind of goes with it. He’s a funny guy though, and I love his commentary on what he thinks of Christopher, hahaha.

This is a very fun book to read, and very humorous. This is definitely an adventure type book, what with both Conrad and Christopher going on their individual quests, which, to their surprise, entwines with one another. The author is so brilliant with her creativity, I really liked the idea of ‘pulling the possibilities’. When someone ‘pulls the possibilities’, changes happen to the world, great or small. For example, all the postboxes in Stallery are red. Someone pulled the possibilities and suddenly they are all blue! It was really fun to read about these changes. This is most definitely a very memorable book.

My Rating:

Posted:
Jan 8, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

The Lives of Christopher Chant

The Lives of Christopher ChantAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1988
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Book
Series: Chrestomanci series #4
333 pages (paperback)

Synopsis: When he was a young boy, Christopher Chant learns that he is able to travel to other worlds in what he at first thinks are his dreams. After being neglected by his busy parents, Christopher welcomes the affection and praise of his Uncle Ralph, who is fascinated by Christopher’s ‘dreams’ and runs several experiments with him, having him fetch various parcels and goods from these worlds to bring back to their own. Christopher’s father, however, hates Uncle Ralph and has Christopher taken away to Chrestomanci Castle, where Christopher learns that he is actually a powerful enchanter with nine lives, and destined to become the next Chrestomanci.

My Thoughts: The book never explicitly states this (and it’s not a spoiler at all) but Christopher Chant is the Chrestomanci from Charmed Life. Which is very exciting because Chrestomanci was my favourite from Charmed Life, and it was fun to read about Chrestomanci/Christopher’s childhood,  how he became the Chrestomanci, and how he came about to lose seven of his nine lives (which, if you read Charmed Life, you already know he only has two. I still remember, from Charmed Life, when he told Cat how he only has two lives left after he lost seven of them foolishly in childhood — this is the childhood!!) You also discover how Christopher meets his future wife, Millie, and it’s actually kind of cute, although I never would have guessed that Millie was a living goddess from another world! It’s almost kind of sad how such an adorable couple end up having lazy, piggy Julia and Roger as their children in the future, hahaha. The only thing I’m not quite sure about is at what point did Christopher develop a taste for expensive silk robes?! (In Charmed Life, he has quite a flair for fashion)!

The Lives of Christopher Chant is a very fun and adventurous book, with a plot that’s more complicated than Charmed Life, and in some ways, more scary (chopped up mermaid body parts, anyone?) Not to mention some pretty frightening deaths that happen to Christopher! This book dives much deeper into the series of different worlds and parallel worlds, something that I was disappointed with in Charmed Life, but Christopher Chant more than makes up for it. Christopher’s personality in childhood is a little different from his adult form, but it’s not an unreasonable stretch; I suppose he grows into his adult personality later, in events that occur after this book. Millie is a bit of a surprise, I would have never guessed that she was this fiesty little girl in childhood, but despite all of that, the characters are lovable and endearing. I really loved Throgmorten, the cat who seems to be permanently pissed off.

If you’ve ever read any of the Chrestomanci books and enjoyed them, you should definitely read this one too. Chronologically in terms of story events, this is the first book of the series, so you can’t miss out on this. Even if you’ve never read a Chrestomanci book, this is a very fun story, very magical and funny. I’d still recommend reading Charmed Life first, because I think partly why I liked The Lives of Christopher Chant so much is because I already read Charmed Life and thus, know what the future holds for Christopher, but either way, this is a must read for fantasy fans.

My Rating:

Posted:
Jan 6, 2010
Tags:
Comments:
0 Comments

Charmed Life

Charmed LifeAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 1977
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Book
Series: Chrestomanci series #1
270 pages (paperback)

Synopsis: Eric Chant (usually referred to as Cat) and his older sister Gwendolyn unfortunately become orphans after their parents drown from a boating accident, and are put into the care of certified witch Mrs. Sharp. Gwendolyn is a brilliant prodigy of a witch and Mrs. Sharp, along with the rest of the neighbourhood, are incredibly proud of her and aid her in any way possible to further her magical education. This is no good for Gwendolyn’s ego, which is the size of a blimp; she does not care about anybody but herself and is convinced she will become a Queen one day. Cat, on the other hand, is a meek and shy young boy who does whatever Gwendolyn tells him to do. The siblings are later adopted by Chrestomanci, a powerful magic-user. Gwendolyn is furious about this because Chrestomanci refuses to teach Gwendolyn advanced magic, only beginner magic, and Cat is embarrassed because he doesn’t know any magic at all. Gwendolyn decides to play tricks on Chrestomanci and everyone else at the castle, finally resulting in the removal of all her magical powers. The day after this, Cat goes to his sister’s bedroom to find that Gwendolyn has run away into another world and has left a girl who looks eerily similar to Gwendolyn as her replacement.

My Thoughts: Charmed Life is the first book in the Chrestomanci series, although you don’t need to read any of them in order as they don’t directly relate to one another (thus, I am ordering them by publication order). This is a fun book, full of quirky magical things. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading, although I knew it would have Jones’ usual magicians and brand of humor, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was very pleased to meet Chrestomanci, who reminded me very much of Howl (from Howl’s Moving Castle). What I liked about this story world was the idea of parallel worlds; these worlds are formed when a big event in history occurs, such as a war, and with such events, there are a multiple number of outcomes. At such points, the world splits into parallel worlds and each world continues on the path the different outcomes continue on. Parallel worlds may each have copies of a person though they may end up with different personalities. What’s even cooler is that Cat, the main character, has NO copies of himself in the parallel worlds, making him exceedingly rare. Every copy of him that could have existed, exists in him — giving him nine lives! I do wish the story dove into the whole parallel worlds thing a bit more; it felt like only the surface was skimmed, and I’m sure there was a lot that could be done with it.

Cat/Eric is pretty much a doormat and never thinks for himself, though he does mature throughout the story. He makes a nice protagonist that way because he teaches you that just because you are a bystander watching another make mischief doesn’t mean you are completely innocent. Still, it frustrated me whenever Cat just stood by and let Gwendolyn’s spoiled, bratty behaviour continue. I suppose you can say I enjoyed reading Gwendolyn’s character as well … Even though she makes you want to dive into the pages and strangle her half the time, she was extremely interesting and you never knew what she was up to next. I happen to have an appreciation for characters I loathe with a passion, because although I may not like them, they still affected me in some way; I’d rather passionately hate a whole cast of characters than have a whole bunch of boring, dull characters who can’t evoke any sort of emotion in me at all.

All in all, a very fun book to read. It’s the kind of magical book you can re-read over and over again. The ending is exciting, with a big battle and everything, although I’m extremely sad that nobody gave Gwendolyn the kick in the head she deserves (and how sad! Chrestomanci gets kicked in the shins instead! Where’s the justice?!)

My Rating: