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The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci #4)

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 9,890 ratings · 227 reviews

His father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams. Others begin to recognize t...more

ebook, 240 pages

Published March 17th 2009 by Greenwillow Books (first published 1988)

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Feb 27, 2013 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kidworld, fantastickal

this prequel to Charmed Life gives the mysterious and urbane Chrestomanci (multi-dimensional policeman of all things magical) his own backstory. this was a wonderful kid's novel, swiftly-paced and enjoyable from beginning to end.

i loved the connectivity between this book and its predecessor, seeing the basic similarities and differences between Cat and Christopher, their similar reactions to their current Chrestomanci and Chrestomanci Castle, their different ways of not being magical, their simi...more this prequel to Charmed Life gives the mysterious and urbane Chrestomanci (multi-dimensional policeman of all things magical) his own backstory. this was a wonderful kid's novel, swiftly-paced and enjoyable from beginning to end.

i loved the connectivity between this book and its predecessor, seeing the basic similarities and differences between Cat and Christopher, their similar reactions to their current Chrestomanci and Chrestomanci Castle, their different ways of not being magical, their similar abandonments and the different ways their families let them down, their different sorts of victimhood and their similar ways of finally taking command. the girls that they sorta fall for. the relatives who betray them. their mutual destiny.

Cat and Christopher are both very special people who are trapped by that destiny. i liked how Jones did not sugarcoat the trap. being Chrestomanci is neither boy's dream, and the job is never turned into anything approaching wish fulfillment - despite its power, and despite its potential for wonder and adventure. she made this grand position - master of all magic, traveler throughout all dimensions - somehow prosaic. even rather dreary. a smart and surprising choice by the author.

i think that Jones also captures Christopher's age perfectly. his young voice and thought process are what guide the reader, and so we get to see things with both objective distance and a subjectiveness that allows us to be fooled along with Christopher himself - fooled by the people around him and fooled by himself into acting in certain ways, refusing to believe obvious truths and eager to believe obvious deception. he is not always a nice boy - at times sulky, arrogant, or unkind. but he is also often quite kind, and brave, and good. a well-rounded boy! Jones' writing style conveys all of this in an appealingly straightforward and rather tidy style. even better, she shows how a boy can change, sometimes slowly over time, sometimes in a great big rush, eyes suddenly opened and aware of his own biases and his own strengths.

plus it has Throgmorten, best magical cat from another dimension ever!(less)

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Nov 12, 2011 Janelle Dazzlepants rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: from-my-childhood, magic, wizards, witches

This book has a similar plot to the first one in the series, Charmed Life, in that it follows the soon-to-be Chrestomanci's struggles to adjusting to life as a nine lifed enchanter in Chrestomanci Castle - except this time it's Christopher Chant instead of Cat/Eric Chant.

It's also similar in that Christopher was an obnoxious little brat about everything in the castle, and he acted like such a disrespectful twat and thought the most important thing in the world was cricket. That being said, he d...more This book has a similar plot to the first one in the series, Charmed Life, in that it follows the soon-to-be Chrestomanci's struggles to adjusting to life as a nine lifed enchanter in Chrestomanci Castle - except this time it's Christopher Chant instead of Cat/Eric Chant.

It's also similar in that Christopher was an obnoxious little brat about everything in the castle, and he acted like such a disrespectful twat and thought the most important thing in the world was cricket. That being said, he does grow up dramatically and watching his maturity unfold is quite wonderful. It happens very slowly and doesn't seem preachy or wannabe inspirational at all.

I loved this book mainly because it dealt mainly with the theme of travel between different worlds. In Charmed Life I was intrigued by the 12 series' of worlds and couldnt wait to hear more. I long for the day when it's announced that other worlds and other dimensions exist - although hopefully not in a style akin to The Mist by Stephen King :| I loved that all these worlds were so radically different, some had been industrialised and some were simply old-school fantasy with mermaids and dragons.

Series 11 was the most intriguing of all, and I'm glad they explored it during the book because the author had been fairly tight-lipped before that. I loved the idea of a world that had sealed itself off from the others and that conducted nefarious activities behind closed doors (or portals/gates, if you will). Travel through time and space is a theme that I can't possibly spend enough time wondering about, and Diana Wynne Jones does it in such an intriguing and cute way :)

I mentioned in my review of Charmed Life that I'd read a couple of books in the series before, probably #3 and #4. In those ones Chrestomanci had come into his full power and title and was quite an eccentric character. It's great to read book #2 and compare it to those ones, but also to compare it to his character in #1 - particularly seeing how he developed his manner of looking vague all the time.

Overall, this is a great kids fantasy book! Diana Wynne Jones has a knack for developing complex fantasy worlds with easily understood mythology. I find a lot of the time that I pick up an adult fantasy novel and the mythology is terribly complex and never fully explained, so that I feel like I'm reading a different language and wishing for a glossary (J R Ward actually added a glossary for each of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books which helped a LOT).

I really wish more people were exposed to this series. I picked it up at the library years ago as a total fluke while I was browsing the teen section, and I'd never even heard of it before. I ended up falling in love with it, and I wish more people would too. (less)

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Jan 03, 2010 Chandra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-reads, anglophilia, kids-young-adult, sci-fi-fantasy

The Lives of Christopher Chant is the second installment in the six part Chrestomanci series. The events take place about 25 years before those in first story, but I think it's vital to read this one only after having read Charmed Life. The series is a bit like an onion where each story reveals more and more layers to the magical realms Diana has created. In Charmed Life we are introduced to world Twelve-A where magic is commonplace, but we actually only view it through a very narrow lens. In Th...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Myles rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, kids-stuff

DWJ Book Toast, #2

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite fantasy authors, growing up and now, and I was saddened by the news of her death. I can't say I'm overcome with emotion - as personal as some of her work is to me, its not like I knew her after all - but I wish I could put into words how I feel about her no longer being out there, writing new adventures and laughing at all of us serious fans thinking so hard about her words when we should simply get on with the business of enjoying them.

A...more

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May 20, 2010 Angelic Zaizai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, non-terjemahan, ghost-djinn-witch-fairy-immortal-de

ini bukan sambungan dari buku 1, tokoh utamanya beda lagi..
Di buku ini kisah hidupnya Chrestomanci yang di buku 1, waktu masih anak-anak.. namanya Christopher Chant
Seperti anak2 keluarga kaya [ibunya yang kaya:], Chris ini jarang2 ketemu ortunya, diasuh sama Nanny, trus dipanggilin guru pribadi yang terus menerus ganti, pada ga betah karena ortunya si Chris berantem mulu..

Istimewanya Chris bisa jalan2 ke dunia dunia lain, dalam bentuk tubuh solid, ga cuma roh, dan kemampuannya ini dimanfaatkan p...more

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Jul 22, 2008 Scurra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

One of those strange examples of a story set before another but which loses something if you read/see it first (others being things like The Magician's Nephew and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.)

So this story is set a generation before Charmed Life and it follows much the same model: it's about how the greatest magician of the world discovers his destiny, resents it but eventually comes to terms with it.

One of the things I like about DWJ is her careful attention to detail in the plotting, somethi...more One of those strange examples of a story set before another but which loses something if you read/see it first (others being things like The Magician's Nephew and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.)

So this story is set a generation before Charmed Life and it follows much the same model: it's about how the greatest magician of the world discovers his destiny, resents it but eventually comes to terms with it.

One of the things I like about DWJ is her careful attention to detail in the plotting, something that is strikingly absent from far too many YA titles, despite the fact that children are often far more capable of picking up and following complex stories than a lot of adults. Here the opening chapters are littered with careful setups that get paid off later in the story, some blatant and others far more subtle. But when they do get revealed, you feel that sense of pleasure that there was no real cheating going on, no Deus ex Machina to explain things at the last minute (although perhaps the Tacroy plot doesn't quite work.)

Sure there are still structure issues - there's a lot of effort taken to introduce the school characters and then they merely disappear completely, but I can also see that Christopher couldn't have his second set of off-world adventures in the family home and a boarding school works fine (and it sets up the Goddess quite nicely too.) And it seems to take Christopher a long time to realise what the Wraith is, although to be fair that's a standard literary trope. The sudden detour into Series Eleven right in the middle of a tense stand-off slightly undermines it, and then it is resolved a little too quickly for an idea that deserved a lot more attention. But for me these didn't feel like obstacles; if anything they felt as though there was a longer book struggling to get out here; but 25 years ago a children's book couldn't be 500 pages..!

Of course another reason DWJ scores is that her characters are so much fun. Christopher himself is perhaps a little bland, although the scene when he realises how pompous and stuck up he had been behaving is exceptionally good. But the rest of the supporting cast are beautifully drawn, with even the passing-through getting distinct personalities (who else would come up with Doctor Pawson and his mother?) and she does a fine job of depicting the worlds through them.

For me this is a strong entry in the Chrestomanci series, but I suspect that's partly because the ones actually about Chrestomanci are inherently more interesting than stories just set in the same universe (even though the universe is good fun.) Perhaps not as good as Charmed Life, but still an easy four stars.(less)

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Mar 16, 2013 Biondy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, children-book, own

Judul: Christopher Chant, Bocah Bernyawa Sembilan
Penulis: Diane Wynne Jones
Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka
Halaman: 345 halaman
Terbitan: 2009

Selamat Datang di Dunia-Dunia Chrestomanci, dunia yang tak memberikan pilihan kepada para enchanter bernyawa sembilan.

Memiliki sembilan nyawa dan menjadi Chrestomanci berikutnya jelas tidak termasuk dalam rencana masa depan Christopher Chant. Cita-citanya adalah men-jadi pemain cricket profesional, dan kegemarannya adalah menjelajahi dunia-dunia mimpi rahasian...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Alex Paskulin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A huge fan of Susanna Clarke and Ursula K. Le Guin, I inevitably picked up Stardust by Neil Gaiman. While enjoyable, Neil Gaiman's masculine take on Faerie feels restricted to surface level and constantly limited by an acute lack of female perspective. Then when reading acknowledgements section, I came across Neil's thanks to Clarke, Le Guin, and Diana Wynne Jones. I had, of course, heard of Diana Wynne Jones previously, but never picked up any of her work. Luckily, The Chronicles of Chrestomanc ...more A huge fan of Susanna Clarke and Ursula K. Le Guin, I inevitably picked up Stardust by Neil Gaiman. While enjoyable, Neil Gaiman's masculine take on Faerie feels restricted to surface level and constantly limited by an acute lack of female perspective. Then when reading acknowledgements section, I came across Neil's thanks to Clarke, Le Guin, and Diana Wynne Jones. I had, of course, heard of Diana Wynne Jones previously, but never picked up any of her work. Luckily, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I is available in most used book stores. It contains first, the novel Charmed Life followed by the text discussed in this review. It is my recommendation that this book, The Lives of Christopher Chant, be read first as it is the best, most engaging story of the Chrestomanci series and will motivate readers to continue with the series' other volumes.

The Lives of Christopher Chant is a perfect fantasy. The premise is simple and ingenious, yet totally believable: our world is connected to many other related worlds organized into series. Christopher's story takes place in a world where magic is, as the text introduces, as common as music. Such evocative comparisons are exemplary of Diana Wynne Jones' talent for vivid storytelling. Undeniably British in inspiration (I learned quite a lot about cricket over the course of the novel), the story of Christopher Chant begins through the unbiased eyes of his childhood self. Good and evil, fear, and normalcy are strangers to young Christopher as he effortlessly exercises his magical gifts. The novel gradually broadens Christopher's understanding, bringing in the problems and responsibilities of magic along with its undeniable fun. The Goddess character echoes Tenar of The Tombs of Atuan, but in a younger, more playful style. The whole Chrestomanci series is a treat to read for all ages. My other favorite volumes are Charmed Life and Conrad's Fate. Both center around a new young protagonist with Christopher Chant appearing in middle age in the first and as a fifteen-year-old in the second. For this reason, Conrad's Fate is particularly enjoyable for fans of this introduction to Christopher Chant.(less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Karly Abreu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The second in Diana Wynne Jones' magical Chrestomanci series, this book explores the childhood of the enigmatic and elegant Chrestomanci, a powerful, nine-lived enchanter introduced in Charmed Life. Here, he is simply Christopher, a child neglected by his self-consumed parents who has the ability to walk into a new world in his dreams. Actually, several worlds. Soon is becomes apparent that there is more to Christopher's abilities than that, after he dies. Several times. He is whisked into a wor...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chrestomanci, dwj, fantasy

This Diana Wynne Jones book has an intriguing title: we are used to The Lives of the Caesars (where more than one person is involved) or, on the other extreme, The Life of Brian (which is about just one person). The Lives of Christopher Chant reflects the notion that one person can have, like a cat, more than one life. This notion is an old one, from the transmigration of the soul to the Russian folk-villain Koshchei, whose external soul is hidden away in one object enclosed within another, and...more This Diana Wynne Jones book has an intriguing title: we are used to The Lives of the Caesars (where more than one person is involved) or, on the other extreme, The Life of Brian (which is about just one person). The Lives of Christopher Chant reflects the notion that one person can have, like a cat, more than one life. This notion is an old one, from the transmigration of the soul to the Russian folk-villain Koshchei, whose external soul is hidden away in one object enclosed within another, and so on; most recently the concept has become familiar from the Horcruxes within which Harry Potter's nemesis hides pieces of his soul, but The Lives of Christopher Chant just predates Rowling's series.

Christopher Chant's ownership of nine lives makes him something special in the world into which he is born, but it is a destiny which he is reluctant to inherit. He discovers he is a nine-lifed enchanter, with the ability to move between parallel universes (Related Worlds in the terminology of the book). Like many another Chosen One he finds he is a de facto orphan (his parents show little interest in or care for him, rather like Diana's own parents) but also that the fate of the established order is threatened unless he can assume his responsibilities (when all he wants to do is to have friends of his own age and to play cricket). What child really wants to have responsibilities, let alone their world's future fate, resting on their shoulders?

Christopher's response is, of course, to eventually respond appropriately, though his sudden maturity and ability to command after a long period of petulance is the only weak point in the plotting. Other than that this is a wonderfully engrossing read, shot through with humour, memorable characters and, yes, intimations of mortality, set in a period with a late Victorian feel but which is obviously contemporary with our own world in the late 20th century (when Christopher briefly visits it and finds himself caught up in the horror of modern traffic). Concepts, puns, childish whimsies, fairy-tales, observations on the absurdities of social conventions, these and other archetypal Jones motifs appear in their usual profusion to make this simultaneously an easy read but one which remains in the memory.(less)

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Sep 29, 2011 Somesuchlike rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: author-diana-wynne-jones, genre-fantasy, genre-speculative-fiction, series-chrestomanci, type-ya-fiction

For a while this was my all-time favorite book. I chose it to write a book review on when I was twelve, which was a lot of fun (though I seem to recall having some trouble picking out a favorite passage).
By the time I read this, I'd read two others of the same series, and so I was familiar with the character of Chrestomanci. As such, it was nice to see him growing up, and to be able to pick out traits he retains in the earlier books.
Similarly, it was interesting to see a younger version of Mill...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Christen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile

In the rising tide of angst and series endings in juvenile fiction, it’s a breath of relief to pick up a Diana Wynne Jones novel again. Her contribution to the fantasy genre is vast, including Howl’s Moving Castle and most recently, Enchanted Glass. This novel in the Chrestomanci series takes up the life of a young enchanter, Christopher Chant. Actually, he has nine lives and this fact lands him in a pinch. Nine-lived enchanters are quite rare and powerful, as well as useful to nefarious men lik...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Christen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Dec 09, 2009 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 02, 2013 Libby Adson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know how to accurately describe my love for this book. Every time I read it I feel more strongly (and I think on average, I read it about twice a year, so I feel very strongly about it indeed!) Never-mind that it's a "children's book" (whatever that means). It's beautiful, it's timeless, it's rich and it's subtle. I adore it.

I first read it when I was about ten. This and "Witch Week" were in the two little bookshelves at the back of my fifth-grade classroom, and as you do when you're a t...more I don't know how to accurately describe my love for this book. Every time I read it I feel more strongly (and I think on average, I read it about twice a year, so I feel very strongly about it indeed!) Never-mind that it's a "children's book" (whatever that means). It's beautiful, it's timeless, it's rich and it's subtle. I adore it.

I first read it when I was about ten. This and "Witch Week" were in the two little bookshelves at the back of my fifth-grade classroom, and as you do when you're a ten-year-old bookworm, I had carefully gone through almost every book there over the course of the school year, leaving only those that looked uninteresting. Somehow I'd missed Diana Wynne Jones (I think the covers of those editions were a little strange, and I was conscious of covers at ten.) But I'd read almost all of the other books, and it was there, and so I took it to my desk to read instead of listening to my Social Studies lesson.

It ended up being the kind of book that was impossible to put down. I think I got in trouble about it a few times. I liked it and I finished it and it went on my mental "good book" list (which at the time meant that I would someday read it again, when I got around to it.) That was that for a few years. I didn't recommend it to anyone but my sister. I loved Christopher's dream journeys, his parents' strange aloofness, his carelessness with his lives, Tacroy's secrets, the Goddess turning into Millie, the cricket matches, and that bold, beautiful moment of release when Dr. Pawson coaxes Christopher's magic out of him -- but I thought my friends would find it strange, and so I didn't tell them about it. It was a kind of private book. I wanted it to be all mine, so that nobody could corrupt it.

Somehow, this translated to me reading it year by year, eagerly and thirstily, sucking in all the multi-layeredness and life lessons that I'd missed on previous rereads. It's THAT kind of book -- it's full of things that you don't fully understand the first time, that you have to get older to appreciate, or that you have to think about in a certain way to comprehend. I've read it at least ten times, and I don't even think I've found everything yet.

I love the other Chrestomancis too, but they pale in comparison to this one. I don't know WHAT it is -- I've tried to put my finger on it for years, and I can't. The other books are multi-layered too, with characters just as dynamic, plots just as complex, as this one. Maybe it's what whoever-it-was said, that quote about reading a book at the right age, and it leaving an impression on you forever. It really did.

I don't want it to be my secret anymore. It frustrates me ridiculously that nobody seems to have read this book. I want people to read it. I want to run around on rooftops and FORCE people to read it. (But at the same time, I do appreciate that there isn't a wild and rabid fandom rushing to make memes or write frightening fanfiction. That's nice. That kind of reaction destroys books' dignity, and the dignity of Christopher Chant would be a terrible thing to mess with.)

At any rate, that's all I'm able to say about it. I love this book with an enormous, wild passion, and I think I always will.(less)

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Jan 09, 2012 Amber rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: easy-to-read, fun-to-read, january, written-very-well

As a child, Christopher thought that having dreams where you travel, meet new people and receive gifts to find them beside you in the morning was normal and that having Mom and Dad live separately was expected. His uncle discovers these dreams, and asks Christopher to go weekly to help him get his packages, and Christopher not wanting to upset his uncle agrees. When his father finds out that Christopher can do magic, he sends Christopher to learn how to control it, hoping that Christopher will b...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Gem rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, childrens, dragon, fantasy, magic, cats, witches-wizards

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 23, 2009 cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: indonesian, chld-jones-ibbotson-etc

Ini seri tWoC kedua yang saya baca setelah Charmed Live, dan ternyata ini adalah prequel-nya. Dalam buku ini yang menjadi tokoh utamanya adalah Christopher Chant, sang Chrestomanci di Charm Live, saat masih anak-anak. Bagaimana kehidupan orang tua Christopher, bagaimana ia menyadari kemampuan sihir enchanter-nya, kisah persahabatannya dengan Millie (itu lo, yang jadi istri-nya di CL) dan petualangannya di dunia nyata dan di berbagai dunia mana saja, sehingga bisa lebih menjelaskan tugas-tugas Ch...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, children-s-and-ya

Fun and easy to read. Pretty sure I didn't read this, the first time, so, hm. Maybe I only read the first book, when I was younger. In any case, it's best to read this after Charmed Life, otherwise it would give the game away with some of what happens in Charmed Life.

Christopher Chant isn't the pleasantest kid to read about, if you're reading in an aware sort of way and you know some things about the world -- e.g. dragon blood -- but at the same time, you get sucked into what he's doing. And it'...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-reads, audiobooks

I love The Chrestomanci Chronicles of Diana Wynne Jones, and this is my third listen to the audiobook versions I acquired in 2007. The Lives of Christopher Chant, although it was the second published book in this collection, really explains the Chrestomanci multiverse which is an underlying concept for these stories. It might be helpful to read this one before the others, as it might give an extra bit of a thrill when The Chresomanci appears in the other books.

In this story, the main character i...more

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Nov 26, 2008 B added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone.

This ties with Witch Week as my favorite Chrestomanci book. It is also one of Diana Wynne Jones' most completely solid books: it satisfies on every level, whether you want a fun enjoyable read, an intriguing fantasy, a wonderfully created world, really fun characters, a book you can think about and analyze long after you read it... This one has it all. Like most Diana Wynne Jones books, the main reason it's not my favorite book by her is that she's written so many books that so solidly appeal to...more

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Jun 16, 2009 e.c.h.a rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiksi, children, fantasi, milik-sendiri

Buku ke 2 ini, bercerita tentang kehidupan Christpoher Chant sebelum menjadi Chrestomanci. 25 tahun sebelum Charmed Life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Setelah membaca buku ke 2 dari Seri The Worlds of Chrestomanci, gw bisa ambil kesimpulan besar. Buku ini tidak peru dibaca berurutan. Malah buku ke 2 ini bisa dibaca lebih dahulu sebelum buku pertamanya.

Di buku ke 2 ini, mengisahkan tentang kehidupan masa kecil dari Christopher Chant yang dalam buku 1 adalah C...more

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Apr 26, 2009 PurplyCookie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: witchcraft, fantasy, hated-it, young-adult

Young Christopher Chant has very unusual dreams: he gets out of bed, walks to the corner of the nursery and enters a lush, green valley that can lead him to any one of the hundreds of worlds that comprise what he calls the "Almost Anywheres." Christopher doesn't tell anyone about his dreams because he thinks everyone has them.

When his father loses all of his money, Christopher and his mother must go live with Uncle Ralph; he is ecstatic to learn that Christopher can bring solid objects back fro...more

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Jul 27, 2007 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile, fiction, favorites

One of my all-time favorite fantasy books, The Lives of Christopher Chant follows a British boy who can travel to other worlds in his dreams and learns that he has multiple lives. Alternately haunting and hilarious. Diana Wynne Jones is not as clever at endings as J.K. Rowling, but is perhaps superior in engaging the reader throughout the body of the book.

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May 20, 2010 Angelic Zaizai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ghost-djinn-witch-fairy-immortal-de

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Mar 19, 2012 Tanabrus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adults, in-inglese, read_2012

Libro complesso da valutare: alcune cose mi sono piaciute molto: l’ambientazione e diversi personaggi di contorno. Ma una parte fondamentale non sono riuscito proprio a digerirla.

L’ambientazione è, ovviamente, inglese. Ma è un’Inghilterra alla Stroud, dove la magia è comune, praticata apertamente e immagino addirittura richiesta per essere parte dell’alta società. Un’Inghilterra comunque Vittoriana, con tutte le formalità del caso.
Ma non solo… è di quasi comune conoscenza anche il fatto che dete...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, juvenile, magic-users, read-in-2011

I liked it, but I didn't love it. I decided to follow what Goodreads said was the author's suggested reading order instead of the publishing order or chronological order, but I'm not sure it was the best decision, I'll see when I read more of the series. Although Christopher's ability to travel the other worlds and the beauty and magic of that was introduced very quickly, it was a very long time before the Chrestomanci was introduced and I really didn't get much of a sense of it at all or any re...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Werehare rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: preferiti, fantasy

8/10

Solito problema della Wynne Jones: ottime idee e scrittura stentata, sebbene trovo che sotto questo aspetto questo libro sia migliore del precedente; nondimeno ci sono degli scivoloni, ad esempio il fatto che il colore di pelle e capelli di Tacroy venga detto chiaramente solo a fine libro - all'inizio è semplicemente abbronzato e con i capelli castano chiaro, e solo alla fine si capisce che in effetti i capelli sono nettamente più chiari della pelle.
I personaggi sono peculiari, spesso sfacc...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Julie Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For as long as he can remember Christopher could walk in his dreams through the Place Between to different valleys for visits to the different towns and people there. Sometimes, if he worked hard at it, he could even bring back some of the gifts they gave him. This led to his uncle noticing his abilities and setting a series of experiments for Christopher to do while in these worlds. As time goes by, we watch Christopher grow, go to school, and eventually discover what his true talent is and wha...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Bracari.iris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-days

I literally just finished reading this book fifteen minutes ago on my grandparent's house. Out of the Chrestomanci series' books I've read so far, this must be my second favourite, the absolute one being Witch Week (although that's mainly due to the gloomy, fitting weather that accompanied me through the pages).
What I loved about it the most was, quite obviously, how we got to the the background of major characters in the series, like Christopher Chant himself and Millie, and that I finally read...more

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YA e dintorni: The lives of Christopher Chant, III settimana (capitoli 9-21)	7	8	Mar 18, 2012 08:28am
YA e dintorni: Gruppo di lettura di marzo: The lives of Christopher Chant	41	14	Mar 14, 2012 12:49pm
YA e dintorni: The Lives of Christopher Chant, I settimana (1-7 marzo): capitoli 1-7	16	11	Mar 12, 2012 03:28am

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About Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones was the author of more than thirty critically acclaimed fantasy stories, including the Chrestomanci series and the novels Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm.

For Diana Wynne Jones's official autobiography, please see http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/aut...

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Books by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)

Castle in the Air (Howl's Moving Castle, #2)

House of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle, #3)

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. 1 (Chrestomanci #1-2)

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Quotes from The Lives of Christoph...

“Christopher discovered that you dealt with obnoxious masters and most older boys the way you dealt with governesses: you quite politely told them the truth in the way they wanted to hear it, so that they thought they had won and left you in peace.” — 47 people liked it

“He scarcely saw his parents. When Christopher was small, he was terrified that he would meet Papa out walking in the Park one day and not recognize him.” — 22 people liked it

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The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci #4)

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