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Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci
(Chrestomanci)
by
1 Warlock at the Wheel - Warlock drives away to flee Chrestomanci, gets bullied by toddler Jane and dog Towser.
2 Stealer of Souls - Evil Neville Spiderman kidnaps jealous Cat Chant and homesick Tonino from dying Gabriel de Witt.
3 Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream - Dream subjects drunkenly object to typecast roles.
4 The Sage of Theare - Great Zond and gods try to outwit proph ...more
2 Stealer of Souls - Evil Neville Spiderman kidnaps jealous Cat Chant and homesick Tonino from dying Gabriel de Witt.
3 Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream - Dream subjects drunkenly object to typecast roles.
4 The Sage of Theare - Great Zond and gods try to outwit proph ...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
February 18th 2003
by Greenwillow Books
(first published 2000)
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Showing 1-30
Start your review of Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci
this is a pleasant although unremarkable collection of 4 stories set in the Chrestomanci universe.
"Warlock at the Wheel" details the misadventures of a goofy low-life who escapes into another world and attempts to use his magic powers for ill. unfortunately for him, a slovenly little girl and her giant mastiff spoil his plans. one word review: EH
"Stealer of Souls" is the strongest story in the collection. this one has a grouchy, selfish Cat being given charge of sweet little Tonnino from The Mag ...more
"Warlock at the Wheel" details the misadventures of a goofy low-life who escapes into another world and attempts to use his magic powers for ill. unfortunately for him, a slovenly little girl and her giant mastiff spoil his plans. one word review: EH
"Stealer of Souls" is the strongest story in the collection. this one has a grouchy, selfish Cat being given charge of sweet little Tonnino from The Mag ...more
I was disappointed by the stories in this collection! But I did like when Janet said to Cat, "You must admit, Chrestomanci is taller and darker and handsomer than any man has any right to be!" Haha trufax, Janet.
...more
I didn't much like 'Warlock at the Wheel', but the rest is worth reading. I really enjoyed those, especially 'Stealer of Souls' and 'Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream', which contain glimpses of Cat, Tonino, Janet and an old school-friend of Christopher's.
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As always, I love Diana Wynne Jones. This is a collection of stories that take place within the Chrestomanci universe at various points throughout the series. I really liked saving this for last since it was a nice to re-visit various characters and was a fun finale.
It’s a quick read and all of the stories are great, though I especially enjoyed “Stealer of Souls” since Magicians of Caprona was my favorite of the series, and Tonino is in that story. However, there weren’t any un-enjoyable stories ...more
It’s a quick read and all of the stories are great, though I especially enjoyed “Stealer of Souls” since Magicians of Caprona was my favorite of the series, and Tonino is in that story. However, there weren’t any un-enjoyable stories ...more
*reaches for another Chrestomanci book* *realizes there aren’t anymore* *spirals into despair*
I really enjoyed "Warlock at the Wheel" and "Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream"!
...more
Too short! But a nice supplement to the Chrestomanci series. Would have been nice to read them properly threaded in-and-amongst the longer works.
...more
I liked the one about Cat and Tonino the most, it was nice to see a continuation of The Magicians of Caprona, as it finished quite abruptly.
...more
May 01, 2013
Deborah O'Carroll
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
ya,
own,
epic-character-i-love,
fantasy,
5-stars-awesome,
2017-reads,
2013-reads,
short-stories,
collection,
2015-reads
Read 2013
Re-read March 2015
Re-read February 2017
Re-read March 2015
Re-read February 2017
TW/CW:
g-slur
Most of these are not heavy in plot, and rather silly, but I still liked it! This also includes a reference to Homeward Bounders, one of the author’s previous books.
g-slur
Most of these are not heavy in plot, and rather silly, but I still liked it! This also includes a reference to Homeward Bounders, one of the author’s previous books.
"For a moment I thought you were an enchanter. Now I don't know what I think."
Mixed Magics suffers from the fact that it's a collection of short stories. I can rarely get invested into those and I've never felt so sorry for it than I do for this one. It consists of four stories related to the Chrestomanci series. Most of them range from boring to an alright read. However, the second story, The Stealer of Souls, was such a lovely one that I wish it would have filled up the whole book in place o ...more
A collection of four short stories in the Chrestomanci universe. Weaker than the Chrestomanci novels, but hey, it's still Diana Wynne Jones.
Maybe 2.5 stars. The Sage of Theare was probably my favourite, and I would give that one about 3 stars... ...more
Maybe 2.5 stars. The Sage of Theare was probably my favourite, and I would give that one about 3 stars... ...more
This was not the official next book to read on my to read shelf (the physical one, not the Goodreads one). However, after my last book I needed something fun and relaxing and this filled the bill completely. Jones had a lot of fun with these four tales of Chrestomanci. I think at least one (stealer of souls) could have been expanded into a full length novel rather than a short story. I tend to not like the short stories format since it really limits character development among other problems. I'
...more
A collection of four short stories by the late great DWJ, all related to her Chrestomanci wizardry novels. The first, Warlock at the Wheel, is pretty standalone although it concerns a character who appeared in Charmed Life, and is the one I least enjoyed. An unsuccessful wizard who lost his powers in that novel turns to crime and learns that the old adage about not working with children and animals is true. I found it a bit 'cutesy' and predictable.
Stealer of Souls is firmly set in the Chrestoma ...more
Stealer of Souls is firmly set in the Chrestoma ...more
Mixed magics is a collection of four short stories all of which I wish could have lasted longer.
They are spin off, side stories of the main chrestomanci story, each revealing a little adventure of the characters found in the chrestomanci series.
You need to read charmed life to know the character in warlock at the wheel, although you will follow the story just fine without first reading charmed life.
Stealer of souls uses the characters from the lives of christopher chant and magicians of capron ...more
They are spin off, side stories of the main chrestomanci story, each revealing a little adventure of the characters found in the chrestomanci series.
You need to read charmed life to know the character in warlock at the wheel, although you will follow the story just fine without first reading charmed life.
Stealer of souls uses the characters from the lives of christopher chant and magicians of capron ...more
May 14, 2017
Daphne
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
eb,
reviewed,
young-adult,
childrens-middle-grade,
multiple-stories,
read-in-2017,
3-star
I mostly read this book for the sake of completion of this series, and I give it this lower rating because I feel like the stories in this book don't really hold up compared to the longer stories in the rest of the series. When I look back at this book later, I have a feeling I will only remember one or two of the stories vaguely, as they didn't leave much of an impact.
Still, it's always fun to read more in this universe and see what new things Diana Wynne Jones comes up with to explore. In that ...more
Still, it's always fun to read more in this universe and see what new things Diana Wynne Jones comes up with to explore. In that ...more
Finally got around to reading this short story collection that goes along with the Chrestomanci series. I'm not a a fan of short stories (says this broken record), so naturally I didn't really care for these. Of the four stories, only one really had much to do with the main Chrestomanci cast. The rest were just tangentially related and then Chrestomanci would show up at the end. Reminded me of "The Magicians of Caprona" and "Witch Week", which are my least favorite of the Chrestomanci books.
So, ...more
So, ...more
For Chrestomanci completists.
The stories are fine if you want to spend more time in the world, but they're very skippable. Only for completists, imo.
...more
The Willing Warlock story is not much more than light comedy, but I adore Stealer of Souls and Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream (I would love to know when DWJ started planning this story, because Carol's father is Christopher's best friend in school...and "oneiric" means "having to do with dreams" so I'm always really impressed by that). And I'm kind of fond of Thasper too.
...more
I actually could not finish this book. Perhaps it’s because I came to it after my umpteenth reading of Charmed Life, which is so delightful, that this just paled in comparison. But it was depressing to read something that felt like just an afterthought? I got through the first 2 stories (Warlock at the Wheel and Stealer of Souls), which is just over half the book, and had to stop. It felt like reading bad fic, to be brutally honest. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it and update this review, but
...more
Read DWJ YOU won't regret it
...more
Dec 19, 2011
Chris
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
chrestomanci
Publishers and booksellers think they know their market when it comes to the fantasy novels of Diana Wynne Jones and her ilk: young readers aged 9 to 12 or, at a pinch, young adult or teens for her more ‘difficult’ novels. This despite the fact that her fans range upwards in age to other adult fantasy writers, filmmakers, academics (and not just in the literary field — I knew a professor of sociology who rated her highly as a writer) and, of course, bloggers of all ages. Those who treat books me
...more
This book features four short stories, featuring people from the Chrestomanci series of books. They are all enjoyable, and some are quite good, though none of them really seem to reach the depth of the books. It might be that Jones' wild and somewhat chaotic prose style thrives better in slightly longer texts.
The first one, Warlock at the Wheel, is my least favourite. It is a crazy tale of an automobile-happy warlock who ends up in what appears to be our world, and goes on a wild car-ride. There ...more
The first one, Warlock at the Wheel, is my least favourite. It is a crazy tale of an automobile-happy warlock who ends up in what appears to be our world, and goes on a wild car-ride. There ...more
I stumbled onto a comment about sexism in another review for one of the other books in this series and I've been trying to quash it but it gets harder as I read more of these - especially this one. I keep thinking of Millie as a prime example of a powerful enchantress...but she's really the only one. Gwendolyn ended up borrowing her power from her brother all along. Most of main characters are boys - even in the Magicians of Caprona where they tried to divy up genders evenly along the two famili
...more
Mixed Magics contains four short stories set in the universe of Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci novels. The first, 'Warlock at the Wheel' catalogues the misadventures of the Willing Warlock (one of the minor antagonists from Charmed Life) when he tries to escape to a parallel universe and steal a car, which unfortunately turns out to be occupied by a small girl and a large dog. There wasn't a lot to this one; I know that the Chrestomanci novels are generally written for younger readers than som
...more
This is a collection of four short stories that are set to be contemporaneous with the events of the first few books in the series (based on the order that my omnibus edition is sequenced, “Mixed Magics” is the fourth book). Like the title suggests, the tales are quite varied in tone and style. For instance, the first one, “Warlock at the Wheel”, seems pitched for younger readers, with slapstick humour provided mainly by a bumbling good-for-nothing crooked warlock. He hijacks a car, while on the
...more
This is a collection of four stories set in the Chrestomanci universe.
Warlock at the Wheel - a warlock skips to another world to try escape some consequences (and a loss of magic in his current one) and gets bullied into driving a car for toddler Jane and dog Towser (by said toddler and dog).
Stealer of Souls - the story with the most connections to previous books as the main protagonists are Cat/Eric Chant (Charmed Life) and Tonino (Magicians of Caprona). Evil Neville Spiderman kidnaps the boys ...more
Warlock at the Wheel - a warlock skips to another world to try escape some consequences (and a loss of magic in his current one) and gets bullied into driving a car for toddler Jane and dog Towser (by said toddler and dog).
Stealer of Souls - the story with the most connections to previous books as the main protagonists are Cat/Eric Chant (Charmed Life) and Tonino (Magicians of Caprona). Evil Neville Spiderman kidnaps the boys ...more
There really isn't much to say about this, is there?
Content warnings: food descriptors to describe a person of color, mentions of death and fecal matter, using "plump and pudgy" as an insult of character, cr*pple slur.
1. Warlock at the Wheel
-A really entertaining concept, but the style was very tell-y instead of show-y, and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. 2.5 stars.
2. Stealer of Souls
-Really clever ending, but Cat and Tonino bothered me the whole story. 3 stars.
3. Carol Oneir's H ...more
Content warnings: food descriptors to describe a person of color, mentions of death and fecal matter, using "plump and pudgy" as an insult of character, cr*pple slur.
1. Warlock at the Wheel
-A really entertaining concept, but the style was very tell-y instead of show-y, and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. 2.5 stars.
2. Stealer of Souls
-Really clever ending, but Cat and Tonino bothered me the whole story. 3 stars.
3. Carol Oneir's H ...more
Read in one sitting! Stealer of Souls was the standout, with Carol O'Neir's Hundredth Dream in a close second. Warlock at the Wheel was unimpressive and a bit juvenile - and I do realize she writes for the middle grade crowd, but she normally transcends the age bracket. The Sage of Theare falls squarely in-between - entertaining, but nothing mind-blowing.
I do wish the collection were longer, but I keep reading the Chrestomanci Chronicles completely out of order and with no regard for one another ...more
I do wish the collection were longer, but I keep reading the Chrestomanci Chronicles completely out of order and with no regard for one another ...more
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Diana was born in London, the daughter of Marjorie (née Jackson) and Richard Aneurin Jones, both of whom were teachers. When war was announced, shortly after her fifth birthday, she was evacuated to Wales, and thereafter moved several times, including periods in Coniston Water, in York, and back in London. In 1943 her family finally settled in Thaxted, Essex, where her parents worked running an ed
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“How can I preach Dissolution?" he said. "How can I not believe in the gods when I have seen them for myself?"
"That's a question you certainly should be asking," Chrestomanci croaked. "Go down to Theare and ask it." Thasper nodded and turned to go. Chrestomanci leaned towards him and said from behind his handkerchief, "Ask yourself this too: Can the gods catch flu? I think I may have given it to all of them. Find out and let me know, there's a good chap.”
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"That's a question you certainly should be asking," Chrestomanci croaked. "Go down to Theare and ask it." Thasper nodded and turned to go. Chrestomanci leaned towards him and said from behind his handkerchief, "Ask yourself this too: Can the gods catch flu? I think I may have given it to all of them. Find out and let me know, there's a good chap.”
“In fact, Cat was fairly sure Tonino was feeling just the way Cat had felt himself when he first came to Chrestomanci Castle, and Cat could not get over the annoyance of having someone have feelings that were his.”
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