Charmed Life (Chrestomanci, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Jun 19, 2012 Harold Ogle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, dimension-travel, magic

A wonderful book, and one I would never have discovered without Goodreads. Browsing through reviews months ago, I ran across the review of nerd_goddess, who had been so kind to mention Diana Wynne-Jones in comparison to some other book. I struck up a correspondence with her, and she was kind enough to provide a barrel of recommendations, particularly for the Chrestomanci series. Months and months have passed, and I finally found a copy of this first book at a library branch.

Much like Wynne-Jones A wonderful book, and one I would never have discovered without Goodreads. Browsing through reviews months ago, I ran across the review of nerd_goddess, who had been so kind to mention Diana Wynne-Jones in comparison to some other book. I struck up a correspondence with her, and she was kind enough to provide a barrel of recommendations, particularly for the Chrestomanci series. Months and months have passed, and I finally found a copy of this first book at a library branch.

Much like Wynne-Jones' other books I've read, I was delighted with this. Like the others, it features an alternate history to our own (as you might expect, since magic is prevalent). Interesting that it wasn't until this book that I thought to compare her works with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, another book I love which is quite similar in premise and setting (though with faeries). In Charmed Life, Eric and Gwendolen Chant are orphaned, and Eric survives by (at times literally) hanging on to older sister Gwendolen's skirts. She's got copious magic ability, but it very selfish and vain. She has a soft spot for Eric, though, whom she has called by the pet name Cat for so long that he thinks of himself as Cat. They're inseparable, and for a time they survive on the kindness of strangers. Actually, they spend their whole lives relying on the kindness of strangers...it's just that the strangers get more and more strange as the book continues.

The setting is a fun one, though it is never quite clear either what year it is supposed to be (could be 1900, could be 1979), or even how old Eric is (everyone treats him as a small child, but he's probably nine or ten years old). The publisher of of this edition has included a quote on the cover comparing this to Harry Potter, but that's not particularly apt. Aside from it being the story of a fish out of water in a world of magic, there's not much in common. Magic in Charmed Life is much less pedestrian, for one. One of the charms of the Harry Potter books was the humorous conceit of making magic like any other school subject, particularly math or science, where the students could learn to do it properly if they practiced hard enough. Not here; here magic is much more fanciful and whimsical. Magic is tailored to the needs of the moment, rather than having named spells with set effects. It feels looser and more wondrous. In the end, I was surprised to find similarities between this book and Feist's Magician, or even Anthony's A Spell for Chameleon (more in plot than in any sense of style or voice).

It was a great read, and I will be recommending it to any of my friends who like a good magic story. ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Luann rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, audio, childrens, fantasy, 2012

I thought I had read all of the Chrestomanci books, but I sure didn't remember any of the details from this one. Luckily they are available in downloadable audio format from my library and I decided to make my way through the series again. Whether this was a first read or a reread, I quite enjoyed listening to it.

I really like the magical world Diana Wynne Jones has set up here, even if the magic does seem to be a bit too easy. But there are more limitations on it than in some other magical seri ...more

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