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Summary: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci
Review: this is a wonderful book. my sister had it lying around in her bookshelf and when she saw the phrase on the front she gave it to me to read. i have only read volume 1 but will definetly get volume 2 if i can. if you like harry potter you better test it against the chronicles of chrestomaci! you wont regret it.
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Summary: A Snozer
Review: I couldn't get into it.The characters semed to flat or over drawn and I didn't really care for where the story was going at all.I stoped reading it after reading three chapters.
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Summary: Bought it, Read it, Loved it
Review: Diana Wynne Jones works her usual magic in this wonderful book! Filled with fun, strong characters, and plot twists, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. I couldn't put it down.Honestly, this is one of the best books I have ever read. I strongly recommend it!
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Summary: Great Book!!
Review: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume 1 is a great mind opener to witchcraft fantasies and magic. Once you start to read this book, it's hard to put it down. You just want to keep reading and reading! I rated the book 5 stars because it is very interesting and gives great detail on the persons' lives and how they used their magic, although there were a few boring parts in both stories.
Overall, I would recommend anyone I met to read this great book!
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Summary: one of the best books ever!
Review: ok, I am the first to admit that I hate to read. But... Finnaly i have found the perfect series for me. This book by Diana Wynne Jones is one of the most intresting books that i have ever read. I was stuck in the harry craze waiting for the next book (refusing to read anything eles) when my mom handed me this book. I saw, I read, I loved. my favorite story was probably the Lives of Chrisopher Chant, but the are both just as good as the other.
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Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I'm not a big review person, but I just had to comment on this book. I picked up this book in the bookstore because it was labeled "Harry Potter fans will love Diane!", and I wanted to see just how good it was. As it turns out, I brought it on my flight to Italy and read it straight through. I'll have to say that Charmed Life was a bit boring, but The Lives of Christopher Chant was definitely an eyepopper. I absolutely adored this book, and while I don't see how anyone could even relate this to Harry Potter, it is wonderfully written and one of those books that you just can't put down.
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Summary: Great story for parent / child reading
Review: My husband read both of these books to our 8-year-old daughter (3rd grader) and they were both entralled by the stories. Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, and A Wrinkle in Time fans will most likely enjoy these chronicles. It's got parallel worlds, enchantment, and humor. We meet and watch Christopher Chant's life unfold among different worlds. He has a big job on his shoulders -- to keep people from abusing their magic abilities. My husband excitedly told me about the story, something he doesn't do unless he enjoys it. He's a Star Trek, Lord of the Ring, and Star Wars fan. So, fathers or adults who enjoy those will probably get a kick out of these.
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Summary: Nine lives, and better every time
Review: Ever since the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," people have imagined wizards as tall, elderly men with long gray beards, loose robes and pointed hats. Diana Wynne-Jones shatters the cliched image with Chrestomanci, a dapper Englishman who happens to be the nine-lived magician in charge of all the magic -- in all the parallel worlds. "Charmed Life" is the story of Cat and Gwendolen, siblings who are orphaned in a tragic steamboat accident. While Cat is shy, Gwendolen is the opposite: She is an unnaturally powerful witch, and intends to rise high enough to rule the world. She thinks that she's got it made when Chrestomanci brings her and her brother to his castle. But Gwendolen has met her match in Chrestomanci -- and a magical war of wills has begun! "The Lives of Christopher Chant" is the backstory of Chrestomanci. Once he was an ordinary boy, whose ambition was to become a cricket player. But when he is tested by a powerful magician, Christopher Chant is found to be Chrestomanci: An amazingly powerful magician with not one, but NINE lives. The problem is, Christopher doesn't want to be Chrestomanci -- and he's already enmeshed in a wizards' smuggling ring that may spell doom for his new friends... Diana Wynne-Jones is at her best here: the books are funny, dramatic, well-characterized, well-written and well-plotted. The parallel worlds are well-thought out, such as Chrestomanci's world, where magic exists rather than science as we know it. As in many of her books, she shows unusual insights into the thought processes of both young and adolescent children. While readers may sometimes want to smack the lead characters, it's hard not to like the heroes and despise the villains. After reading this two-pack, readers should immediately read the next two books in the series, as well as the new short-story collection. Chrestomanci is too good to be missed.
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Summary: Charmed, indeed! A winner for readers of all ages.
Review: These are two of my favorite books under one cover. I have read them several times--these are very re-readable stories. While these often get recommended to people who are looking for more Harry Potter, these books predate that phenomenon and are great books in their own right. The books have complex stories and characters. They are funny and great page turners. People, including kids and grown-ups, are not either all good or all bad. But it isn't all fun and games. There's death and danger as well. It's the mix of everything that makes these two stories so memorable. What I find especially interesting about Lives of Christopher Chant is that it's a prequel to Charmed Life, but was written about twenty years later. In spite of that, it fits seamlessly together and adds so much more to the original book. The endings to both stories are great--they wrap up many story threads and do it without being either too messy or too simple. The stories and characters are memorable and stayed with me long after I put down the book.
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Summary: Super read
Review: This book is split in two parts: A Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant A Charmed Life Cat (Eric) Chant is a orphaned boy who lives with his sister, Gwendolen. Gwendolen is studying to be a witch, and she is horrible to poor Cat. She turns his violin into a cat, and threatens to enchant him when she is in a bad mood. Life is pretty decent, though, until a tall stranger named Chrestomanci comes along. Chrestomanci brings Gwen and Cat to live in his castle to learn magic. It is horrible there, because Gwen keeps stirring up trouble. She makes Chrestomanci and his kids (Robert and Julia) extremely angry with her, and then they become mad at Cat. Then, things get even worse when Gwen disappears into another world and brings a look-alike in her place. Many odd, mysterious, and very magical things happen when Cat tries to bring Gwen back. The Lives of Christopher Chant In this book, Chrestomanci from A Charmed Life is just a small boy named Christopher. He is a fairly normal boy, until he goes to sleep. When he sleeps, he dreams that he goes to a rocky world with many different paths. Each path leads to a different world, with interesting people. Sometimes the people give him presents that he takes back. The odd thing is that when Christopher wakes up, he has the presents with him! His Uncle Ralph finds out that he can do this, and puts him to work getting things from people in those worlds. On one of those missions, Christopher befriends a girl named Millie who is the goddess in the temple. Later on, Christopher goes to live at school, and he can't do magic there. It is impossible for him, and the funny thing is, he can't dream travel anymore. Then, things start getting weird when he gets bashed in the head and dies, and wakes up feeling perfectly fine. On top of all that, Christopher later learns out that Uncle Ralph is using him for evil, and he has to stop him. Will he succed? I loved both of these stories. I bought the book, just because I liked the cover, and ended up reading it. I was instantly hooked. I couldn't put it down. The plot moves really fast, and there are surprises hidden around every turn. You think one thing, and it turns out to be exactly the opposite. This book would be awesome for anyone who liked Harry Potter and wants similar books. I have read this book so many times that the cover is falling off. It is just a great book you need in your collection.
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