The Magicians of Caprona

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Summary: "Stop All Spells or Your Child Suffers"
Review: "The Magicians of Caprona" is part of the Chrestomanci quartet, a series of books with no particular chronological order and which are related only in regard to the presence of the magician known as the Chrestomanci. This wizard is no grey-bearded aged old man, but a young handsome character whose responsibility it is to keep in balance all magic in all the worlds.

All of the books except this one are set in a parallel version of Britain, and in a foreword to this story Diana Wynne Jones explains that here Italy never became a united country, and is still split up into states - one of which is Caprona. Caprona is a beautiful city, watched from above by the great Angel of Caprona atop the Cathedral, who long ago drove out the White Devil. The only blight upon the city is the ongoing feud between its two major families: the Montanas and the Petrocchis.

In case you haven't guessed by now, there are indeed hints of "Romeo and Juliet" at work. But in typical Wynne Jones style, the story is not told from the lovers' point of view, but rather from younger members of both families - predominantly Tonino and Paolo Montana. Like all the children of their family, they've been raised to hate the Petrocchis, and the rumours of a coming war against Caprona raises ill-will even higher.

But a visit from Chrestomanci reveals that he believes an evil enchanter is at work, though their identity is a mystery unknown even to him. The only way that they can save the city is to find the missing words to the Angel of Caprona song, and to do that it seems that the families will have to work together.

But then Tonino and Angelica Petrocchi disappear, the two most notoriously bad spell-casters of the families. While kept hostage, the two simultaneously discover the identity of the enchanter and the words to the song. But how can they get this information to their families, especially when the fighting has escalated?

"The Magician of Caprona" is probably the easiest to read of all the Chrestomanci books, and combines all of Wynne Jones's trademark features - zany magic, talking cats, clever twists and vivid characters who still act like normal people despite the magic happenings occurring around them. It moves between funny and somewhat scary, with a range of likeable characters throughout.

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Summary: Good Juvenile Book
Review: Diana Wynne Jones has written many books for children, young adults, and adults. Her output is a little uneven though she has not published any poor books. This is definitely one of her better books, though not as good as The Spellcoats or Dogsbody. A magical fantasy incorporating elements of Romeo and Juliet. Good characterization and a clever plot with moments of real emotional intensity. A good book for the late grade school to early teen years.

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Summary: Magical
Review: I first borrowed and read this book from a friend in 1996 and found it really good and interesting. The characters were spunky and memorable. I remember going about for weeks imagining how fun it would be to have their kind of magic in our world.
I found myself thinking about it again recently and fortunately found it in my local bookstore in Malaysia. The book was as good as I remembered it....probably even more so now.

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Summary: Confusing, but fabulous!
Review: I found the first time I read this book, it was really confusing for some reason. Especially the part with the enchanted room and Punch and Judy. When I read it for the second time, I absolutly loved it! Do me a HUGE favor and read it!!

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Summary: Confusing, but fabulous!
Review: I found the first time I read this book, it was really confusing for some reason. Especially the part with the enchanted room and Punch and Judy. When I read it for the second time, I absolutly loved it! Do me a HUGE favor and read it!!

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Summary: Excellent reading that feeds the imagination
Review: I read this book over fifteen years ago and still remember the story very well. It is a Romeo & Juliet style story of friendship despite family feuds and the magic add more than a touch of excitement. It is a wonderful book which really fires the imagination of children and adults alike. I would not hesitate to recommend it to the children of my friends.

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Summary: The Magicians Of Caprona
Review: I really enjoyed this book because it was very interesting and hard to put down! It is funny in all the right places and it was easy to understand and i now have my whole family reading it because it is so good.

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Summary: great
Review: i think that this book was great because it was sort of like romeo and juliet. they both had two feuding families and the duke was kind of like the prince of vernoa. I like romeo and juliet so i like this book.

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Summary: fascintaing book w/an important lesson
Review: I think that this is a very good book. It has a lot of very interesting stuff in it and it also keeps you in great suspense so you can't put the book down. There is also a small mystery in it that you can try to solve before the book tells you the answer. This book also teaches a very important lesson, that poeple need to be united to achieve something great. In the book, the lesson is very clear and it gives a very good story to make you understand it. The lesson that the book teaches is especially important now, after the 911 event of terrorism. I really recommend this book to a lot of people because it's really a very good book. The other Chrestomanci novels are also very good books for people to read too.

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Summary: Awsome!
Review: I've read all the Chrestomanci books, their the best. Perfect for someone who loves Harry Potter. I'm just a 13 year old who can't get enough of either. Diana Wynne Jones is a wonderful writer. As soon as i finish one of her books, I just have to pick up another. The Magicians of Caprona is an enchanted romance. In which Tonino Montana and Angelica Petrocchis are able to put their family diffrences aside to save Caprona.