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Title:
Lives of Christopher Chant
Series:
Chrestomanci #4
Author: Diana Jones
Rating:
5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Middlegrade Fantasy
Pages:
241
Words: 88K
Now
why can’t DWJ have written the rest of the Chrestomanci books like
this one? This was fun, engaging, lively, with just the right amount
of drama and even the badguys weren’t unpleasant jerks. They were
just bad. Here’s a longer quote from the book that encapsulates
the “feel” of the book.
“The
trouble was, school had also taught him that girls were a Complete
Mystery and quite different from boys. He had no idea what books
girls liked. He was forced to consult Oneir, who had an older sister.
“All
sorts of slush,” Oneir said, shrugging. “I can’t remember
what.”
“Then
could you come down to the bookshop with me and see if you can see
some of them?” Christopher asked.
“I
might,” Oneir agreed. “What’s in it for me?”
“I’ll
do your geometry tonight as well as your algebra,” Christopher
said.
On
this understanding, Oneir went down to the bookshop with Christopher
in the space between lessons and tea. There he almost immediately
picked out The Arabian Nights (Unexpurgated). “This one’s good,”
he said. He followed it with something called Little Tanya and the
Fairies, which Christopher took one look at and put hastily back on
the shelf. “I know my sister’s read that one,” Oneir said,
rather injured. “Who’s the girl you want it for?”
“She’s
about the same age as us,” Christopher said and, since Oneir was
looking at him for a further explanation and he was fairly sure Oneir
was not going to believe in someone called the Goddess, he added,
“I’ve got this cousin called Caroline.” This was quite true.
Mama had once shown him a studio photo of his cousin, all lace and
curls. Oneir was not to know that this had nothing whatsoever to do
with the sentence that had gone before.
“Wait
a sec then,” Oneir said, “and I’ll see if I can spot some of
the real slush.” He wandered on along the shelf, leaving
Christopher to flip through The Arabian Nights. It did look good,
Christopher thought. Unfortunately he could see from the pictures
that it was all about somewhere very like the Goddess’s own
Anywhere. He suspected the Goddess would call it educational. “Ah,
here we are! This is sure-fire slush!” Oneir called, pointing to a
whole row of books. “These Millie books. Our house is full of the
things.”
Millie
Goes to School, Christopher read, Millie of Lowood House, Millie
Plays the Game. He picked up one called Millie’s Finest Hour. It
had some very brightly colored schoolgirls on the front and in small
print: “Another moral and uplifting story about your favorite
schoolgirl. You will weep with Millie, rejoice with Millie, and meet
all your friends from Lowood House School again . . .”
“Does
your sister really like these?” he asked incredulously.
“Wallows
in them,” said Oneir. “She reads them over and over again and
cries every time.”
Though
this seemed a funny way to enjoy a book, Christopher was sure Oneir
knew best. The books were two and sixpence each. Christopher chose
out the first five, up to Millie in the Upper Fourth, and bought The
Arabian Nights for himself with the rest of the money. After all, it
was his gold sovereign.”
~page 65
I
laughed my head off at that. And rest of the book had that fun tone
as well. Yes, there was some really dangerous things going on and
Christopher wasn’t in the best of circumstances and he doesn’t
always act like a good boy, but the thrust of the novel was all that
was good instead of focusing on the unpleasant and nasty, as was done
in Witch
Week. This is what I want from a middle grade story.
I
think it helped that Christopher is going to be the next Chrestomanci
and how it turns his world upside down and inside out. Chrestomanci,
as a position, is front and center and you can see how the
responsibility of it weighs down on both the young and the old. But
nonetheless, each bearer takes it up at the proper time and does
their duty. Ahhhh, that’s good stuff! Responsibility, putting
others above your own self, protecting the weak and helpless, facing
down evil, people NEED that in their fiction, especially nowadays.
And kids? It’s essential, sigh.
Anyway,
this was the best Chrestomanci book so far and it showed just what a
splendid writer DWJ could be when she wanted. Highly recommended.
★★★★★
From
Wikipedia:
The
novel tells the story of Christopher Chant's childhood in a magic
filled Victorian style era. Although both of his parents are powerful
practitioners of magic, the two are constantly at loggerheads;
his father (an enchanter, the strongest type of magic-user) is
entirely devoted to his work, to such a degree that the young
Christopher is afraid that he would not recognise him should the two
meet in public. On the other hand, his mother (a sorceress, the
second-strongest type of magic-user) is a social climber, and is
apparently only married to his father for his social connections.
Christopher finds solace in his uncle Ralph, but due to his
travelling job they rarely see each other.
The
only escape that Christopher has is through his dreams, in which he
is able to escape to other worlds. While he is not the only person
with this ability, seemingly no one is able to do it so easily as he.
Christopher is able to bring items with him into the real world, and
after one of his many nannies discovers his hoard of items and
accuses him of stealing, he tells Uncle Ralph of his power. Uncle
Ralph is intrigued by this and has Christopher go on a 'test' to see
what he can bring back. In the place between worlds, which takes the
form of a valley, Christopher meets Tacroy who is supposed to guide
him on his uncle's orders, however the two discover that whilst
Tacroy is projecting his mind there Christopher is physically going
into the other worlds; something which is impossible.
Christopher
and Tacroy go on several of these trips, and on one to World 10 they
get separated. Christopher meets 'The Living Asheth' a girl his age
who is a vessel for Asheth, the Goddess of her world. He makes a deal
with her for one of her magic temple cats, Throgmorten, but as she
helps him escape he is speared by one of her many guards. After
waking up in his bed with Throgmorten, Christopher accidentally
causes a curtain rod to fall down and spear him through the heart,
although he survives. This experience prompts his parents to send him
to a boarding school where Christopher forgets to travel in his
dreams because he enjoys it so much. Several ordinary months go by
and Christopher decides to become a professional cricketer whilst his
parents divorce. His friend accidentally hits him in the head with a
cricket back, killing him. He wakes up confused in the morgue, where
he then falls asleep in the hospital. The current Chrestomanci named
Gabriel De Witt visits him, but disbelieves claims of him being an
enchanter. Christopher's father takes Christopher to several witches
and discovers that a silver coin Ralph insisted he always carry on
him was stopping him from doing magic.
Chrestomanci
realises Christopher is a nine-lived enchanter and brings him to his
castle to train to be the next Chrestomanci. He absolutely hates
living there and disobeys all of the rules even actively going
against them. He returns to travelling with Tacroy for his uncle and
returns the deal with The Living Asheth; giving her a series of books
about a girl named Millie at boarding school. The two become close
friends and she insists he call her Millie instead. Christopher dies
multiple times during these trips and always wakes up in his own
world only to die in freak accidents similar to the prior ones.
Millie discovers that when she grows to old for Asheth to use her she
is going to be sacrificed to her. Christopher sacrifices one of his
lives so that Millie can travel to his own world to hide.
Christopher
discovers that Chrestomanci is investigating a smuggler named 'The
Wraith' who somehow manages to bring illegal items from other worlds.
Chrestomanci reveals to every person in the castle that their close
friend Mordecai Roberts was working for the Wraith, and Christopher
is shocked to find Mordecai is actually Tacroy. Tacroy pretends not
to know Christopher and reveals to him that his uncle is the Wraith.
Ralph manages to kill Chrestomanci by taking his lives and scattering
them across worlds so nobody could find him. Christopher uses
Throgmorten to trap Ralph before Millie is able to subdue him. Millie
discovers that Asheth is too vain to actually give a mortal girl
magic and she is in reality one of the most powerful enchantresses in
existence.
Learning
that Mordecai is enchanted to work for Ralph, Christopher and Millie
travel to world 11 which is a mysterious place that only has one
timeline. Christopher and Millie are both able to outwit the ruler of
World 11 and free Mordecai, who willingly becomes a servant of
Chrestomanci. However, Christopher sacrifices another one of his
lives. Christopher's parents reveal to him they are getting back
together, but this time for love, and Christopher decides to continue
living at the castle with the newly revived Chrestomanci and Millie.
However, as Christopher attempts to travel he discovers he no longer
can, as he only has two lives remaining.
-
All of My
“Diana Jones” Reviews
