The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)

Fun and easy to read. Pretty sure I didn't read this, the first time, so, hm. Maybe I only read the first book, when I was younger. In any case, it's best to read this after Charmed Life, otherwise it would give the game away with some of what happens in Charmed Life.

Christopher Chant isn't the pleasantest kid to read about, if you're reading in an aware sort of way and you know some things about the world -- e.g. dragon blood -- but at the same time, you get sucked into what he's doing. And it's lovely when he starts to develop -- because he does develop -- and becomes more self-aware. Millie/the Goddess is a fun character, too, and I kind of identify with her obsession with school novels... as a kid, I ate 'em up. I'd still like to get hold of the Chalet School books, someday... But my favourite character, somehow, is Tacroy, who still manages to be a decent kind of guy, despite everything.

The only quibble is how neatly and quickly it all ties up at the end. It felt rather abrupt, and just... too neat. ( )

The second in the Chrestomanci series this is actually a prequel to [b:Charmed Life|244572|Charmed Life (Chrestomanci, #1)|Diana Wynne Jones|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173077634s/244572.jpg|6594671]. And I enjoyed it a bit more too. The main character, Christopher, is much more likeable than his cousin, Cat. Again the book is rather short but long enough for what it was.

After this book I don't think I'll continue with this series as I can't really see it progressing anywhere interesting. ( )

What delights me about Diana Wynne Jones is her exceptional bravery in making her protagonists unusual, even unappealing, which makes me root for them all the more. And her plots are never linear, never predictable. The Lives of Christopher Chant made me cringe now and then--the protagonist is put in danger repeatedly by adults he most trusts--and again this unsettling feeling of not being sure all would work out in the end is a highly unusual quality in a book written primarily for children. I enjoyed it a great deal. ( )

Everyone knows the story – how Christopher dreams himself into other worlds, meets a Living Goddess, discovers the worlds are real, almost gets sidelined into a boys' school story, cricket and all, starts to learn magic, finds out he's been unknowingly aiding a group of criminals, gets found out, but saves the day – yes? If not, then the books are all in print and ready and waiting for you. You won't regret it. ( )

This Diana Wynne Jones book has an intriguing title: we are used to The Lives of the Caesars (where more than one person is involved) or, on the other extreme, The Life of Brian (which is about just one person). The Lives of Christopher Chant reflects the notion that one person can have, like a cat, more than one life. This notion is an old one, from the transmigration of the soul to the Russian folk-villain Koshchei, whose external soul is hidden away in one object enclosed within another, and so on; most recently the concept has become familiar from the Horcruxes within which Harry Potter's nemesis hides pieces of his soul, but The Lives of Christopher Chant just predates Rowling's series.

Christopher Chant's ownership of nine lives makes him something special in the world into which he is born, but it is a destiny which he is reluctant to inherit. He discovers he is a nine-lifed enchanter, with the ability to move between parallel universes (Related Worlds in the terminology of the book). Like many another Chosen One he finds he is a de facto orphan (his parents show little interest in or care for him, rather like Diana's own parents) but also that the fate of the established order is threatened unless he can assume his responsibilities (when all he wants to do is to have friends of his own age and to play cricket). What child really wants to have responsibilities, let alone their world's future fate, resting on their shoulders?

Christopher's response is, of course, to eventually respond appropriately, though his sudden maturity and ability to command after a long period of petulance is the only weak point in the plotting. Other than that this is a wonderfully engrossing read, shot through with humour, memorable characters and, yes, intimations of mortality, set in a period with a late Victorian feel but which is obviously contemporary with our own world in the late 20th century (when Christopher briefly visits it and finds himself caught up in the horror of modern traffic). Conceits, puns, childish whimsies, fairy-tales, observations on the absurdities of social conventions, these and other archetypal Jones motifs appear in their usual profusion to make this simultaneously an easy read but one which remains in the memory. ( )