First we have Charmed Life which is the story of a young boy named Eric "Cat" Chant. He is an orphan who lives with his forceful older sister, Gwendolen. They find some old letters of their parents' from Chrestomanci -- a very powerful enchanter who works with the government to manage the use of magic through various universes. Gwendolen writes to him and he decides to take the children back to his castle for their education. Gwendolen is excited because she has plans to be a famous witch. Cat doesn't think that he has the ability to do magic but as time passes, he discovers that someone he trusted may have been holding him back all along. This was a good story about a young boy who finds his own strength and learns to believe in himself. The world is not as complex as, say, the Harry Potter universe but it is very vivid and believable.

The second book is The Lives of Christopher Chant. This book is about another boy named Christopher Chant who has the ability to travel between universes. He is asked by his uncle to perform certain tasks in these worlds and he is enjoying himself and feeling important until he becomes suspicious of his uncle's motives. Eventually he meets the Chrestomanci of his time (a different man from the one we met in the first book) and has to decide to be loyal to his family or to stand up for what is right. Christopher is an entirely different sort of boy from Cat and this book greatly expanded the universe and also introduced us to many different universes and parallel worlds.

http://webereading.com/2008/07/chroni... ( )

Before there was Harry Potter there was Christopher Chant. Diana Wynne Jones' world of Chrestomanci. While not as nurturing and engaging as Harry Potter's world, these books are enjoyable and offer a different perspective on what a magical world might be like. Highly recommended. ( )

http://trinat.vox.com/library/post/ma...

Diana Wynne Jones is possibly one of the more well-known fantasy writers of her generation, and this reputation is well-deserved from reading the two books that comprise this first volume of The Chronicles of Chrestomanci. Her characters are deftly written, and are quite lovable despite many wacky quirks (see: Christopher Chant). I'm personally not fond of her usual retreat into a deux en machina ending, but after reading a few of her books, I'm thinking that this is probably a common occurrence and I should start getting used to it by now. ( )

which is witch craft, 9 lives is a little weird ( )

Honestly, this was pretty mediocre. I read Howl's Moving Castle a while back, after a number of my friends gave it rave reviews, and found it to be a decent if unexceptional read, so when I saw this on the Library Book Sale shelf, I figured why not? At least I only wasted 25 cents and a couple of hours of my life.

The story line is that Cat and Gwendolen Chant are orphans being raised by an old witch named Mrs. Sharp. Gwendolen is also a witch, and is considered one of the most promising young witches around. Shortly into the book, she and Cat are taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle, just as Gwendolen hoped and planned, However, the situation there ends up being quite different from what she expected. Part of the trouble is that she is an insufferable wretch who expects everyone to do as she says, which doesn't really give the reader anyone to identify with. Cat is okay, but he's really just a doormat through the bulk of the book. Gwendolen's mounting frustration leads to all kinds of madcap goings on, until the final showdown at the end of the book. The finale had more than a touch of Deus Ex Machina, and I found myself rolling my eyes with frequency.

Basically, the plot is pretty standard, the characters fairly two-dimensional, and the writing standard. It wasn't as bad as, say, A Wrinkle in Time, but I found Charmed Life dull and will not be seeking out the rest of the series. ( )