Customer Reviews

Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ms. Jones takes the reader into the world of the Chrestomanchi in 4 wonderfully woven tales. Anyone who read the other books in the Chrestomanchi series will be enchanted to rediscover old characters and be interested in the new. I found that the works were masterfully created. It was wonderful how all the different worlds of kind of come together and explore new territories. Seeing characters like Cat, Antionio, Gabriel de Witt and Roberts Mordecai was great fun. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone.

MIXED MAGICS is a delightful new short story collection continuing the Chrestomanci saga that Dianna Wynne Jones had woven years ago. Now readers will see the return of the famed Chrestomanci and the magic that emanates from some old characters in CHARMED LIFE and THE MAGICIANS OF CAPRONA. These are four Chrestomanci tales, and though I did not like the first and last story, one story is an extremely suspenseful, magical story that I could not put down. This brand new collection, MIXED MAGICS, includes the stories WARLOCK AT THE WHEEL, STEALER OF THE SOULS, CAROL O'NEIR'S HUNDREDTH DREAM, and SAGE AT THEARE. I particulary enjoyed STEALER OF THE SOULS, for it featured the return of Cat Chant and Tonino from previous novels. Master Spiderman, a shroudy, dark man, wants to be the most powerful nine-lived enchanter in the world -- and that's because he's going to have ten lives. And he's going to kidnap Cat and Tonino to do so ! Can the two join forces to stop the Master? The magic of this story is wonderful, and the book is extremely well written. All Chrestomanci fans, or fans old and new of Dianna Wynne Jones's heartwarming magical books should read MIXED MAGICS, the brand new, magical, and spine tingling short story collection, which will delight many a reader, flashing with spells, laughs, and magic galore, though it has lost the spark of the original four Chrestomanci novels.

Chrestomanci the nine-lived mage is one of the most interesting and amusing magicians in fantasy, and his slightly off-kilter parallel world is revisited in these four stories. Three were previously published, but the enchanting "Stealer of Souls" is new.

"Warlock at the Wheel" is the weakest of the stories, in which an unfortunate young warlock loses his magic to Chrestomanci, and tries to steal cars. Things don't turn out quite as he expects.

"Stealer of Souls" brings back several favorites from the four novels. Cat Chant becomes jealous when the talented Tonino Montana is brought to the castle by Chresomanci, but neither boy has time to deal with their problems. A strange magician called Spiderman kidnaps both boys as a part of his attempt to make himself a ten-lived magician -- one more powerful than even Chrestomanci.

"Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream" features a little girl who controls her vivid and dramatic dreams, which are then bottled for others to use. Until the day Carol stops dreaming. She is taken to the magician Chrestomanci, who helps her discover that her dreams are being hit with a very unusual actors' strike...

In "The Sage of Theare," the future Sage of Dissolution is sent to Chrestomanci's orderly world, by the gods who are hoping to avoid having him destroy them. Chrestomanci takes the befuddled young Sage under his wing, and shows how asking questions is a very good thing.

I found these stories to be a refreshing return to the world of the dapper, hyper-brainy world of Chrestomanci. The only exception is "Warlock," in which he has no presence and is only mentioned. Jones' writing style is a little uneven, since these stories were written years apart, and as a result there is a slightly more cutesy feel to "Warlock" and "Dream" than to "Stealer." However, her flair for characterization is as present as ever; the characters feel real, whether we hear about things from their point of view, or whether they are a little more distant, such as Chrestmanci himself.

The main problem with this book is that once readers finish it, there are (at present) no more Chrestomanci-themed tales beyond these five books. Read and immerse yourself in Jones' enchanting universe.

If you have read and enjoyed the "Chrestomanci Quartet" by Jones ("The Lives of Christopher Chant," "Charmed Life," "Witch Week," & "The Magicians of Caprona"), you'll love this collection of short stories which brings back some of the best and most memorable characters from the series. My favorite of the four stories in the book is "Stealer of Souls," the only story that was unreleased prior to this collection. This story teams Cat Chant of "Charmed Life," and Tonino Montana of "The Magicians of Caprona" together in order to defeat an enchanter who was supposed to have died over a hundred years ago! However, I must say that to fully enjoy this book, you should first read the Chrestomanci Quartet or you will miss out on what makes this book most enjoyable.

These four tales are in the exact same style as Diana Wynne Jones' earlier Chrestomanci novels. They are light, funny, and have interesting plot twists. Like The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1 and 2, this book contains stories about the castle in which the mighty sorcerer Chrestomanci lives. This books contains four short stories; Warlock at the Wheel, Stealer of Souls, Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream, and The Sage of Theare. If you haven't already read the Chronicles of Chrestomanci I would suggest that you do that before reading this book because the stories go in chronological order.

Warlock at the Wheel is a story about a warlock. This is the shortest story in the book. For a reason not disclosed on the book, Chrestomanci has taken away his magic and he is "forced" to take to a life of crime. Unfortunately he is not very good at this and ends up getting the police after him. To escape the police he turns to a French wizard and sends him into an alternate world where he still has magic. This is the story of how he makes his life in this world. Chrestomanci himself doesn't actually show up in this story, but his man does and Chrestomanci is mentioned many a time.

Stealer of Souls is the longest, and in my opinion, the best of the four. It brings back Cat whom we met in Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 2. This story is about an evil magician called Master Spiderman. Master Spiderman is trying to steal the lives from all past and future Chrestomanci so that he can become more powerful than the current Chrestomanci. Chrestomanci himself plays a role in this story, but it is a small role.

Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream is about a girl named Carol Oneir. Carol is a girl who can control what she dreams about, and those dreams can them be saved for others to dream. This is a big business, and has made Carol and her family quite rich. Because of this Carol is quite snooty and looks down on other children. In this story Carol lays down to have her hundredth dream, and nothing happens. Her mom instantly rushes her off to see all kinds of specialists. No one can figure out the problem until her dad asks Chrestomanci to take a look. Chrestomanci is, of course, able to find out what is wrong. This is the story of what went wrong with Carol's dream and of how she learns (in a small way) to be a better person.

The last story in this book is called The Sage of Theare. This story is about the city of Theare with all of its neat orderly gods, and the prophecy that states, "It is written that a Sage shall be born who shall question everything. His questions shall bring down the exquisite order of Heaven and cast all the gods into disorder." This is the story of how the gods try to prevent the prophecy from happening and the resulting conflict.

All in all I gave this book four stars because of its wonderful style of writing and original plots. In my mind it doesn't deserve five stars because in most of the book it lacks a certain something that may or may not be charm.

Loggie-log-log-log

Exactly what you would hope for from a Diana Wynne Jones book. Four beautifully written short (very, very short) stories from the world of Chrestomanci. Fills in a bit of the gap between "Charmed Life" and "The Pinhoe Egg." Although I was sad to finish these stories so quickly, they are perfect - lively and humorous in a way that only Jones' writing can be. Five stars and a definite recommended read for any Diana Wynne Jones fan.

This is rather a let down. The stories aren't nearly as detailed, and I didn't find myself caring what happened to the characters at all. Compared to the other books in the series, this is terrible.

This book, though one of the best I have ever read, was a huge disappointment to me. The plots were not a gripping as other books Diana Wynne Jones has written. The wonderful unexpected endings, and plot twists in most of her other books simply are not there. I also think that the characters are much harder to relate to. All of the stories would have been better if they were developed more. I would recommend not spending money on this book and buying "The Chronicles of Chrestomanci- Volume 1," or "The Chronicles of Chrestomanci- Volume 2." Unlike this one, these books are better the second, third, or forth time. If your library has this book, don't spend the money. If not, it is good enough to buy just to read once.

This is the best book on earth! I have really enjoyed the four different stories, especially the one about Chrestomaci and Cat. I would heartily recommend this book!

This book contains four stories about Chrestomanci. The first one is a bit disapointing as it doesn't contain Chrestomanci at all.
The seccond conatins Cat.
The third has Christopher as Chrestomanci
The fourth is the best in my opion.
I really enjoyed these stories. I would have liked them more if it was about Christopher Chant.