Sign in with Facebook
Melissa McShane's Reviews > The Lives of Christopher Chant
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci, #2)
by
by
Melissa McShane's review
bookshelves: own, young-adult, fantasy, favorites, alternate-history
Jul 15, 2008
bookshelves: own, young-adult, fantasy, favorites, alternate-history
This is my favorite of the Chrestomanci books, and to my surprise I had completely forgotten the final confrontation. I guess it's been a while.
The Lives of Christopher Chant lacks the strong through-line of Charmed Life, which is maybe why the latter is more generally popular, but I enjoy the development of Christopher as a character and the exploration of the Related Worlds. There's also some of DWJ's trademark subtle horror, such as (view spoiler) and her wonderful feline characters. I really love Throgmorton the Temple Cat. The narrator for the audiobook rendered his yowl perfectly.
This is also best experienced as a prequel, because there is something really fun about seeing the Chrestomanci of Charmed Life as an ordinary, lonely, occasionally bratty boy. So read at least Charmed Life and possibly also Witch Week, and then give this one a shot.
The Lives of Christopher Chant lacks the strong through-line of Charmed Life, which is maybe why the latter is more generally popular, but I enjoy the development of Christopher as a character and the exploration of the Related Worlds. There's also some of DWJ's trademark subtle horror, such as (view spoiler) and her wonderful feline characters. I really love Throgmorton the Temple Cat. The narrator for the audiobook rendered his yowl perfectly.
This is also best experienced as a prequel, because there is something really fun about seeing the Chrestomanci of Charmed Life as an ordinary, lonely, occasionally bratty boy. So read at least Charmed Life and possibly also Witch Week, and then give this one a shot.
Sign into ŷ to see if any of your friends have read
The Lives of Christopher Chant.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
July 15, 2008
– Shelved
Started Reading
July 18, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Oh, shoot, I never did do that, did I? And now I can't find the spreadsheet...it has to be around here somewhere. I'll go look.
Okay, back. :) Turns out it was a Word document and not a spreadsheet, which is how I lost it. It is a complete bibliography of everything DWJ wrote, in chronological order so I could read everything from beginning to end, and it took hours to produce, so I'm glad I didn't lose it.I have a Top Eleven list of DWJ books, divided into two groups: five of my absolute irrational favorites and six that I love passionately but am not irrational about. I think the list might have changed slightly since I first created it, but here's how it stands now:
Top Five (in alphabetical order, because I love them all equally)
Archer's Goon
Fire and Hemlock
Hexwood
Howl's Moving Castle
The Time of the Ghost
The Next-Tier Six:
Dogsbody
Drowned Ammet
The Homeward Bounders
The Lives of Christopher Chant
Power Of Three
The Spellcoats
Homeward Bounders actually hovers between these groups. The book is very good, but the ending is devastatingly awesome.
WHAT AN INTERESTING LIST! I have soooo many comments ;) I’ll spare you all of them, but primarily: everyone loves Fire and Hemlock but me, apparently - and I haven’t read two of your top five!
Beth wrote: "... and I haven’t read two of your top five!"Well then. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it . . .
😁
Beth wrote: "WHAT AN INTERESTING LIST! I have soooo many comments ;) I’ll spare you all of them, but primarily: everyone loves Fire and Hemlock but me, apparently - and I haven’t read two of your top five!"It's not just you--I know at least one person who doesn't love Fire and Hemlock. For me, I love the complexity of the story rather than the characters, if that makes sense; it's not like Hexwood, where it's the people who make me love the book, but rather the structure and the challenge of the ending (which I did not understand for years).
Which two haven't you read?
Hallie once explained that ending to me and I found it as incomprehensible as much of the book, frankly. I’ve tried to reread it and appreciate it more but I can’t seem to get there!Hexwood and Time of the Ghost! I adore both Archer’s Goon and Howl’s Moving Castle.
I definitely recommend you read Time of the Ghost (my review is here). Hexwood is more in the slightly incomprehensible Fire and Hemlock vein, though I think it's more accessible. I love it both because it's complex and because the characters really grabbed me.
MELISSA I went looking for Hallie’s comments on Fire and Hemlock (and couldn’t find them; I’m sure GR has hidden them away somewhere and they’ll randomly cross my radar six months from now) and I came across this essay by DWJ that someone retyped and !!!
I cannot say I ever saw Eliot in Fire and Hemlock! And I really like The Four Quartets!
That is fascinating! I bet I have a copy of that essay somewhere (it might be in Reflections) but I've never read it. I have to say DWJ's conceptualizing of her own work makes me feel like a total slacker. :)
Hahaha, it actually makes me wonder if the academic Meaningful angle contributes to my not liking it!
That really could be! I don't know that any of her other books are quite so planned out or as academic.
I think I’m one of the people who likes Charmed Life more than this, but this was a close second! It’s definitely best experienced second.