Charmed Life

In my opinion, Diana Wynne Jones is simply one of the best YA fantasy writers out there. She ranks right up there with Lloyd Alexander and Philip Pullman. The intelligence and creativity of her work is consistently remarkable, and Charmed Life is a wonderful example of the scope of her imagination and plots. Charmed Life, an entry in the Chrestomanci series (which can be read in any order without any knowledge of the others--others include Witch Week, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona), is a charming British YA fantasy that far predates the Harry Potter mania. Fans of Harry Potter might like this; it has a similar enough plot--young orphaned boy with awful relatives is taken to a place where his talents can begin to expand. Young Eric, familiarly known as Cat, even slides around on magic mirrors (as opposed to magic broomsticks). However, Charmed Life is in every way superior to the Harry Potter books. For instance, the world's concept is much more profound and interesting. The world Cat inhabits is one in which magic abounds and technology is a bit backward-- not this world as we have known it at any point in time. Rather, it's a version of our world had key events been changed. (For example, a possible alternate world would be if Napoleon had succeeded in his campaigns. We would probably live in a world with a primary language of French.) Secondly, again unlike the HP books, there are no completely evil characters. Diana Wynne Jones has a talent for creating idiosyncratic, realistic people, and even those who are...less than wonderful, have their moments of niceness. And even the 'nice' people have their faults. Good doesn't always automatically win, and Cat is hardly a faultless protagonist. Diana Wynne Jones takes common themes and imbues them with so much life and color and humor that the result-- Charmed Life (among many others) is compulsively likable. Who else could successfully mix enchanters, shrieking furniture, violin-turned-cats, maid-turned-frogs, silverware, family mysteries, alternate worlds, adventure and wit save a master magician such as Diana Wynne Jones? If you haven't read anything by her but like your fantasies good and British with dizzyingly intricate plots, do try her work. I particularly recommend Howl's Moving Castle, Hexwood, and, of course, Charmed Life. These are books that deserve to be read...and reread...and reread... Ailanna

I first read Charmed Life many years ago (I was probably about 8). I have no idea where I got it, but I got this and "A Tale of Time City" at around the same time, and devoured them both. Since then I have read many of her books, finding them when I can, rereading them, lending them and borrowing them. Though I've loved them all (some of my favorites being "The Power of Three", "A Tale of Time City" and "The Lives of Christopher Chant") the only one I still have in my hands now, 8 years later, is this one (guess I never trusted anyone enough to lend it to them). I love it more and more each time I read it, and I love Cat more and more as well. I've read novels with more complicated plots, and larger words, but nothing pulled off as well as her books are... If only she had more (and all of my copies hadn't dissapeared!) Oh well - guess I have to read "Charmed Life" again... Shucks :)

I read Charmed Life when I was in fourth or fifth grade, and immediately bought a copy of my own to read again and again. I loved all Diana Jones's books, but this one was my first and my favorite. Fifteen years later I still feel fond of Cat and resentful of his hellion sister Gwendolyn, and I still wince at the hilarious atrocities she perpetrted at Chrestomanci castle. A children's book that doesn't patronize children, but instead indulges their sophisticated sense of humor and appreciation of the travails of a bildungsroman hero is a rare treat indeed. I still keep my old copy so that some day my children can learn to love Jones's wonderful books too.

When I was a kid Diana Wynne Jones was my favorite author, and "Charmed Life" and "The Lives of Christopher Chant" were my favorite books of hers. They are just so inventive, exciting ... a great read. Nowadays I recommend them to all fans of Harry Potter, from my youngest brother on up.

I bought this book some ten years or so ago. It was my favourite book for about five years until I leant it to a "friend" who liked it so much that she never gave it back. I'm so happy that this book is back in print because I still yearn to read it. Which goes to show just what an absolutely amazing book this is and this isn't even my favourite DWJ book. That, incidentally is Dogsbody which was also stolen. Anyway back to the review, this book has everthing for lovers of fantasy and magic alike:- parallel worlds, extra lives, spoilt megalomaniac children and of course lots and lots of magic. It is one of the Chrestomanci books and I recommend that anybody who reads and loves this book, should also try reading The Lives of Christopher Chant, Witch Week and The Magicians of Caprona by the same author. I have read the other reviews and what has struck me is that every reviewer seems to have read all of her other books, as have I. Diana Wynne-Jones has a knack of creating such warm, real characters and writes with a lot of humour. She is the kind of author who inspires such loyalty from her readers. Go on-read this book. We can't all be wrong!