Conrad's Fate

Apart from the occasional short story, Diana Wynne Jones' fans have been starved of her most famous creation, the dressing-gown wearing magician Christopher Chant--star of all her Chrestomanci novels--for nearly twenty years. It's been far too long! J.K. Rowling was knee-high to a grasshopper when the first book in this sequence, Charmed Life, hit the shelves in 1977 and, although this hugely talented fantasy author has gone on to create a myriad of other imagined and fantastically crazy worlds, it is her books featuring the world-hopping Chrestomanci that have remained her most appreciated and popular tomes.

In Conrad's Fate, his uncle tells twelve-year-old Conrad Tesdinic that his constant and terrible luck is the result of a shocking dose of bad karma that within the year could threaten his very existence. He is despatched at once to Stallery Mansion, high in the mountainous Alps above his hometown of Stallchester, to work in disguise as a servant. There, in the magical fortress that seems to dominate the whole town, he must infiltrate its workings and seek out the person who has interfered so disastrously with his fate.

Along the way, Conrad strikes up a friendship with a mysterious, self-assured older boy, who has a mission of his own--to find his friend Millie who has hidden herself thereabouts. The discovery that Stallery Mansion lays on a `probability fault' adds gloriously to the wonderment and adventure that inevitably follows.

In some ways a prequel to the earlier novels, in that this book features Chant as a teenager before his Chrestomanci guise, there is definitely no need, however, to read it first. Any of other titles such as Witch Week or The Lives of Christopher Chant will be equally superb introductions to this infamous creation and just as entertaining. (Age 10 and over) --John McLay

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Not one of her best but not half bad! - Rated
On the whole I enjoyed this book but was disappointed as I felt it wasn't as well written as the older novels (eg. Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant.) The speech of Christopher did tend to rate on me throughout the book but it's still a must read for any fan of DWJ.

Thank goodness, some more REAL magic! - Rated
I was begining to despair of ever finding any more books where magic doesn't simply involve waving a wand and saying some stupid made up word. A lot of people have said 'if you liked harry potter, try this!' but, as I have said before, as far as I'm concerned it's 'if you are bored of the mind numbingness of harry potter and you want a real fantasy book, try this!' And it is brilliant. If you haven't read any of the other Chrestomanci series you'll love the freshness of this book, the idea of probability changes and the english alps. And if you have been lucky enough to come across Diana before you will be delighted with the reaperance of old characters, seeing a certain person between childhood and adulthood, and of course the new characters which have all of Diana's usual depth, wit and something unique which only she manages to include. I guess you'll just have to read it to know what I mean.

Great writer, good series, disappointing sequel - Rated
I'm a fan of DWJ's books since I read 'Archer's Goon' and 'Power of Three' when I was about 13 ... now I'm 32, and I'm still loving her books like 'Homeward Bounders', 'Dalemark Quartet', Howl's Moving Castle', 'Hexwood', 'A sudden wild magic', 'Dark Lord of Derkholm', and so on, there are so many.
All those books, including the original Chrestomanci Books are much better than this new one.
I'm really sorry to say this. The book is written and composed as fine as ever, also the story is as suspenseful as usual, yes. But, in the first place, this is not so much a book about magic. Huge passages are about being a lackey, serving at dinners, ... magic isn't reflected, learned, advancing, but just happens inexplicably or without any explication. And without much notice.
Also, differently to other DWJ books, you won't get a clue what's happening and what this is all about through the biggest part of the book. The solutions are non-predictable, not even 'forebodable', there aren't any hints. One can't find out or anticipate anything while reading, but is just informed about the scheme behind all right at the end of the story.
After reading those also surprisingly boring Narnia Chronicles (by C.S.Lewis) the last few weeks this was another disappointing experience.
Sure, a true fan will have to read 'Conrad's Fate', and also the sequel announced in the bonus chapter, but I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't know Diana Wynne Jones' books.
DWJ wrote lots of great books, and this is none of her best, by far. Better choose the books she wrote in the 70ies, or just one of those I mentioned above!

conrad's fate - Rated
One of her best-- and I have been reading her books since her first publication. But then every time I pick up one of the others I think much the same thing. No-one else is so consistently first-class.

Inevitable "Fate" - Rated
Diana Wynne-Jones returns to the world(s) of Chrestromanci in the fifth full-length book in her most popular series. Though fans of the dapper magician might be disappointed that he is a supporting character, the title "Conrad's Fate" indicates who is the star of this twisty, hilarious fantasy.

Conrad Tesdinic has always been told by his creepy Uncle Alfred that he has bad karma -- apparently he failed to kill someone in a previous life, and will die in a year unless he kills them now. So Conrad finds himself being shipped off to the castle of Stallery, as a servant, to find the person he has to kill. Joining him is Christopher, a smart boy who seems able to work magic, yet doesn't know what a chili pepper is.

Christopher eventually tells Conrad that he is a nine-lived magician, and has run away from his own world to find his friend Millie, who has also run away. She's somewhere in the castle, but he can't find her. Peculiar behavior from the count and his family, a troupe of actors, and strange shifts in reality are plaguing Stallery, and Conrad soon finds that he may have more than bad karma to worry about.

Diana Wynne-Jones' most popular fantasy series is the Chrestomanci one, which predated the Harry Potter series with its organizational magic and twinkly British humor. It's complex, funny and more than a little strange, and fans of "The Lives of Christopher Chant" will enjoy seeing old favorites -- like Millie and Gabriel -- returning to Jones' writing.

Fans of Chrestomanci/Christopher Chant may be slightly disappointed by his secondary role. But then again, the book IS called "Conrad's Fate," so it's hardly surprising that the narrator is Conrad. Conrad himself is a likable kid, with bad luck and a pleasant personality, but who is also plagued by spells and lies from the people around him. And Christopher is showing signs of the dapper, intelligent magician he later becomes.

The last parts of the book become somewhat confusing, with several intertangled plotlines, only to have Jones suddenly snap them taut. It's a credit to her that she is able to have a shifting castle, runaway magicians, a knitting witch, a gold-digger, faux nobility and an assassination plot all come to a head simultaneously. And her dialogue ("You pear-shaped freak!") shows that her sense of humor has not dulled with time.

At the end of "Conrad's Fate," it's hard not to wonder what is going to happen next in the series. Fortunately, in the meantime, this book is a delightful fantasy mystery.