kids have to beware of a lot of things, sometimes their own families most of all. that seems to be an underlying theme to several of the books in Diana Wynne Jones' splendid series of standalone fantasy novels for children. families are dangerous. they will let you down, they will break your heart, they will take advantage of you if it furthers their greedy ambitions, they will neglect you if you don't fit into their schemes. such a harsh and heavy theme for books whose main appeal to me is the lightness of Jones' touch and her resolve in placing adventures within worlds that may be magical but are also mundane, sometimes grindingly so. an offbeat series, and a wonderful one.so what is Conrad's fate? it may be that he was born with bad karma and his fate is to balance the decks so that he can get on with his life. at least that's what the adults tell him. but who can trust an adult in a Chrestomanci novel? Conrad may be better off carving out his own fate.this is my favorite of the Chrestomanci novels so far. Christopher Chant returns in his second adventure, but he plays second fiddle to Conrad. the two are newly hired servants-in-training with two different secret agendas. the place is a strange but bustling, lively manor chock full of all sorts of people. the manor itself is having problems: it phases in and out of various realities without warning. there was so much to enjoy in this book! the whole Upstairs Downstairs Downton Abbey-ness of it all, with a lot of fun minutiae detailed in what it may be like to be a servant in such a place. the slowly growing friendship between Conrad and Christopher, and the great little moments where we see how everyone else views the charming yet often unbearably smug Christopher Chant - destined to someday be sorcerer supreme of all dimensions. the cavalcade of assumed identities revealed at the end, the slowly simmering machinations, the dry and vaguely threatening deus ex machine appearance of Chrestomanci, the ghost, the part-time actors slumming it as servants, the girl lost in another world, various adults with their own secret agendas, cruel witches, and especially the frequent and often disorientingly bizarre shifts into alternate worlds. the author describes all of this craziness in the same way a person would describe a trip to the supermarket to pick up some milk and eggs.such a fun book, but that sad, dark theme at the heart of it all makes Conrad's Fate resonate in surprisingly profound ways.
This is a new Chrestomanci novel, this time set in a Series Seven world where Christopher Chant has, for various good and sufficient reasons of his own, gone in defiance of his guardian and teacher, Gabriel de Witt.But this is really the story of Conrad Tesdinic, who has grown up in a bookstore with an inattentive mother who spends all her time writing; an uncle who generously allows his sister and her family to live with him after her husband sold his share of the bookstore to her brother, gambled away the money, and then killed himself; and a sister who is intent on her own very sensible agenda of completing her education and getting out of the house before her magician-uncle realizes what she's doing and takes steps to keep her there permanently.Conrad, who has his own plans to continue his education and move out, is horrified when his uncle tells him he has bad karma from an important deed left undone in a previous life, and if he doesn't take the opportunity to complete the task immediately in this life, he'll soon die and be forced to start over in his next life. And in order to do this, he has to leave school now, take a job as a servant in Stallery Mansion (home of the local Count), find the person he didn't deal with in the last life, and kill him.Conrad would almost rather die than leave school and take a job as a servant at the Stallery—but not quite, and he reluctantly boards the tram, armed only with a false name—Conrad Grant—and wine cork and a spell to summon a Walker and get "what he needs" when he's identified the villain and is ready to do the job. Almost the first person he meets, of course, is Christopher Chant, who's looking for his missing and possibly trapped friend Millie, and has also come to take a job at the Stallery in order to look for. From there things get delightfully strange, as Conrad and Christopher attempt to sort out who's who, and who's putting what over on who, and not get caught or killed in the process.Great fun.
What do You think about Conrad's Fate (2006)?
Possibly my favourite of the Chrestomanci novels, this is about a boy who is sent to work at the local castle by his uncle in order to kill someone, because it is his fate to do so. It’s a wonderful mix of magic and reality, like so many of Diana Wynne Jones’s books: the magic coming from the castle interferes with TV reception in the town below, and Conrad’s mum isn’t much help to anyone because she’s deep in writing a book (which always makes me feel bad…) The tale of Conrad’s fate, and how Conrad struggles with his undercover role as a footman in the most wonderfully described castle, and who is behind the magical disturbances, these stories are all gripping on their own. But what makes this book stand out is the extra ingredient in the mix: the mysterious boy Christopher, the link between this world and many others, the link between this book and many others in the Chrestomanci series. He is confident, charming, handsome, and not even slightly what he seems. And from the moment he steps out of a gypsy caravan into Conrad’s story, it comes alive. There has rarely been such a charismatic almost-hero in a children’s book, and I’m fairly sure that I’ve based several of my own heroes on trying to recapture the very mixed feelings I have about Christopher every time I read about him. This is a magical book, in a fabulous setting, and if you love fantasy, then it doesn’t get better than this.
—Lari Don
Reread, obviously. Every time I revisit this book I like it more. The details of life as a servant in a Victorian-ish House---the weird rules, the behind-the-scenes personalities and occasional mayhem---are one of the highlights. My only complaint is that the exposition is a bit thick at the end, but it was a lot to wrap up.Also, every time I reread the theme of Conrad's family dynamics comes out more strongly. He goes through some hard realizations. I didn't notice before that Christopher supports him at one point after he talks to his mother, saying "I went through something very similar once." He did, didn't he? I also love Anthea so much, even though she amounts to being a minor character, and I feel for her when she apologizes for not taking Conrad away with her. (Conrad doesn't understand why at that moment, but the reader does.)
—Levi
This was fun, too. I liked Conrad as a character, but not as much as I like Christopher. It was so much fun to see Christopher a few years later through someone else's eyes. I loved how haughty and arrogant he is but doesn't even realize it and thinks that other people just don't understand or are envious. And I love how vain he's getting. So funny. And Conrad could be funny too, especially when talking about his Evil Fate. The only thing that felt off in this one was their ages. Conrad's supposed to be about 12 and Christopher is supposed to be around 15, but from the way they talked, acted, reasoned, and the decisions they made, they seemed older--like they ought to be around 15 and 18, respectively. I couldn't shake that feeling. I also had a little trouble understanding what, exactly, the "probabilities" were. I'm still not entirely sure about it. I liked the ending, though--the truth about the Family. Awesome.
—H
