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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The childhood of Chrestomanci. Everything in this book happens at least twenty-five years before the story told in Charmed Life!Discovering that he has nine lives and is destined to be the next 'Chrestomanci' is not part of Christopher's plans for the future: he'd much rather play cricket and wander around his secret dream worlds. But he soon finds that destiny is difficult to avoid, and that having more than the usual number of lives is pretty inconvenient -- especially when you lose them as easily as he does!Then an evil smuggler, known only as The Wraith, threatens the ways of the worlds and forces Christopher to take action! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

another clever and highly imaginative tale from Diana Wynne Jones
Christopher is an only child of two parents that constantly bicker, and every night, Christopher travels to other worlds for great adventures. He has a cool uncle Ralph that seems the understand him. Soon, Christopher is meeting a young man named Tacroy in the other worlds and running "experiments" for his uncle, smuggling magical supplies back to his own world. Christopher, it is discovered, has nine lives and his so magically powerful that he is destined to become the next Chrestomanci. He befriends a similar powerful young person, a Goddess, in another world. Slowly and without realizing it, Christopher falls into darkness, becoming an angry, unkind, and disagreeable child that is breaking the laws of magic. Christopher must determine who is good and who is just trying to use him. My favorite character is Tacroy, who is quite ambiguous, and yet is sort of Christopher's Sirius Black, as the only one who can identify with him as a spirit traveler and understands him. The book itself is just another beautifully written, incredibly clever and imaginative and magical work from Diana Wynne Jones. The images and so vivid and so brilliant. Grade: A-

A Death Wish, Anyone?
Diana Wynne Jones tells the backstory of everyone's favorite enchanter, Chrestomanci, in "The Lives of Christopher Chant".Chrestomanci turned the sterotype of old, sagely wizards upside down in the first Chrestomanci book with his dapper attitude and humorous qualities.However, I'll be frank; I did not enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed "Charmed Life".The story was very slow in places and the ending was very rushed.But, Jones still won me over with her delightful characters, quirky magic, and adept talent at writing meaningful and thoughtful fantasy.

Christopher Chant starts out as a normal boy who doesn't quite understand everything that's going on around him.Christopher never even bothered to tell people, ecspecially his feuding parents and nannies, about his dreams and the worlds he visits in them.But one day, Christopher's new nanny discovers all of the objects Christopher brings back from his dreams, and informs Christopher's Uncle Ralph, a charming enchanter, about them.It turns out that Christopher is a spirit traveler, or a person who visits the twelve related worlds in their dreams.Uncle Ralph soon recruits Christopher for many "experiments" where Christopher must bring him back various goods from the related worlds, and Christopher is only too happy to oblige.

On these experiments, Christopher soon loses many lives at such an obvious rate that he realizes he has nine lives and is a powerful enchanter, even though Christopher can barely manage the simplest of spells.Christopher is soon sent to live in Chrestomanci Castle for training, and he hates it.He would much rather play cricket than become the next Chrestomanci, but everything changes when Christoper realizes that his "perfect" uncle is really an inter-world illegal smuggler, and Christopher so happens to be his partner-in-crime even though he didn't know what he was doing in the first place.

The story is told with Jones' usual quirky prose and humor.Many readers who read the first book will smile as the story goes on and many of Chrestomanci's background is cleverly explained.Christopher as a character is skillyfully progressed from a naive and somewhat cold child to an aware and powerful enchanter.However, the story, as much as I would like to deny it, does suffer some problems.The beginning is a very long drawl, as well as the middle, and nothing interesting happens till Christopher finally arrives at Chrestomanci castle.From there to the ending its a smooth ride.Unfortunately, it appears that Jones didn't know what to do with her ending as its very quick and jumbled. For the last fifty pages, everything is unusally described and very confusing.I just wish that the story had ended with a strong conclusion rather than the sentence "that is really all, except for a letter that arrived for Christopher from Japan soon after New Year ..."

Even though the ending was a jumbled mess, we're still talking about Diana Wynne Jones here, and her brilliant writing and humorous details makes even a very weakly plotted book enjoyable.While I did not enjoy "The Lives of Christopher Chant" as much as I enjoyed the first book, readers everywhere are sure to enjoy how Chrestomanci went from a timid boy into a powerful enchanter.

One of my favorite fantasy books
I read this book many years ago, and did not even realize that it was part of a series until recently. I bought the other books in the series, and was expecting the other books to be similar to this writing style. While the other three books in the series are good stories and entertaining reading, it is "The Lives of Christopher Chant" that is the best of the series. This book has more depth and humor than the other books in the series. I devoured this book in one setting, because of the wonderful imagery and use of dry humor and wit. I actually don't think that you need to read the books in the series in order; besides the first two in the series, these books really don't have much in common with each other, besides the Chrestomanci character. Each book is a wonderful book in its own right. However, it is this book that gives the best background of the world in which Chrestomanci lives. Highly recommended, especially if you like J.K. Rowling - this book is the most similar to Rowling's style.

A Real Page-Turner!
"Oops!" The dragon spews fire all over Christopher and "There goes another life!"The Lives of Christopher Chant is a book about a nine-lived boy named Christopher.Every night he dreams he gets out of bed, walks around the corner of the fireplace in his room, and slips into a dreary world called "The Place Between."While conducting experiments there Christopher loses some of his nine lives.

Strong things about this book are that the story line moves along quickly, so your interest stays captive.You'll also appreciate how Dianne Wynne Jones's story line is unique.No other author has ever written anything like her "Place Between!"Her strong characters really pull the story together.Take "The Christomancy" (The Magic Governor) for instance.It seems like he was always a strict and stern man born to be "The Christomancy."However, he actually started out like Christopher, angry and bewildered.

More details would improve The Lives of Christopher Chant.Having additional information would make it easier to visualize Asheth's Temple, and why The Living Asheth (the girl who acts as a channel for the god Asheth's power) wanted to get away.More explanation about why silver stops Christopher from working magic would be helpful.Was it Christopher's dad's fault that silver stops him operating magic?

Rush out and buy The Lives of Christopher Chant, it's a page turner!The story line is new and interesting.It is a magic book, and you can never tell what's going to happen!I hope you don't lose your nine lives as quickly as Christopher Chant!

FABULOUSLY 'CHANTING!!!!
This an incredibly lovely book that I have read a million times; and each time has been just as enjoyable as the last.
This book is the second in the Chrestomanci Quartet, and is my favorite of the four. The story is about a boy named Christopher Chant who discovers that he has magical powers, and, in due time, a truly amazing and exciting life ahead of him. Buy this book! I assure you that you won't regret it;~) ... Read more

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Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Outlines are Textbook Specific. Cram101 is NOT the Textbook. ... Read more

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DocNotes bring primary sources to life, from the Proclamation of 1763 to Barack Obama's inaugural address. Designed for teachers, students, and researchers--and sure to delight history buffs--DocNotes explore the words that made America what it is today.

DocNotes are written by historians and adapted from the Milestone Documents print reference series, winner of two Choice Outstanding Academic Title awards, twoBooklist Editor's Choice awards, and a Best Reference Source award from the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association. This DocNotes analysis examines the primary source in detail and includes the following sections: Overview, Context, Time Line, About the Author, Explanation and Analysis of the Document, Essential Quotes, Audience, Impact, Questions for Further Study, Related Documents, Bibliography, Full Document Text, and Glossary.

Authoritative, accessible, and convenient, DocNotes are essential to a deeper understanding of our nation's most critical documents. ... Read more

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Queer Theology makes an important contribution to public debate about Christianity and sex.

• A remarkable collection of specially commissioned essays by some of the brightest and best of Anglo-American scholars
  
• Edited by one of the leading theologians working at the interface between religion and contemporary culture
  
• Reconceptualizes the body and its desires
  
• Enlarges the meaningfulness of Christian sexuality for the good of the Church
  
• Proposes that bodies are the mobile products of changing discourses and regimes of power.

Customer Reviews (1)

Unqualified praise for this effort. . .
I'm suprised no reviews have appeared for this. Without a colleague's recommendation, I would have never picked this book off the university library shelf in the first place. Once in hand, I couldn't put it down and my own possession-by-underlining-and-writing-all-over drove me once again to one-click it on Amazon.

A review on the back cover summarizes it best for me:"Well researched and passionately argued, this important collection of essays makes an original contribution to queer theology and to the debate about theology and sexuality in the twenty-first century."

The human body appears to me to be adapting/evolving/morphing in some manner, especially in its gendering. Queer Theology is reverent and careful.Should be in every seminarian's library ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Columbia Viking Desk Encyclopedia: A-K, Volume One (Volume 1, 2nd Edition, Condensed Version
I was very happy with the product. It was in better condition than stated in the ad. Would definitely buy from this seller again. I would also recommend them to other buyers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fantastic Story!
In my opinion,the most splendid part of the story is the description of the room. It is so detailed that as if it were at my sight. The ending is unexpectedly and satirically. When it comes to the audiotape, the voice ofthe housekeeper is furry, her British tone was very suitable for thecharacter. I appreciate the classic very much!

It's a good story, a good love story!
I have one chance to listen to a part of this story,"The Furnished Room",in my class.Telling the truth,I feel that it is not easy to read because of some recondite words. However, on the other side, with thedetailed description and the radio reading, it makes me go through thesituation personally. Esepecially the surprised ending, it also touched memuch and I shut myself in a world of fancy for a long time. I think thatit's a good story, a good love story. As a whole, I like the story verymuch!

New tendency for literature
This way to practice English for the EFL students benefits them not only the language itself but also the literature merit. This audio drama is the good media for modern people, since they always don't pay much timereading.

wonderful adaptation
Not to be outshined by the bbc, this audiodrama collection gives O Henry's short stories a first- rate treatment. And best of all, they are faithfulto the original stories. ... Read more