Conrad's Fate

This post originally published February 7, 2010.

Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 2005
Series: Chrestomanci #5
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
348 pages (paperback)
 
Summary: Conrad is a young boy living in Stallery, a small town, who is looking forward to starting high school with his friends. However, before he is able to, he receives shocking news from his uncle: Conrad is covered with Bad Karma because someone he was supposed to kill in his last life, he let go, and that person was reborn and living in Stallery Mansion. If Conrad doesn’t kill this person in this life, Conrad will die by the end of the year. Conrad’s uncle sends him on a mission to Stallery Mansion, posing as a servant-in-training, to finish the job he didn’t finish in his last life, and to get rid of his Bad Karma. At the mansion, it turns out Conrad is not the only one there on a secret mission; so is his fellow servant-in-training, Christopher …

My Thoughts: Another book dealing with the Chrestomanci world, and honestly, I can’t get enough of it! This time around, it’s a bit different because the world is not the usual one with Chrestomanci castle, it takes place in Series 7 rather than Series 12. In any case, I was very excited to be reacquainted with Christopher. I’ve met him as an adult, and I’ve met him as a child, so it was very exciting to be able to meet him as a teenager. And he never disappoints with his flourishing, extravagant manners and style.

However, this book centers around Conrad, who has a very interesting story himself. This is the first Chrestomanci book I’ve read where the narrative was in first person (Conrad’s perspective), so I was able to have access to all of Conrad’s thoughts. He kind of reminds me of Cat from Charmed Life — poor guy doesn’t have a clue about what’s happening around him, he just kind of goes with it. He’s a funny guy though, and I love his commentary on what he thinks of Christopher, hahaha.

This is a very fun book to read, and very humorous. This is definitely an adventure type book, what with both Conrad and Christopher going on their individual quests, which, to their surprise, entwines with one another. The author is so brilliant with her creativity, I really liked the idea of ‘pulling the possibilities’. When someone ‘pulls the possibilities’, changes happen to the world, great or small. For example, all the postboxes in Stallery are red. Someone pulled the possibilities and suddenly they are all blue! It was really fun to read about these changes. This is most definitely a very memorable book.

My Rating: 4/5