Every saga has a beginning. Every journey has a first step...And so it is with the magical "Worlds of Chrestomanci" which English fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones began so many years ago with her own episode one—Charmed Life.

Winner of the Guardian Award for Children's Books, Charmed Life has been a favourite escape to parallel fantastical worlds since 1977, and remains refreshingly captivating and reassuringly addictive in its latest paperback edition with a wonderful new jacket illustration.

The adventure begins in a strange and not-quite contemporary England that is still peppered with paddle steamers, horse-drawn carriages and girls wearing petticoats. Orphans Eric Chant (nicknamed Cat) and his sister Gwendolen, a gifted witch, are whisked away to live in a castle with Chrestromanci, a much-revered man of magic, wealth and mysterious ways. Their new life is full of the surreal and unexpected, and there are several crazy new rules to master—not least by Gwendolen who must learn to channel her astonishing powers for good instead of mischief as she forever seems determined to do!

Chrestomanci is a truly original creation, and Charmed Life introduces this dandy nine-lived enchanter—the king of the regal dressing gown—and his associated colourful characters in a story of pace and substance, twists and turns, treachery and bravado. There's also humour amid the author's very immediate writing, and enough puzzles and mystery to keep an inquisitive mind captivated until the very end.

Charmed Life is followed by three more full-length Chrestromanci novels—The Magicians of Caprona, Witch Week, The Lives of Christopher Chant and by a collection of short stories, Mixed Magics. All are equally inventive. (Ages 10 and over) —John McLay

In books by fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones, nothing is ever as it seems. And so it is with one of her finest creations——"The Worlds of Chrestomanci".

Here, there are hundreds of other, parallel worlds—each one formed when the result of a big event in history, like a battle or an earthquake, could have been two quite different things. Both things happened, but because they could not exist together, the worlds split apart and took their new courses independently. What's more, it is common for people to have at least one exact double populating several of these other world...

Confused? Don't be—The Magicians of Caprona is the second instalment in the fascinating life of Christopher Chant (better known as Chrestomanci) and explains everything you ever needed to know about magic, witchcraft and the black arts. There are new characters, more surprises, slippery spells and an enchanted romance too!

In the Italian Dukedom of Caprona, the houses of Montana and Petrocchi control everything magical, watched over by its magnificent guardian statue, the Angel. But the families have been feuding for years so when all the spells that are meant to vanquish the threat of war from other city-states all start going wrong—each predictably blames the other. It is only when the young Tonino Montana and Angelica Petrocchi suddenly disappear that rumours of a White Devil who threatens the Angel of Caprona are taken seriously. Family differences must be cast aside to save the day from an evil enchanter, and lives cannot be saved without the involvement of the magic man they call Chrestomanci.

The Magicians of Caprona is the slightly more serious sequel to Charmed Life, and is followed by two further Chrestromanci novels—Witch Week and The Lives of Christopher Chant and a new collection of short stories, Mixed Magics. (Ages 10 and over) —John McLay

The trouble started when Howard came home from school and found the Goon sitting in the kitchen and preventing Fifi from making the tea. As Howard desperately attempts to unravel the mystery, he discovers a ruthless plot to take over the world. The book was nominated for a 1985 World Fantasy Award.

Think of a world, almost like our own but a little more genteel and old-fashioned, where magic and witchcraft is as common as mathematics—but just as dangerous in the wrong hands. In The Lives of Christopher Chant—the fourth book in her Worlds of Chrestomanci series—Diana Wynne Jones succeeds in creating a vision of England close to our expectations of what should be, but subtly different enough to excite our interest and draw us into a strange new world of incredible reality and possibilities.

Christopher Chant is a dreamer, a boy who returns home each night with strange gifts from his nocturnal travels and leaves sand in his bed as proof. He's happy to play cricket and wander the world in secret—so having nine lives and being the next "Chrestomanci" is not part of his plans for the future. It's only when an evil smuggler known as The Wraith threatens his existence that the young Christopher truly takes hold of his destiny. He must try to halt his loss of lives and defeat evil before times runs out.

Set at least 20 years before the events as told in the first Chrestmanci novel, Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant is a detailed fantasy and wild adventure with dollops of humour that will challenge and intrigue every fan of this sequence of otherworldly novels.

Chrestomanci patrols the pages of three more full-length novels—Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, Witch Week and in a collection of short stories, Mixed Magics. He is undoubtedly Diana Wynne Jones' finest creation and should not be missed. —John McLay