Chronicles of Chrestomanci

A series of books taking place in the Twelve Related Worlds involving a powerful nine-lifed enchanter known as Chrestomanci.

For the government employee, see Chrestomanci (title).

Books and short stories[]

Order of Reading[]

Chronologically[]

The Lives of Christopher Chant
Conrad's Fate
Charmed Life
*"Warlock at the Wheel"
*"The Sage of Theare"
Witch Week
The Magicians of Caprona
*"Stealer of Souls"
*"Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream"
The Pinhoe Egg

By Publication Date[]

Charmed Life
The Magicians of Caprona
Witch Week
The Lives of Christopher Chant
Mixed Magics
Conrad's Fate
The Pinhoe Egg

Characters[]

Main article: List of Chrestomanci characters

Recurring Main Characters[]

The Worlds of Chrestomanci[]

There are twelve different series's of worlds in the Chrestomanci series. They are all linked because everybody on them all speaks the same language. Every series also started out with the same geography, but their own history changed the worlds in different ways. For instance, some serieses are still going through an Ice Age, and Series Seven's worlds are such as that Britain has not broken off from the continent of Europe.

List of Series[]

Twelve[]

Twelve B[]

Twelve B is our own world. It has no magic at all.

Twelve A[]

Magic in Twelve A is common and comes in different strengths and varieties. Hag is not a category of magic-user, but is instead a derogatory term for anyone who practices magic. Notable witches include Gwendolen Chant and Ellen Sharp.

Witch/Warlock - Practitioners of witchcraft, the weakest form of magic. Witches and warlocks rely primarily upon ingredients to cast their spells. Additionally, they can be further ranked according to what kind of license they have.
- Certified - The lowest qualification. People only go to Certified Witches when they can't afford anyone better. Mrs. Sharp is a Certified Witch.
- Accredited - A higher qualification than Certified. There are three Accredited Witches on Coven Street in Wolvercote.
- Willing - It's unclear how strong or weak a qualification this is. One Willing Warlock lives on Coven Street in Wolvercote and is mostly hired for lifting heavy objects or making the wrong horse win at the races.
Necromancer - Practitioners of necromancy. Contrary to the traditional meaning, necromancy does not involve raising the dead; it is merely a step up from witchcraft. Henry Nostrum is a necromancer.
Wizard - Practitioners of wizardry.
Magician - Practitioners of magician's magic. Notable magicians include Michael Saunders.
Sorcerer/Sorceress - Practitioners of sorcery, which seems to involve using a personal, inanimate object (such as a handkerchief) as a focus. Miranda Chant, Christopher's mother, is a sorceress.
Enchanter/Enchantress - Practitioners of enchanter's magic. Enchanter's magic is notable in that it does not require ingredients; instead, enchanters are capable of willing their magic to shape reality. Millie is a powerful enchantress, and the Chant family pride themselves on being a clan that produces many enchanters. Marianne Pinhoe is also an enchantress.
- Nine-lived Enchanter - The most powerful users of magic in Series Twelve, and among the most powerful in any other world. As their name suggests, nine-lived enchanters have nine lives. This happens when a person's doubles are either not born or die at birth, and all of those eight additional lives and their latent talents collect in one person. Four nine-lived enchanters are known by name: Benjamin Allworthy, Gabriel De Witt, Christopher Chant, and Cat Chant.

Twelve D[]

It is said that Twelve D has even more magic than Twelve A, but it is so badly organised that it is hard to tell.

Eleven[]

Only one world here, ruled by the Dright with a rod of iron. Its people are the ones who have given rise to our stories of elves.

Ten[]

Another hot Series, where lands and mountains are arranged in a way we would not recognise and religion is very important. Here some worlds seem very primitive while others are full of heavy industry. These worlds all know about one another and trade with each other, despite their differences.

The constant feature of all nine worlds is the worship of the goddess Asheth, a fiercely possessive and vengeful goddess. Her soldiers, known as the Arm of Asheth, have been known to track those who have offended the goddess from world to world for years.

Nine[]

Dragons live here too, but this is a tropical Series, with huge jungles and strange trees and plants. Insects here are large and worrying. Explorers from other Series need protective clothing.

Eight[]

The series where most of the dragons live. Each world is grim, mountainous and chilly, and the people are not very friendly. The difference between the worlds here is that some worlds are fuller of people than others. No one knows why.

Seven[]

The main feature of all these worlds is that there are no British Isles. The European landmass stretches from China to the Altantic without a break, but with many more mountains than we have in our world. There is a lot of snow here and some mighty glaciers. Otherwise the people there are much like the people in our Series, except that there are many more kings.

Six[]

A mysterious set of worlds, largely unexplored. There are thought to be volcanoes here which the magic-users of Six use to power their magics. This Series is as magical as Series One.

Five[]

A strikingly beautiful set of worlds that are all a mass of islands surrounded by very blue seas. Humans share these worlds with tribes of mermaids.

Four[]

In these worlds the marshes evaporated, so there is a lot of desert and a number of very salty seas. The people here are always at war with one another for possession of the limited number of oases, but they are also very civilised. Dragons live in the deserts.

Three[]

A Series mostly marsh and quite warm. People live in settlements built of stilts and grow a lot of rice.

Two[]

Here the flatness of the worlds is humpier with very little sea, so the land is divided by a multitude of rivers crossed by hump-backed bridges. Mighty land eels live in these rivers, most of them quite intelligent and rather dangerous.

One[]

A bleak, flat but very magical Series, thought by some people to be the very first set of worlds that came into being. It was the Great Mages, who rule these worlds, who first discovered the other Series and numbered them. The Mages are very powerful and very arrogant and look down on all the other worlds as being pathetic newcomers.

One constant magical feature in all nine of Series One worlds is the great enchantment of the ring trains, which hurtle through magical rings a hundred feet in the air.