The Lives of Christopher Chant

The Lives of Christopher Chant
First edition
AuthorDiana Wynne Jones
LanguageEnglish
SeriesChrestomanci
GenreChildren's fantasy novel
PublisherMethuen
Publication date
August 1988
Publication placeUnited Kingdom[1]
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages240 pp (first edition)[1]
ISBN978-0-416-10742-5
OCLC59201437
Preceded byWitch Week 
Followed byMixed Magics 

The Lives of Christopher Chant is a children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by Methuen Children's Books in 1988. It was the fourth published of the seven Chrestomanci books (1977 to 2006). When the first four books were reissued in the UK to accompany the fifth as a matching set in 2000, The Lives of Christopher Chant was subtitled The Childhood of Chrestomanci, and cover illustrations by Paul Slater branded them all The Worlds of Chrestomanci.[2]

The "Chrestomanci" books are collectively named after a powerful enchanter and British government official known as the Chrestomanci, in a world parallel to ours. The Chrestomanci, an office that requires a powerful enchanter, supervises the use of magic. The Lives is set in a world quite different from ours, during the adolescence of Christopher Chant who is Chrestomanci in five of the books.

  1. ^ a b Contrary to other Chrestomanci books, ISFDB shows this one published earlier in the U.S. (June 1988) than in the U.K. (August). Nevertheless the infobox provides data from ISFDB for the first UK edition (from "Publisher" to "OCLC number"). The Lives of Christopher Chant (first UK edition) publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  2. ^ Chrestomanci series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-04-28.