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Chrestomanci (Recommended Reading Order) #4.5
Stealer of Souls
Cat Chant is destined to be the next Chrestomanci. He is not happy when young Tonino Montana, a magically-gifted Italian, is invited to live at Chrestomanci Castle. However, Cat is forced to put aside his animosity towards Tonino when they are abducted by the evil enchanter, Master Spiderman.
69 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
14 people are currently reading
1197 people want to read
About the author
Diana Wynne Jones
163 books12.1k followersDiana Wynne Jones was a celebrated British writer best known for her inventive and influential works of fantasy for children and young adults. Her stories often combined magical worlds with science fiction elements, parallel universes, and a sharp sense of humor. Among her most beloved books are Howl's Moving Castle, the Chrestomanci series, The Dalemark Quartet, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and the satirical The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Her work gained renewed attention and readership with the popularity of the Harry Potter series, to which her books have frequently been compared.
Admired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling, Jones was a major influence on the landscape of modern fantasy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, two Mythopoeic Awards, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2004, Howl's Moving Castle was adapted into an acclaimed animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, further expanding her global audience.
Jones studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She began writing professionally in the 1960s and remained active until her death in 2011. Her final novel, The Islands of Chaldea, was completed posthumously by her sister Ursula Jones.
Admired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling, Jones was a major influence on the landscape of modern fantasy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, two Mythopoeic Awards, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. In 2004, Howl's Moving Castle was adapted into an acclaimed animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, further expanding her global audience.
Jones studied at Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She began writing professionally in the 1960s and remained active until her death in 2011. Her final novel, The Islands of Chaldea, was completed posthumously by her sister Ursula Jones.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 10, 2019
A short story set in the Chrestomanci universe originally published in Wynne Jones' 'Mixed Magics' (an anthology of Chrestomanci shorts) and published singly in this edition for World Book Day.
March 29, 2018
I got this book at a secondhand shop and seeing that it is by Diane Wynne Jones, I told myself I'd give it a try. I enjoyed reading Howl's Moving Castle and I had some expectations that I will be in for a magical joyride in this one.
Now, I'm not really picky at where I start my reading adventures. This book happens to be the sixth one in the Chrestomanci series. There is an explanation on the world of the series -- wherein a magical being, called the Chrestomanci, helps maintain the balance between magical folk and non-magic folk.
At this point in the series, Cat is with the Chrestomanci and has met a new boy, who he considers as a rival, named Tonino. Both boys look alike and have magical abilities. Cat gets jealous of the attention Tonino is receiving which, due to a series of events, leads them to the hands of a bad man named Mr. Spiderman.
I won't say how it ends but this book -- a very short one as it is for kids -- has enough punch to keep you reading and wanting to get your hands on the entire series as an adult. I got the magical joyride I was expecting. Being in a world where magic exists and told by a young boy who has magic is interesting. I love how it is told by one who seems like an anti-hero, someone who isn't all that good. Kids can learn from him and his experiences.
Now, I'm not really picky at where I start my reading adventures. This book happens to be the sixth one in the Chrestomanci series. There is an explanation on the world of the series -- wherein a magical being, called the Chrestomanci, helps maintain the balance between magical folk and non-magic folk.
At this point in the series, Cat is with the Chrestomanci and has met a new boy, who he considers as a rival, named Tonino. Both boys look alike and have magical abilities. Cat gets jealous of the attention Tonino is receiving which, due to a series of events, leads them to the hands of a bad man named Mr. Spiderman.
I won't say how it ends but this book -- a very short one as it is for kids -- has enough punch to keep you reading and wanting to get your hands on the entire series as an adult. I got the magical joyride I was expecting. Being in a world where magic exists and told by a young boy who has magic is interesting. I love how it is told by one who seems like an anti-hero, someone who isn't all that good. Kids can learn from him and his experiences.
February 19, 2021
Fun YA read for pandemic times!
September 20, 2021
Wonderful little story - originally part of the Mixed Magic anthology this cute little story follows Cat from Charmed Life. Short, sweet and a generally great story
December 19, 2023
picked this up bc it's diana wynne jones. it made me feel like i was 8 again, i liked it
May 21, 2017
I loved Diana Wynne Jones books when I was younger, and my 9 year old bought this one some time ago, and I just couldn't resist it. This is a short one, and to be honest, not one of the best, some of the stories I read by Diana Wynne Jones as a child have stayed with me, even now, where I'm not sure this one will. But, that said, it's q nice story, it is exciting and even if you hadn't read about the Worlds of Chrestomanci before, you'd be able to figure out most of what you needed to know. Very quick to read, 30-40 minutes if slow, interrupted reading time, tops. Easy to read, well written and simple enough for children without being too basic/babyish. Might go and find some of her others to read too.
June 24, 2022
This isn't a novel--it's a short story. I read it in a book of 4 short stories, which I've listed as another book.
This is a continuation of both the characters of Cat Chant, from Charmed Life, and Tonino Montana, from The Magicians of Caprona. They're both kidnapped by a mysterious entity known as the Spiderman. They don't particularly like each other, but they have to learn to combine their magic, if they want to survive long enough to return to their lives. And to the Chrestomanci castle. The problem is the Spiderman has cast a spell to make them both forget even their own names, and that they can do magic. So the plucky boys have their work cut out for them!
Quick, fun read.
This is a continuation of both the characters of Cat Chant, from Charmed Life, and Tonino Montana, from The Magicians of Caprona. They're both kidnapped by a mysterious entity known as the Spiderman. They don't particularly like each other, but they have to learn to combine their magic, if they want to survive long enough to return to their lives. And to the Chrestomanci castle. The problem is the Spiderman has cast a spell to make them both forget even their own names, and that they can do magic. So the plucky boys have their work cut out for them!
Quick, fun read.
March 15, 2025
Stealer of Souls de Diana Wynne Jones este o povestire inclusă în volumul Mixed Magics, ultimul din seria The Worlds of Chrestomanci, dar eu nu știam lucrul ăsta (că m-am luat după Goodreads), așa că l-am citit separat. Seria am început-o acum mult timp și am avut o reținere - dacă nu-mi voi aminti în detaliu ce se întâmplă? Dar nu a fost cazul, pentru că în această povestire acțiunea se axează pe două personaje sencundare. Ucenicul lui Chrestomanci se trezește că la castel mai este adus un băiețel și ucenicul trebuie să aibă grijă de acesta, iar la un moment dat, cei doi se trezesc față-n față cu un individ ciudat și... își uită numele. Povestirea e scurtă, dar aventuroasă și mi-a plăcut foarte mult - seria în sine e perfectă pentru micul cititor, dar și un adult iubitor de fantasy va regăsi în universul Chrestomanci magia de altă dată.
August 7, 2017
قصة قصيرة جدا عن مغامرة لكات وتونينو مع ساحر قديم شرير يجمع الآرواح في نفس الوقت تستغل ديانا القصة في انها تكمل عالم الكريستومانسي بمزيد من التقدم ، وفاة الكريستومانسي السابق لكريستفور غابرييل شي غريب كيف على الأغلب يتم تقديم هذا النوع من الآحداث بدون حزن ولا دموع، جيدة نوعا ما لكن مش احسن الموجود
February 16, 2021
That was so interesting - I have such mixed feelings about Cat and I definitely like Tomino a lot, so it was interesting to see such two different characters/personalities work together to get back home. I really enjoyed this short story.
August 14, 2018
This was a good book. I was quite intrigued and would like to read the novels.
October 15, 2019
Has a couple of my least favorite tropes, but *shrugs* well executed for all that.
January 21, 2021
Soul beans!
Loved this book just like I have others in the series. Fun、 magical imagination. Children will find it fun and easy to follow.
Loved this book just like I have others in the series. Fun、 magical imagination. Children will find it fun and easy to follow.
January 25, 2024
This book was released as a world book day book. Given that it's a very short story it's an interesting addition to the series
August 28, 2024
A fun short read
September 30, 2013
Stealer of Souls was first published in 2000 in a short story collection called Mixed Magics. Part of Diana Wynne Jones' popular series about Chrestomanci, a sort of magical ombudsman, this fits into a complicated chronology but is also designed to be read as a standalone, as its republication for World Book Day 2002 proves.
A young Italian, Tonino Montana, makes a brief appearance at the end of ‘Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream’ (republished in Mixed Magics). We first met him in The Magicians of Caprona, and the last we heard of him he was coming to be a pupil at Chrestomanci Castle somewhere in southern England. We now hear what happened when he was first introduced to Chrestomanci’s extended family after the events in Caprona, just before Carol Oneir comes into the picture.
Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances Chrestomanci’s nephew Cat is put in charge of looking after Tonino, and it’s clear he’s unhappy about no longer being the youngest in the entourage. Cat’s despatched with Tonino to the aged Gabriel de Witt, previous holder of the Chrestomanci office. Gabriel is also a nine-lifed enchanter, but his lives are leaving him one by one, and he’s fearful of one Neville Spiderman. (I’m sure Jones conjured this name from Neville Spearman, publishers of books on reincarnation and spiritualism as well as flying saucers and the occult in general.) He is right to be fearful of Spiderman because when Tonino and Cat set off on their return journey they are kidnapped and locked in a cellar full of junk and cobwebs.
What has happened to Gabriel’s ‘lives’ or souls and what have they to do with Neville Spiderman? Will it involve reincarnation and the occult? We soon find out as horror and humour succeed one another. I liked the way those lost souls were depicted — very dreamlike in a way — and I was amused to find that Jones ended the story with the promise of a villa holiday in the South of France, which is just where ‘Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream’ ends and which itself ends the Mixed Magics collection.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-magics
A young Italian, Tonino Montana, makes a brief appearance at the end of ‘Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream’ (republished in Mixed Magics). We first met him in The Magicians of Caprona, and the last we heard of him he was coming to be a pupil at Chrestomanci Castle somewhere in southern England. We now hear what happened when he was first introduced to Chrestomanci’s extended family after the events in Caprona, just before Carol Oneir comes into the picture.
Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances Chrestomanci’s nephew Cat is put in charge of looking after Tonino, and it’s clear he’s unhappy about no longer being the youngest in the entourage. Cat’s despatched with Tonino to the aged Gabriel de Witt, previous holder of the Chrestomanci office. Gabriel is also a nine-lifed enchanter, but his lives are leaving him one by one, and he’s fearful of one Neville Spiderman. (I’m sure Jones conjured this name from Neville Spearman, publishers of books on reincarnation and spiritualism as well as flying saucers and the occult in general.) He is right to be fearful of Spiderman because when Tonino and Cat set off on their return journey they are kidnapped and locked in a cellar full of junk and cobwebs.
What has happened to Gabriel’s ‘lives’ or souls and what have they to do with Neville Spiderman? Will it involve reincarnation and the occult? We soon find out as horror and humour succeed one another. I liked the way those lost souls were depicted — very dreamlike in a way — and I was amused to find that Jones ended the story with the promise of a villa holiday in the South of France, which is just where ‘Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream’ ends and which itself ends the Mixed Magics collection.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-magics
September 28, 2015
More a 2.5 than a solid 2
Diana Wynne Jones, for all her critical praise, has been an author I've constantly been disappointed with. Every one of her novels which I have read have been middling, so-so attempts; I can see her appeal, though. Even Howl's Moving Castle, which has a fantastic film adaptation (nominated for the Best Animated Picture Oscar), is bad - to me, at least. And the continuation of simply okay Wynne Jones novels lives on with the incredibly short novella Stealer Of Souls. Centred around magical children Eric "Cat" Chant and equally-gifted Italian Tonio Montana and Cat's animosity towards Tonio which is put on hold after both are abducted by evil enchanter Neville Spiderman (lolz), Stealer Of Souls's first half (perhaps thirty pages or so, due to the short page-length) is slightly amusing due to the whimsical nature of Wynne Jones' knowing style. Yet, its second half (featuring the bland but brilliantly-named villain Neville Spiderman) is confusing, disconcertingly complicated and badly-composed, leading up to a climax that feels as flavourless as the rest of the book. Lil' disappointing, considering the strong build-up, but whatever. And the characters, severely unlikeable Cat and too-perfect-it's-annoying Tonio, are about as compelling as a TV advertisement's badly-acted centrepieces. Oh, and Cat? Stop being such a selfish moron.
Out.
Diana Wynne Jones, for all her critical praise, has been an author I've constantly been disappointed with. Every one of her novels which I have read have been middling, so-so attempts; I can see her appeal, though. Even Howl's Moving Castle, which has a fantastic film adaptation (nominated for the Best Animated Picture Oscar), is bad - to me, at least. And the continuation of simply okay Wynne Jones novels lives on with the incredibly short novella Stealer Of Souls. Centred around magical children Eric "Cat" Chant and equally-gifted Italian Tonio Montana and Cat's animosity towards Tonio which is put on hold after both are abducted by evil enchanter Neville Spiderman (lolz), Stealer Of Souls's first half (perhaps thirty pages or so, due to the short page-length) is slightly amusing due to the whimsical nature of Wynne Jones' knowing style. Yet, its second half (featuring the bland but brilliantly-named villain Neville Spiderman) is confusing, disconcertingly complicated and badly-composed, leading up to a climax that feels as flavourless as the rest of the book. Lil' disappointing, considering the strong build-up, but whatever. And the characters, severely unlikeable Cat and too-perfect-it's-annoying Tonio, are about as compelling as a TV advertisement's badly-acted centrepieces. Oh, and Cat? Stop being such a selfish moron.
Out.
April 13, 2014
I'm partly saddened by the death in this novella. I wasn't really expecting it (and probably not in the way you might think. Slight spoiler, a certain someone's still alive but dies here).
I honestly think the story paced better than any of the novels because the ending didn't seem rushed. It was all very fluid really. Sure, it's still in Diana Wynne Jones's style to have a lot in the middle but the climax was long enough and amusing. Especially when the bad guy gets defeated. And can I just say, in this day and age, having a bad guy named Spiderman is kind of funny. It probably could've been funny when it was written, since I think Spider-man was already a thing, but what with the Spider-man movies coming out this year. Plus, I think the version I'm reading came out around the time the first Spider-man movie was released.
I honestly think the story paced better than any of the novels because the ending didn't seem rushed. It was all very fluid really. Sure, it's still in Diana Wynne Jones's style to have a lot in the middle but the climax was long enough and amusing. Especially when the bad guy gets defeated. And can I just say, in this day and age, having a bad guy named Spiderman is kind of funny. It probably could've been funny when it was written, since I think Spider-man was already a thing, but what with the Spider-man movies coming out this year. Plus, I think the version I'm reading came out around the time the first Spider-man movie was released.
July 28, 2024
A Chrestomanci story I hadn't read before now! Better late than never, I suppose. This focuses on Cat Chant (Charmed Life) and Tonio Montana (The Magicians of Caprona) shortly after the Tonio arrives at Castle Chrestomanci to learn more about his unusual magic from the current Chrestomanci, Christopher Chant (The Lives of Christopher Chant). The spellcraft he uses is interesting to Gabriel DeWitt (the prior Chrestomanci, retired) who summons Tonio and Cat in order to take measure of them, professionally. However, Gabriel's nine lives are fast leaving him and in the middle of boys' visit, another one walks off. Then the boys are kidnapped and placed under a spell of forgetting by an evil enchanter.
This was short and fun. I did have some regrets with this- too many Chrestomancis and lives literally flying about.
Rounded up to 4 stars.
This was short and fun. I did have some regrets with this- too many Chrestomancis and lives literally flying about.
Rounded up to 4 stars.
August 2, 2016
Diana Wynne Jones is always a good read, and this book is no exception. Even though they're for children or young adults, I like reading them too. A good length for young ones too, although I would have liked it to go on longer. She captures the characters well, and Cat learns some life lessons while he's busy thwarting a sorcerer.
July 4, 2009
Wacky! I was weirded out by the some-babies-get-two-souls ending, but I like that the story clarifies the passing on of the Chrestomanci title.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2011
Diana Wynne-Jones really knows how to get inside kids' heads. I love the thought processes going through Cat's head as he works out that he's being unreasonable.
November 18, 2013
Read it mostly because of Cat and Tonino. That and it was really really short anyway.
March 7, 2020
Any book on Chrestomanci is wonderful :)
August 13, 2022
Can't wait to read more of Diana Wynne Jones!
February 25, 2025
Quite thrilling, but considering the villain was supposed to be the most wicked one, it felt like he was too easily defeated.
January 4, 2013
Good, but childish.
May 23, 2016
391 - 2016
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews