Conrad's Fate
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| Conrad's Fate | |
 Cover from the American hardcover edition. |
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Chrestomanci Series |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy, Children's novels |
| Publisher | Harper Collins |
| Publication date | 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Conrad's Fate is a novel by Diana Wynne Jones published in 2005. It is the fifth book of the Chrestomanci series. It tells the story of Conrad Tesdinic, a boy from Series Seven who is sent on a mission to fix his bad karma.
[edit] Plot summary
Conrad's uncle tells him that someone up at Stallery Mansion is pulling the possibilities––that is, changing the details of the world. Judging from the affluence of Stallery, this person is making money by pulling the possibilities, perhaps even playing the stock market; but this is adversely affecting the rest of the world. At first only small details change––the color of the mailboxes, the titles of books––but the changes keep getting bigger and bigger.
Conrad's uncle also tells him that the source of his bad karma is at the Mansion. He and his group of magician friends work a strange spell on a cork, giving it––and Conrad, who has possession of it––the power to summon a Walker, a being who will give him what he needs to defeat the person he should have eliminated in a past life. Conrad needs to be sure who it is before he summons the creature, however, so instead of moving forward in school with his friends, he is sent to work at Stallery and study its inhabitants.
Conrad soon finds that he is not the only one snooping around the mansion. He befriends his fellow servant-in-training, Christopher Chant, who is searching for his friend Millie. Together, they discover that she is trapped in one of the possibilities. So they just need to stop the person behind all the mischief, rescue Millie, and fix Conrad's fate, all without spilling soup on the Countess.
[edit] Characters
Conrad Tesdinic: Conrad decides to take an alias at Stallery, and calls himself "Conrad Grant". Christopher suspects this is false, and so calls him "Grant" in a superior and often sarcastic way all throughout the book. Conrad's uncle runs the bookshop in town, and so he has a great love of books––which makes the pulling of the possibilities very irritating for him, as the book titles and minor details within the books change overnight. He brings his camera with him to Stallery and makes great use of it.
Christopher Chant: Christopher also has an alias: "Christopher Smith". The character we see here is around fifteen, older than in The Lives of Christopher Chant, but younger than in the other Chrestomanci books. He is witty, confident, and charming, and can often talk his way out of a situation, even though he goes rather vague at times...
Mr. Amos: The pear-shaped, severe butler of Stallery. He insists on discipline and impeccable dress at all times. But even through his reiteration of and insistence on a servant's place, Conrad and Christopher cannot help but feel that there is more to his place than he is letting on.
Count Robert: The supposed owner of Stallery who marries Anthea.His real name is Robert Brown.
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