The Magicians of Caprona

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The Magicians of Caprona

Cover from the American edition.
Author Diana Wynne Jones
Country Great Britain
Language English
Series The Chrestomanci Series
Genre(s) Children's, Fantasy novel
Publication date 1980

The Magicians of Caprona is a 1980 novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Part of the Chrestomanci Series, it follows the story of two venerable Italian spell-houses, the Casa Montana and the Casa Petrocchi, through the eyes of the young Tonino Montana (no relation to Tony Montana) and his brother Paolo. Caprona is a city-state in the Italy of Chrestomanci's world, which was never united as a nation-state. The city is said to be losing its "virtue", a process which Chrestomanci blames on the malevolent influence of a mysterious enemy enchanter, making it vulnerable. Florence, Siena, and Pisa aim to capitalise on this weakness by uniting against Caprona in an attempt to conquer it. Chrestomanci has advised each spell-house that Caprona could regain its virtue if the true words to the Angel of Caprona, both a hymn and a powerful spell, could be found. The search is not helped by the deadly (and rather Shakespearean) rivalry between the two spell-houses, each quick to blame the other for the city's misfortunes.

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