Tomes of Spellcasting

Welcome to the land of mystery, where the impossible is possible, and the improbable the reality. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with magic and meet the souls that wield this wondrous powers.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Larwood House has an unnaturally--and dangerously--high concentration of witchcraft roaming its corridors, and in a world where Parliament passes law after law ensuring the persecution and condmenation of witches, that is a dangerous thing indeed. And with so many witch orphans under one roof, Larwood House is surely going to be watched carefully by the witchcraft inquisition. For a while, though, Larwood House has escaped especial prominence. Now, however, despite the desperate efforts of a frightened male witch to keep neophyte witches from exposing themselves, Charles Morgan and the class of 6B seem bound and determined to bring the inquisition down upon them with their outlandish and conspicuous uses of witchcraft. Yet, how can this all be possible--a magic-heavy world with an astonishingly high percentage of witches, yet those same witches cruelly persecuted and hunted? Maybe Chrestomanci can answer that...if 6B doesn't get caught by the inquisitors first!

Witch Week, the second of two complete novels in The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume II, features Chrestomanci late in the tale. Then again, since Chrestomanci's job is to monitor the use--and abuse--of witchcraft and magic, it stands to reason that this, being in a way one of his cases, would be one occasion when he'd have to be called in to resolve the problem. It's just that we get to see the origins of the case before the investigator's entrance on the scene. Uh, you do know what I mean, right?

Probably the most interesting parts of this novel are the many examples of uses for witchcraft, which the more prominent witches of 6B so readily display. Granted that these are young people who have just begun to experiment with their magic, they really do a lot of damage, all things considered. I know I would have been testing my bounds to see what I could and couldn't do, and 6B is hardly different. What really caught my attention is how often the witches of 6B worked their wishes, only to have their efforts shorting each other out in some way or form. I mean, besides trying to shift blame for their efforts to other suspects--who are themselves trying to do the same thing--they really have a knack for messing each other up, whether it's inconveniencing each other with pranks and practical jokes, or endangering one another by popping up here and there unexpectedly and continually risking exposure. With friends like that, who needs the inquisitors? They stand as good a chance at obliterating themselves than the inquistors ever did!

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume II: Witch Week is a great novel worthy of the name "Chrestomanci" even if the enchanter only puts in a few token appearances. As usual, he's in on the big ending, but of course you knew that already. Anyway, it's the path taken to get to the ending that's always the most interesting, right?

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