The Magicians of Caprona is a children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by MacMillan Children's Books in 1980. It was the second published of seven Chrestomanci books.[2]
Estimated location of fictional city-state of Caprona
It features the venerable Italian family spell-houses Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi in Caprona, a small independent city-state and duchy.[a]
The Chrestomanci books are collectively named for a powerful enchanter and British government official in a world parallel to ours, who supervises the use of magic —or the Chrestomanci, an office that requires a powerful enchanter and is responsible for supervising. The Magicians of Caprona is set in our time, during the tenure of Christopher Chant, who is Chrestomanci in five of the seven books and is often called Chrestomanci as a personal name.
Caprona is a city-state in the Italy of Chrestomanci's world (World Twelve A), which never united as a nation-state. The houses of Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi, both renowned for being powerful magician families, have been feuding with each other for generations. The city has begun to lose its "virtue," and the states of Florence, Siena, and Pisa intend to take advantage of this by uniting to conquer Caprona. The only way to save the city is if the true words to the Angel of Caprona, both a hymn and a powerful spell, can be found and read aloud.
The story is told through the eyes of the young Tonino Montana and his brother Paolo. They are both members of Casa Montana, one of two spell-houses in Caprona, the other being Casa Petrocchi. The two spell-houses are deadly rivals; the two families are both convinced that the decline of Caprona is all the fault of the other spell-house, and refuse to work together under any circumstances.
Tonino is, unknown to himself or the rest of Casa Montana, a talented enchanter; however, he is unaware of his ability, and prefers to spend his time reading. Paolo is more outgoing and friendly, and does better at school. When representatives of both houses are called to the Duke of Caprona's palace, they both go. Whilst there, they meet members of the Petrocchi family for the first time, and they also encounter the Duchess, a powerful woman who appears to be the true ruler of Caprona.
During the book, Tonino is kidnapped and finds himself held hostage with Angelica Petrocci and whilst the two houses blame each other, Tonino and Angelica have to put their differences aside to escape. Meanwhile, Paolo teams with Renata Petrocci in order to save their lost siblings.
The family feud between Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi is reminiscent of the one between the Montagues and Capulets from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
ReceptionEdit
Dave Langford reviewed The Magicians of Caprona for White Dwarf #44, and stated that "it features pleasantly dotty goings-on in an Italian city-state whose principal magician families are busily playing Montagues and Capulets to considerable comic effect ... Fun."[3]
^Fictional Caprona is on the coast not far from the Italian Riviera, presumably south of Pisa because it borders on Pisa, Florence, and Siena exclusively and in a world that is parallel and close to ours.
ReferencesEdit
^ ab The infobox provides data from ISFDB for the first UK edition (from "Publisher" to "ISBN number"). The Magicians of Caprona (first edition) publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Magicians of Caprona news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Magicians of Caprona is a children s fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by MacMillan Children s Books in 1980 It was the second published of seven Chrestomanci books 2 The Magicians of CapronaFirst editionAuthorDiana Wynne JonesCover artistIonicus 1 CountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishSeriesChrestomanciGenreChildren s fantasy novelPublisherMacmillanPublication date1980Media typePrint hardcover Pages223 pp 1 ISBN978 0 333 27891 8Preceded byCharmed Life Followed byWitch Week Estimated location of fictional city state of CapronaIt features the venerable Italian family spell houses Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi in Caprona a small independent city state and duchy a The Chrestomanci books are collectively named for a powerful enchanter and British government official in a world parallel to ours who supervises the use of magic or the Chrestomanci an office that requires a powerful enchanter and is responsible for supervising The Magicians of Caprona is set in our time during the tenure of Christopher Chant who is Chrestomanci in five of the seven books and is often called Chrestomanci as a personal name Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Characters 3 Allusions to other works 4 Reception 5 Reviews 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksPlot summary EditCaprona is a city state in the Italy of Chrestomanci s world World Twelve A which never united as a nation state The houses of Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi both renowned for being powerful magician families have been feuding with each other for generations The city has begun to lose its virtue and the states of Florence Siena and Pisa intend to take advantage of this by uniting to conquer Caprona The only way to save the city is if the true words to the Angel of Caprona both a hymn and a powerful spell can be found and read aloud The story is told through the eyes of the young Tonino Montana and his brother Paolo They are both members of Casa Montana one of two spell houses in Caprona the other being Casa Petrocchi The two spell houses are deadly rivals the two families are both convinced that the decline of Caprona is all the fault of the other spell house and refuse to work together under any circumstances Tonino is unknown to himself or the rest of Casa Montana a talented enchanter however he is unaware of his ability and prefers to spend his time reading Paolo is more outgoing and friendly and does better at school When representatives of both houses are called to the Duke of Caprona s palace they both go Whilst there they meet members of the Petrocchi family for the first time and they also encounter the Duchess a powerful woman who appears to be the true ruler of Caprona During the book Tonino is kidnapped and finds himself held hostage with Angelica Petrocci and whilst the two houses blame each other Tonino and Angelica have to put their differences aside to escape Meanwhile Paolo teams with Renata Petrocci in order to save their lost siblings Characters EditThe character of Christopher Chant the Chrestomanci in this novel appears as a young boy in The Lives of Christopher Chant and as a teenager in Conrad s Fate Antonio Tonino Montana Angelica Petrocchi Paolo Montana Renata Petrocchi Rosa Montana Marco Petrocchi Antonio Montana Guido Petrocchi Elizabeth Montana Niccolo Montana Lucia Montana Benvenuto Vittoria The Duke The Duchess Corinna Montana Rinaldo Montana The Angel of CapronaAllusions to other works EditThe family feud between Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi is reminiscent of the one between the Montagues and Capulets from Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet Reception EditDave Langford reviewed The Magicians of Caprona for White Dwarf 44 and stated that it features pleasantly dotty goings on in an Italian city state whose principal magician families are busily playing Montagues and Capulets to considerable comic effect Fun 3 Reviews EditReview by Frederick Patten 1981 in Science Fiction Review Fall 1981 4 Notes Edit Fictional Caprona is on the coast not far from the Italian Riviera presumably south of Pisa because it borders on Pisa Florence and Siena exclusively and in a world that is parallel and close to ours References Edit a b The infobox provides data from ISFDB for the first UK edition from Publisher to ISBN number The Magicians of Caprona first edition publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Retrieved 28 April 2012 Chrestomanci series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database ISFDB Retrieved 2012 04 28 Langford Dave August 1983 Critical Mass White Dwarf Games Workshop 44 14 Title The Magicians of Caprona External links Edit nbsp Children s literature portalDiana Wynne Jones at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Magicians of Caprona amp oldid 1176092029, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
