And we are back with another book in the Chrestomanci series! Unlike the previous books, Mixed Magic isn’t one long standalone story, but rather consists of four stories set in the world of Chrestomanci, with three that revolve around the Chrestomanci – both the current one and Cat, the next Chrestomanci.

Warlock at the Wheel, the first story in this collection, follows the Willing Warlock after the loss of his powers. He attempts to commit to a life of crime (given that he is a minor villain in Charmed Life), but fails rather disastrously. Personally, I wasn’t very engaged by this story, possibly because I couldn’t remember who the Willing Warlock was by the time I started reading this. This might have been better as a bonus story put after Charmed Life.

Stealer of Souls, the second story, is a lot more fun. Probably because we get to see both Cat Chant (protagonist of Charmed Life) and Tonino Montana (protagonist of The Magicians of Caprona). Poor Cat is feeling a little put out at the arrival of Tonino, and absolutely is not happy that Chrestomanci is asking him to bring Tonino to visit Gabriel de Witt, the former Chrestomanci (who has by this time, appeared in the Lives of Christopher Chant). While Cat is worrying about whether he will become evil through his dislike of Tonino, the two boys are kidnapped by a powerful evil enchanter and must work together to escape. This was a delight to read because it integrated the characters from the various Chrestomanci books – it can feel like this series is mostly standalone except for Chrestomanci, so it’s nice to see some continuity and mingling after each book finishes.

Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream introduces a new character – Carol. She’s a gifted dreamer but for some reason, she’s all dreamed out! This might have been an ordinary Chrestomanci story but for one thing: Carol is the daughter of one of Chrestomanci’s school friends. There isn’t much reference to the Lives of Christopher Chant, but I did remember Oneir (as compared to the Willing Warlock) so I enjoyed following his family.

The Sage of Theare, the last story in this collection, features a cameo by Cat, who is evidently helping Chrestomanci in his work now. However, the bulk of the story is about the world of Theare, a very orderly world that is so disturbed by the prophecy that “dissolution” will come that they try to get rid of the baby that might grow up to create disorder. But as you can expect, this doesn’t go as planned.

Overall, this was a fun collection of stories that helped to enrich the world of Chrestomanci. Because the series doesn’t have one overarching arc, it can feel a little disjointed from story to story (though it does mean that forgetting parts of previous books is not a problem!) and I liked that these stories helped to fill in the gaps and connect characters from different books.