Conrad's Fate
Diana Wynne Jones
 Conrad Tesdinic lives in Stallery, a small town in his world's version of the English Alps, formed as in Series Seven worlds the British Isles are still connected to the European mainland. In the mountains high above Stallery lies Stallery Mansion, a possibilities mansion, grand and imposing house, home to the Count and his family. Conrad's father is dead; his sister Anthea left home to go to university; his mother, Franconia, is a rather eccentric feminist author, and her books are sold exclusively in her brother's bookshop, where she and Conrad also live. 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 a great deal of money by doing so, perhaps by playing the stock market; but this is adversely affecting the rest of the world. At first only small details change – the colour of the postboxes, the titles of books – but the changes keep getting bigger and bigger. Conrad is going to die. According to his uncle, this is because of his bad karma, which, if he does not kill the person pulling the probabilities, will result in he himself being killed within a year. Conrad's uncle 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 at will. A Walker is 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 this person is before he summons the Walker, however, so instead of moving forward in school with his friends, he is sent to work at Stallery and study its inhabitants, one of which is the person Conrad needs to defeat. Conrad soon finds that he is not the only one snooping around the mansion. He befriends his fellow servant-in-training, Christopher "Smith" (really Christopher Chant), who is searching for his friend Millie. Together, they discover that she is trapped in one of the possibilities. Conrad and Christopher must stop the person behind all the mischief, rescue Millie, and fix Conrad's fate, all without spilling soup on the Countess although Conrad's bad Karma isn't helping along the way.