Diane Duane

Young Wizards — (1983-2010) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a... books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist... a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard. I don't belive this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious — and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't... ?

So You Want to be a Wizard: good on its own, first book in an impressive series

So You Want to be a Wizard came along well before the current trend of young fantasy so one shouldn't dismiss it as "yet another Harry Potter follower." Wizard centers on 13-yr-old Nita, a picked-upon young teen, and 12-yr-old Kit, another lonely young teen. Nita, taking refuge from bullies in the local library, stumbles across the reference book providing the title of the novel and into the world of wizardry. Shortly afterward, she meets up with Kit, who himself has just become a wizard.

While the two of them have their share of whimsical uses for their magic (revenge on the bullies, tracking down a stolen pen), wizardry is not play. To become wizards each has taken a life-long oath that boiled down means they're responsible at all times for pretty much everything — life (and "life" doesn't simply mean human life) and the universe — and may be asked to sacrifice themselves in the service of life.

Despite the underlying seriousness of their adventures (a clash between the One — the creator — and the Lone One who left the One's service and brought death/entropy into the world), there is also quite a bit of humor and light play, especially involving a white hole as a character. The parallel universes Nita and Kit find themselves in are vividly original and the Manhattan that arises in the climactic battle against the Lone One is beautifully captured.

So You Want to be a Wizard moves along at a quick pace, the characters themselves are likeable and realistic and better yet, develop as the story goes along and as the series goes along as well, deepening into their maturing roles as wizards and as young adults. Despite the magical storylines, there is a nice down-to-earth feel about the books, a matter-of-fact atmosphere that makes suspension of disbelief quite easy with regard to the magic. This first book is a good book on its own, but the series improves as it goes along for the most part and a reader who sticks with it is rewarded with more full explanations and better, deeper characters. Recommended. —Bill Capossere

The Wizard's Dilemma: one of the stronger in a strong series

The Wizard's Dilemma continues the story of Nita and Kit, young wizards at work. If you haven't read the others, you should. Though one could get through this and the others without prior knowledge, lack of background knowledge robs the reader of the full impact of the story.

Dilemma is a darker, more personal book than the previous ones, which is made quickly clear when Nita's mother is diagnosed with cancer. As one might expect, Nita turns to wizardry for a solution (as does Dairine). And as one might expect from Duane's nuanced and depth-ridden series, the solution is nowhere so easy.

While Nita learns more about the necessary skills and knowledge via test runs in various "practice universes", Kit is off in his own universe, literally. Or, to be more precise at the start, his dog's universe (filled with thousands of squirrels to chase).

While Kit's storyline is interesting in its own right, and lightens the darkness periodically, it is Nita's plotline that drives the story and it does so in compelling fashion. These characters have deepened over the series and that depth comes into full play in this book. Along with the illness plot (which is never played for melodrama), Nita and Kit are going through a period of awkward estrangement as each tries to feel their way through their partnership while they and their personal worlds are changing. Despite the magical background, the characters' reactions, their emotional interplay, their dialogue, all ring strongly true to reality. The ending is movingly effective, as is the book as a whole.

As mentioned above, this whole series is quite strong and this is one of the better books in the series. Strongly recommended. —Bill Capossere

A Wizard Alone: Continues the series' quality level

A Wizard Alone is yet another Young Wizards book that maintains the high level set by the first few in the series. While not quite as dark as the previous one, where (and if you haven't read Wizard's Dilemma then quit reading this review if you don't want the end spoiled) Nita' s mother dies, A Wizard Alone maintains a level of solemnity appropriate to what has come just before.

The title could refer to any of the three major characters. Nita, who is combating depression and lethargy after her mother's death, all while trying to understand the strange images and attempts at communication coming to her via dreams. Kit, who given the mission of finding out what happened to a young autistic wizard seemingly stuck in his "Ordeal", enters the strange landscape of the autistic's mind and risks being trapped there. Or Darryl, the autistic wizard, who battles the Lone One thinking he is alone in doing so, all within the confines of his mind.

As is typical of this series, the book covers a gamut of subject, tone, style, and philosophy. Autism is presented in clear (if somewhat speculative) fashion, as is Nita's depression. There are many moments of humor to lighten the mood, mostly in this case involving Kit's attempts to reconcile his family's TV, DVD player, and remote control. And there are thoughtful moments of quiet philosophy. And as usual, the characters act in realistic fashion, despite the sci fi/fantasy genre. The only real flaw is that some of the story is telegraphed pretty early, but the story itself is so readable, the images so interesting, the characters so familiar that one doesn't mind much some predictability. Strongly recommended as is the series as a whole. —Bill Capossere

A Wizard of Mars

A Wizard of Mars is the ninth book in Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series and continues in the same strong vein as the others. At this point, there isn’t much to review in that if you’ve read the eighth book in a series, it’s pretty safe to assume you’re going to be picking up the ninth. But in a nutshell, if you do, you’ll be rewarded with the same quality you’ve become accustomed to and many of the same strengths. And if you haven’t read the previous eight and are checking out this review simply because it’s one of the most recent ones up, then stop reading (possible spoilers) and go pick up book one; it’s well worth the time you’ll invest as its one of the best fantasy wizard-based series going (and yes, that includes that other young wizard one). You should also know that the series only improves as it goes on. Those nutshell reviews dispensed with, here’s the response to A Wizard of Mars in a bit more detail.

The main plot deals with a mysterious artifact found on Mars by a team led by Kit (whose grown steadily more obsessed with the planet). Turns out there’s a history of wizards sometimes being able to resurrect “dead” species (it also turns out there are various degrees of “dead”) who may have seen whatever calamity that eventually befell them coming and managed to prepare for it. The questions for Kit’s team are does the newly found artifact have anything to do with such a process and if so, should the “Martians” be resurrected if possible?

Side plots, as usual for the series, are more interpersonal as the main characters — Kit and Nita — continue to develop personally and magically, as well as with regard to their own long-standing relationship. We also see smaller attention paid to other character development: Nita’s father is struggling with his newly widowed status as a single parent, Nita’ sister is spending less and less time at home and grieving over the loss of a close friend, Kit’s younger sister is still trying to figure out exactly where she fits (not really a wizard but not “normal” either) while his older religious, sister is trying to come to terms with his magical abilities.

The plot of A Wizard of Mars takes a little while to get going but then moves along quickly and in interesting, unpredictable direction. One of my personal favorite parts is Duane’s use of old-style Martian imagery from film and literature (Burroughs, Wells, etc.) and I wish she had actually given us more of this.

As in earlier Young Wizards books, the character development is especially strong as they confront ethical choices, family issues, relationship developments, etc. One of the joys of the series is seeing how these characters change over time — working within a series timeline Duane has given herself the time to develop them slowly and realistically and has the patience to do so. These are also realistic and sharp portrayals of young adults, not some abstract view or an adult’s fantasy vision of how young adults act and speak. One example of this is how Duane doesn’t simply have them all act and speak the same way despite all being “young,” but instead gives them distinguishing characteristics according to even small difference in ages. Anybody who is around kids knows there are huge differences between 12 and 14–yrs-old and 14 and 16-yr-olds, something some authors are seemingly unaware of.

As is typical in the Young Wizards series, the characters grow not simply by being put through their action scenes but because they are often placed in morally grey situations. While A Wizard of Mars doesn’t have quite the emotional depth of some of the others, this isn’t hack-and-slay or Dark-Lord-bad/Dark-Lord-opponents-good territory. These kids face moral and ethical dilemmas and we get to watch them think their way through them.

There is little to complain about with A Wizard of Mars. It’s probably a bit too long — there were a few places pacing lagged a little — but a matter maybe of a few dozen pages of cutting rather than a 100 or more as is sometimes the case. As mentioned, I wish Duane had indulged herself a bit more with the old-style Mars imagery. But these are relatively minor complaints. It isn’t the strongest book in the Young Wizards series, but that’s a pretty high bar based on just how strong the best books are. It stands pretty well on its own; this is not one of those series where books are seemingly churned out by an increasingly bored author for an increasingly disappointed audience. A Wizard of Mars continues the series faithfully and leaves the reader wanting to see what these characters will continue to get mixed up with. A Wizard of Mars is recommended, and the Young Wizards series highly so. —Bill Capossere