Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
By all rights, each book I read in this series becomes my new favourite. I have to take off a star for this one, simply because on character in particular was extraordinarily grating and I feel the resolution/reason was... inadequate at best. But so many awesome things also happened in this book that taking any points off is a heart wrenching affair.
These books are great, and every time there’s a new one in the series it’s a thing of joy. If you’re not familiar with Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series, imagine a Harry Potter that actually engages with the world around it rather than hiding in Hogwarts; not only do they make friends with wizards and other creatures (I still get choked up over Ed, the Master-Shark.) but the books are also deeply involved with their non-wizardly families as well, and their adventures are both wonderful fun, and grounded in the mundane facets of life. I may be _slightly_ biased; I’ve been reading these since childhood, and they’ve always been a source of comfort and welcoming to me. That said, they hold up just as well as an adult, and like Potter, it’s been great to watch the characters all change and grow together as the series has gone on. So when I found this one… well, I was up until 3am last night to finish reading, and no regrets at all over lost sleep.
So this is the tenth book. Nita and Kit have saved the world a few times, the universe, sometimes the neighborhood and each other (and that’s been as important as anything else). There’s a lot of history behind all of this, but I’d recommend this as a starting point for someone looking to jump in and try it out. There is a world-wide (essentially) wizard’s Science Fair happening, and the characters are helping mentor other wizards as they put together their best presentations, so in addition to introductions for everyone, we also get to see all sorts of wizardry in a way that makes me want to wander through and just look at everything.
So this is the tenth book. Nita and Kit have saved the world a few times, the universe, sometimes the neighborhood and each other (and that’s been as important as anything else). There’s a lot of history behind all of this, but I’d recommend this as a starting point for someone looking to jump in and try it out. There is a world-wide (essentially) wizard’s Science Fair happening, and the characters are helping mentor other wizards as they put together their best presentations, so in addition to introductions for everyone, we also get to see all sorts of wizardry in a way that makes me want to wander through and just look at everything.
the sexism was tiring and the stress and fear through the visions was (after two books of it) overplayed, especially since it never foreshadows unrelated or future stories. the relationship drama didn't help, and it also didn't seem to really go anywhere (and I didn't really get the reasoning behind the other relationship, unless in a sequel it gets played down somewhat as guilt/grief stuff??)
all these kids should've been getting better counselling from the START gosh dang it. and the secondary characters are still by far the funnest parts of it sometimes.
I wonder which one I'll pick up next
all these kids should've been getting better counselling from the START gosh dang it. and the secondary characters are still by far the funnest parts of it sometimes.
I wonder which one I'll pick up next
I loved Games Wizards Play. The tenth installment in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, it takes place during an invitational for young wizards held on Earth. Promising young talents can show off what they've thought of, and get help from mentors.
Kit and Nita, struggling with how to act about changes in their relationship, mentor one particularly infuriating candidate, who consistently frustrated me throughout the book. He's overly dismissive and condescending to Nita, who is very understandably frustrated. Nita asks Kit to stay out of it so that she can handle it, but you also watch Kit struggle with his anger and frustration over the way Nita is being treated.
Dairine, on the other hand, is still struggling with the disappearance of Roshaun in the previous book, and mentors a girl from a family that is crushing her with their expectations. Dairine is completely unwilling to let that slide, and goes around knocking over preconceived notions and refusing to lie down for what she thinks is wrong, in typical Dairine fashion.
It was beautiful, not in the least because it brought in more diversity (although Diane Duane has always done a good job of making sure that characters are diverse), both with more wizards from different cultures and by introducing (or more properly, identifying) a few LGBTQIA+ wizards.
Read it! (Unless you haven't read anything of the previous books, in which case you might want to read a few of the others first, to understand the mythos. I don't know how hopelessly lost you'd be, but you might be a fair bit lost. I'd at least read So You Want to Be a Wizard, the first book.)
Kit and Nita, struggling with how to act about changes in their relationship, mentor one particularly infuriating candidate, who consistently frustrated me throughout the book. He's overly dismissive and condescending to Nita, who is very understandably frustrated. Nita asks Kit to stay out of it so that she can handle it, but you also watch Kit struggle with his anger and frustration over the way Nita is being treated.
Dairine, on the other hand, is still struggling with the disappearance of Roshaun in the previous book, and mentors a girl from a family that is crushing her with their expectations. Dairine is completely unwilling to let that slide, and goes around knocking over preconceived notions and refusing to lie down for what she thinks is wrong, in typical Dairine fashion.
It was beautiful, not in the least because it brought in more diversity (although Diane Duane has always done a good job of making sure that characters are diverse), both with more wizards from different cultures and by introducing (or more properly, identifying) a few LGBTQIA+ wizards.
Read it! (Unless you haven't read anything of the previous books, in which case you might want to read a few of the others first, to understand the mythos. I don't know how hopelessly lost you'd be, but you might be a fair bit lost. I'd at least read So You Want to Be a Wizard, the first book.)
Wow. Um. I'm not sure what to even say, except that I am quite happy with this latest installment. I gave this a pretty high rating, 4 stars, though that may go up a bit with a reread, that's usually how these books go. Great books the first time through, but better the second (or third, fourth...) time through.
**Review while waiting***
Having read the first book in this series when I was 12, I have literally spent more than half my life reading these stories and WAITING for the next book.
Fingers crossed 2015 publication sticks!
**Jan 2015 Update**
Sigh. February of 2016.
(14 years of waiting!)
**Review while waiting***
Having read the first book in this series when I was 12, I have literally spent more than half my life reading these stories and WAITING for the next book.
Fingers crossed 2015 publication sticks!
**Jan 2015 Update**
Sigh. February of 2016.
(14 years of waiting!)
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So nice to see my wizard friends again after so long between books!
The series is as engaging to me as when I first started reading the series as a kid; last night I planned to stop reading at around page 400 and before I knew it I was almost done so I just finished the whole thing.
Excited about the introduction of the first canonically/textually gay and asexual characters, happy to see more of Dairine than we did in Mars, charmed by details like the wizard with a Magic 8 Ball manual, the existence of magical sign language, and the fact that Jupiter and Saturn are in love. I've certainly never been one of the people clamouring for Nita and Kit to start dating but now that they are the direction their relationship takes is cute and watching them work out what being romantic partners actually MEANS to them was very believable.
I do wish Carmela was in this one more. She could be a POV character and I would probably still want to see her more, though. Hopefully, the next volume will only be a couple years in the making! In the meantime, I'm going to catch up on the Interim Errantry stuff, which I still haven't read yet, while I'm still in a Young Wizards headspace.
[Spoilers follow]
Penn, one of the two new characters introduced in this book, remains unlikeable throughout. I got the impression from the resolution of his arc that he was supposed to be forgiven, which I was not particularly comfortable with. On the other hand, I loved the Dairine-Mehrnaz mentor/mentee relationship! Mehrnaz' emotionally-abusive aunt read like a Diana Wynne Jones character, which is exactly the right tone for her character. Dairine pulling rank on her was absolutely beautiful.
In retrospect, the reveal at the end that Nita is a potential Planetary seems so obvious that I'm surprised I didn't clue into it before, at least while rereading Mars last week. Between the potential hydromage stuff and the kernel manipulation stuff and even the talking-to-trees stuff in the early books, it's a logical progression and one I'm excited to see more of moving forward.
I'm so, so happy at the resolution of the ongoing Dairine-Roshaun arc. Dairine has been one of my favourite fictional characters ever since I picked up High Wizardry in the late 1990s and it's nice to see something go right for her for a change. Interested to see where her story goes next as there aren't any huge plot hooks left open the way they are for Nita-- would like to see more of Dairine in a mentorship role, with Mehrnaz or with others.
A friend noted that if Dairine continues to work with the sun there is a pleasing sort of symmetry with Nita working with the earth-- The natural next step of that is to give Kit something to do with the moon, which also makes a lot of sense for his character.
The series is as engaging to me as when I first started reading the series as a kid; last night I planned to stop reading at around page 400 and before I knew it I was almost done so I just finished the whole thing.
Excited about the introduction of the first canonically/textually gay and asexual characters, happy to see more of Dairine than we did in Mars, charmed by details like the wizard with a Magic 8 Ball manual, the existence of magical sign language, and the fact that Jupiter and Saturn are in love. I've certainly never been one of the people clamouring for Nita and Kit to start dating but now that they are the direction their relationship takes is cute and watching them work out what being romantic partners actually MEANS to them was very believable.
I do wish Carmela was in this one more. She could be a POV character and I would probably still want to see her more, though. Hopefully, the next volume will only be a couple years in the making! In the meantime, I'm going to catch up on the Interim Errantry stuff, which I still haven't read yet, while I'm still in a Young Wizards headspace.
[Spoilers follow]
Penn, one of the two new characters introduced in this book, remains unlikeable throughout. I got the impression from the resolution of his arc that he was supposed to be forgiven, which I was not particularly comfortable with. On the other hand, I loved the Dairine-Mehrnaz mentor/mentee relationship! Mehrnaz' emotionally-abusive aunt read like a Diana Wynne Jones character, which is exactly the right tone for her character. Dairine pulling rank on her was absolutely beautiful.
In retrospect, the reveal at the end that Nita is a potential Planetary seems so obvious that I'm surprised I didn't clue into it before, at least while rereading Mars last week. Between the potential hydromage stuff and the kernel manipulation stuff and even the talking-to-trees stuff in the early books, it's a logical progression and one I'm excited to see more of moving forward.
I'm so, so happy at the resolution of the ongoing Dairine-Roshaun arc. Dairine has been one of my favourite fictional characters ever since I picked up High Wizardry in the late 1990s and it's nice to see something go right for her for a change. Interested to see where her story goes next as there aren't any huge plot hooks left open the way they are for Nita-- would like to see more of Dairine in a mentorship role, with Mehrnaz or with others.
A friend noted that if Dairine continues to work with the sun there is a pleasing sort of symmetry with Nita working with the earth-- The natural next step of that is to give Kit something to do with the moon, which also makes a lot of sense for his character.