The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild [Paperback]

Cornelius Rumstuckle (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Tongue-in-cheek and deliciously droll, "Cornelius Rumstuckle" is the fictional narrator of The Book of Wizardry. Now featuring a new cover, this highly entertaining guide to wizardry makes genuine magical ideas accessible to young adults.

Brennan's fun wizard training manual is filled with interactive activities: how to make a wand and other wizard tools, discover your Wizard's name, switch on Wizard's Power, read the future in the Wizard's Oracle, and more. Those who successfully complete the Wizard's Adventure and crack the code in this book can become an accredited member of the Wizard's Guild.

A YALSA Teen Top Ten Title (2003)

 

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

So you want to be a Wizard . . .

It's not easy to become a Wizard, you know. Not easy at all.

The twenty-two closely guarded secrets to becoming a Wizard have never been revealed before, not in the whole history of Wizardry. I'm not sure I approve. Still, they've given me the job of teaching you, so that's what I'm going to do. By the time we've worked our way through this official handbook of the Wizards' Guild, you will have learned enough to participate in the “Wizard's Adventure,” a test of your magical knowledge found within these pages. If you successfully complete the adventure and crack the code, you will become an accredited member of the Wizards' Guild.

But first, we've got a lot of work to do. You have to learn how to make your own Wand and Wizard's Tools, discover your Wizard's name, and switch on Wizard's Power. Oh yes, and read your future in the Wizard's Oracle, practice Star Magic, discover the best times to work magic, and-well, maybe we'd better just get started.

Pay attention. Pay very close attention. Your Wizard's training is about to begin . . . .

-Cornelius Rumstuckle

About the Author

J. H. Brennan (Ireland) is the acclaimed author of over 90 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Forbidden Truth, The Alien’s Handbook, and The Spy’s Handbook (all published by Faber & Faber), Death: The Great Mystery of Life (Carroll & Graf), Martian Genesis and The Atlantis Enigma (both published by Dell), The Magical I Ching and Time Travel (both published by Llewellyn), and the popular Book of Wizardry (Llewellyn) under the alias Cornelius Rumstuckle. His works have appeared in more than fifty countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Australia.

Brennan is best known for his young adult fiction series, Herbie Brennan’s Faerie Wars (Bloomsbury) with combined sales exceeding 7.5 million. The creator of several role-playing books, his solo fantasy gamebook series GrailQuest (Dell) has sold over 6.5 million copies.

He resides in County Carlow, Ireland with his wife and ten cats.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (May 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738701653
• ISBN-13: 978-0738701653
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun book for young adults, July 27, 2003

By 

"andromalius" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild (Paperback)

This is a cute book that has obviously been designed for a young novice in the magical arts, sort of a Harry Potteresque instruction book. It's hard to tell whether this is a serious book on the subject at first, but it does have real magic and techniques for increasing concentration and such, and half of the book is taken up by a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type of novella.

The only annoying thing about it this book is that it mixes fantasy and real magical techniques, but I suppose that might be fun for a younger reader. It's a bit like telling children about Santa Claus, though.

In short, this is a good book for a young adult who is interested in magic and fantasy (and most likely a Harry Potter fan) but doesn't know where to begin, and/or if you want to teach a young adult magical technique but want to do it in a fun way.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A drop of imagination, stirred with magic intent, September 9, 2004

By 

Jj Pieterse "Passion, Romance and Philosophy" (Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild (Paperback)

Is wizardry real? When you start searching for real information on wizardry there is not much to go on. Cornelius's book can be as close to the real thing as it can get for his target audience. Cornelius targets the juvenile with poise and lovely humor.

The book is an excellent introduction into the world of occult and mystery. The 20 wizardry lessons are easy to follow and a great pleasure of anticipation, but demands patience and active participation. The lessons start with the secret wizard's name, which is probably the most powerful psychological edifying concept in the book.

The practical instructions will lead to some insight, if combined with the given simple and practical advice: "Wizardry works from the inside out". The gems in between might just be missed if not looked at carefully. The lessons are an introduction into real occult ideas and concepts. The lessons introduce the five elements introducing the pentagram and ventures through methods of divination, numerology and astrology. He explains briefly how the cycles of the moon and talisman can be used to strengthen magic. Interwoven between all the artifacts of wizardry are occult disciplines like relaxation, breathing, visioning, memory enhancement and spirit guides. The book might not immediately create a lot of powerful Merlin's but it is designed to entice and intrigue. I have no doubt that it will accomplish that.

The Wizard's adventure is more than a story...it allows the young wizard to make decisions and apply the knowledge gained in the 20 lessons. The Wizard's adventure provides a simulated practice ground to apply wizardry. The story begins with an introduction into the use of a pendulum as a means of guidance and then builds a story line of survival through a labyrinth of decisions. Not knowing the wizard's secrets leads ultimately to death in the game. The odds are against the young wizard in the battles with all types of creatures. If played by the rules the wizard has a slim change of coming out of the adventure alive. Playing with dice the wizard has to focus on bringing the magic from the inside to truly reach the wizard's guild.

Cornelius provides a masterful blend between fiction and non-fiction. There is certainly enough realness to entice further exploration and there is enough mystery to keep the Wizard elusive in his mythical, enigmatic and magical character.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book of Wizardry, July 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild (Paperback)

This is a "charming" book with all sorts of things a budding young wizard apprentice should know. It contains lessons at the end of every chapter, and the chapters are short so it moves along. After completing all of the lessons, including things such as making a wizard's cup and magic wand, there is a game you can read and play. I would highly recommend this item for young and young at heart who are fans of that famous young wizard with the initials HP.