Deep Wizardry (Wizardry Series) [Paperback]

Diane Duane (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wizardry Series | Publication Date: December 1996

During a summer vacation at the beach, thirteen-year-old wizard Nita and her friend Kit assist the whale-wizard S'reee in combating an evil power.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This ecology-themed fantasy adventure concerns a girl who, understanding the language of animals, is summoned by a dolphin to save the ocean's creatures. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A powerful tale of sacrifice and redemption."--School Library Journal (starred review)
"Remarkable and original."--The Horn Book

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 355 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books (J) (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152012400
• ISBN-13: 978-0152012403
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,657,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Duane was born in New York City -- a descendant of New York's first mayor -- and worked there as a psychiatric nurse before leaving the profession for the only one she loved better, the business of writing. Since the publication of her first novel in 1981, she's written fifty more, not to mention numerous short stories, comics, computer games and screenplays for TV and film, and has picked up the occasional award here and there. (She has also worked with Star Trek in more media than anyone else alive.)

Right now she's probably best known for her "Young Wizards" series of young adult fantasy novels, featuring the New York-based wizards Kit Rodriguez and Nita Callahan -- in business for twenty-five years now, their most recent adventure being described in the ninth YW novel, "A Wizard of Mars" (just released in paperback).

DD shares a two hundred-year-old cottage in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland with her husband, the Belfast-born novelist and screenwriter Peter Morwood, a laid-back white cat named Goodman, and various overworked computers... an odd but congenial environment for the staging of epic battles between good and evil and the leisurely pursuit of total galactic domination. (And a lot of ethnic cooking: her own favorite foods come from the cuisines of central Europe and the Mediterranean.) In her spare time she gardens (weeding, mostly), studies German and Italian, listens to shortwave and satellite radio, and dabbles in astronomy, computer graphics, iaido, amateur cartography, and desktop publishing ... while also trying to figure out how to make more spare time.

Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Series -- one of the best books I've read!, April 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Wizardry (Wizardry Series) (Paperback)

I received a copy of So You Want To Be a Wizard that was intended for my sister from my cousin, who had mailed it from the UK. I didn't pick it up for a while, but as soon as I read it I was totally hooked on this series, and I spent weeks used bookstore hopping to find Deep Wizardry. Deep Wizardry is not only the best book in the Young Wizards series -- it's one of the best books I've ever read.

Nita is a girl that any bookworm can relate to. She's got so many characteristics that reminded me of myself that I almost felt as if I was in her place; all of her problems were my problems, her joys my joys.

Kit is the perfect companion character to Nita -- innocent as she is, but strong and supportive through all her decisions.

The whales and dolphins each have their own unique personalities and conflicts. Their society is complex and ancient and portrayed beautifully.

And of course we can't forget Ed -- the Pale Slayer. As Nita said, "[his] name has teeth in it." The Pale Slayer is an ancient menace, shrouded in clouds of blood, with power over all the sharks in the sea. Some of his lines made such impressions on me that I don't think I'll ever forget them -- "You, young and never loving; I, old and never loved."

The book takes risks with the characters and the plot that lead into an intense psychological conflict -- the question of self-sacrifice for the greater good outlines the entire book. Not only does Duane manage to fit the story of the binding of the Lone Power into history and modern society, but she also draws the reader into the story with real life conflicts that make it completely believable for anyone who's willing to take a chance with magic.

I read this book for the first time when I was twelve years old, and it completely changed my outlook on life. I laughed, I cried, I stayed up *way* past my bedtime -- I was in emotional turmoil along with Nita, I felt all the emotions that the characters felt. My heart raced all through the climax of the book. For weeks after reading it, I wondered how I would have reacted if I had been in such a situation, and if I would have the strength to make the sacrifices needed to complete the binding. Suffice to say, it made me THINK, and think hard.

Now, years later, I still read this book often, and I rave about it to all my friends. Each time I read it, the story is still just as great. This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'd recommend it to readers of all ages.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Deep Wizardry": Best book in the series., January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Wizardry (Wizardry Series) (Paperback)

Diane Duane takes you on an unbelievable adventure with Nita and Kit. This book put a vivid picture of what was happening into my head. While I read it, it made me feel like my soul was singing to the melody of the waves Nita and Kit traveled through. Each bit of this book I gobbled up and when I was done, I was thirsty for more. This has to be the best piece of literature I have EVER read. But for people who don't believe in magic a bit, you probably wouldn't like it. For everyone else, you have to read this book!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating characters and relationships, May 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Wizardry (Wizardry Series) (Paperback)

This is the best of the three initial books in Duane's Wizardry series. There is plenty of thrilling action, the ethics and philosophy of wizarding is intelligently extended beyond its presentation in the first book, and Nita's evolving relationship with her family is well woven into the story of cetacean wizards and their battle with the Lone Power. The author also brings vividly to life the sights, sounds and sensations of the deep sea.

Still, the characters stand out over and above the merits of the other aspects of the book. The parents and adult characters are sympathetic and believable, Nita's little sister Dairine shows up in a new light, and even the dog has a personality!

Each undersea character - whale-wizards, mostly - has a distinctive personality and tone well matching his/her species and history. The crowning achievement of the book is Ed'Rashtekaresket (Ed for short) the Master-Shark, whose very name has teeth in it. His dark, complex and fascinating character is gradually revealed through his developing relationship with Nita - as she realizes, and comes to terms with, the implications of the parts the two of them will sing at the TwelveSong Ceremony.

The book should appeal to adults as well as to the ten-to-teens age group to whom the book is marketed.