High Wizardry [Library Binding]

Diane Duane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Young wizards Nita and Kit face their most terrifying challenge yet: Nita's bratty little sister, Dairine. Not only is Dairine far too smart for a ten-year-old, she also has recently become a wizard, and worse yet, a wizard with almost limitless power. When Dairine's computerized wizard's manual glibly sends her off on her novice adventure - her Ordeal - Kit and Nita end up chasing her across the galaxy, trying to catch up with Dairine before she gets into trouble so deep that not even her brains can rescue her.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Don't take brilliant, shrewd Dairine Callahan for just any bratty younger sibling. Impatient for adventure, knowledge, and recognition, she finds her sister Nita's wizardry manual and reads the Oath aloud. Disappointingly, nothing happens. But when her family's new computer arrives, Dairene discovers more than the standard issue system software on it and launches herself on a reckless, universe-wide, high-voltage magical conflict with the Lone Power. Diane Duane's storytelling is skillfully mythic and wittily referential; Dairine's discovery and shaping of a new form of life is wondrous. For maximum enjoyment, read So You Want To Be A Wizard and Deep Wizardry first. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

This continuation of the escapades of teenage wizards Nita and Kit centers on Nita's little sister, Dairine, whom Nita thinks is simply too smart for her own good. But when the family PC clones itself and suggests Dairine go to New York, Nita and Kit go along as chaperones, determined to keep her out of trouble. But they're too late: Dairine has read the book of wizardry and is on her wizard's test. There's nothing that the two girls can do to help her, as she must complete the difficult and dangerous test by herself. Duane is tops in the high adventure business, and her latest offering is no exception. Deftly pairing comic and sensitive scenes, this rollicking yarn will delight readers as they watch Dairine's transformation from pesky kid sister to strong-willed heroine. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Bt Bound (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613127366
• ISBN-13: 978-0613127363
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,434,403 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

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost the last book in the series - thankfully wasn't, February 28, 2000

By A Customer

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

The Wizardry series was intended to be a trilogy at first, this being the third and final book. It shows - but the events here lead up perfectly to the fourth novel.

In it, Nita Callahan's bratty but highly intelligent sister Dairine takes the Wizard's Oath without realising what she's getting into and, with a software version of the wizard's manual, finds herself on a journey into deep space - with the Lone Power itself chasing her. As Nita faces up to many changes in her life, she and Kit follow her to a strange planet where an alien intelligence, locked in a planetary computer chip, has been waiting indefinitely for a sentient being to wake it up. Dairine, of course, has never baulked at anything but when she gives the motherboard access to wizardry, the story rises to a stunning climax with a totally unexpected twist. You may think it's unbelieveable, but remember the youngest wizards have the most power . . .

A brilliantly constructed piece of storytelling, thoroughly enjoyable - all the more so when you discover there is a fourth book in the series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the Best Book I've Ever Read, April 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: High Wizardry (Paperback)

After reading So You Want To Be a Wizard and Deep Wizardry, the first two books in the Young Wizards series, and enjoying them, I expected High Wizardry to be really good, but not this good. High Wizardry is very well written, and the story is exciting and original. It kept me reading as fast as I could until the end, when I felt horrible because the book was over. The story has no lack of action, unlike Deep Wizardry, which got a little boring and repetitive after a while. It shows a new way for wizardry to work, through a laptop computer, and also what what a wizard can do when a they have almost limitless power. It also shows a species making its Choice (what it will do about the Lone Power and entropy), which is nice because the readers never actually got to witness a Choice before. I got a look at Ms. Duane's idea of aliens and alien planets for the first time, which were not only very original but also hysterically funny. The climax was wonderful, and wrapped the story up nicely.

I actually like it that Dairine is the main character of this book, even though Nita and Kit have less of a part. I find her more interesting and fun to read about than Nita, because she stands out to me from all the other characters I've read about. Nita seems a little boring to me, and Dairine has more character, which is necessary for a good story. After reading A Wizard Abroad and A Wizard's Dilemma, both of shich hardly included Dairine, I was very happy to see her getting a bigger part in Wizard's Holiday. Without her, I wouldn't have laughed nearly as much, and I found myself actually admiring her determination. Personally, I've never liked a character more.

High Wizardry and the other Young Wizards books all make a wonderful guess at the answer to the "life and death" question. The idea that all the bad things in the world could possibly be fixed, if the Power that made them could be persuaded to change, is an optimistic idea, and I often find myself wishing that Ms. Duane's world were real.

High Wizardry is a great book for anyone who wants to read an amazing, thrilling mix of fantasy and science fiction. I'm thirteen, but my dad read it and he liked it, too. I recommend reading So You Want To Be A Wizard and Deep Wizardry first, because this is the third book in the series, or else it might be confusing. Aside from that, if you're wondering if you should read this book, or the Young Wizards series in general, definitely do it. You won't be disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In my next life, I wanna be Peach., December 10, 2000

By 

"kamiko" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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

I *LOVE* this series! Here in High Wizardry, we spend some time with Dairine's Ordeal, and the deeper nature of Macchu Picchu (Peach to her...friends) is at last revealed. Where the "So You Want To Be A Wizard" was largely about action, and "Deep Wizardry" was more interpersonal development and self-realisation for Kit and Nita, this one switches to bring Dairine in, and is much more about Kit and Nita's emotional relationship. I especially love the scene on the Moon, before they set off. Gigo is one of the best new characters (until Neet's aunt), Peach gets a great scene, but don't think this is the end of the line for our favourite wizards!