Customer Reviews

Magic For Hire

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Everyone knows that if you're going to take the Royal Magician's entrance exam, you absolutely must know the basics: Sleeping mist, Truth Serum, Weather Control, --all that mundane, average stuff. Dix Claudel, thirteen, knows he hasn't got what it takes, but having failed the Guardsmen's test, he has to do something. And after all, he can control bees, and that's a lot like mob control, isn't it?

Naturally, he fails the test. So do four other teenagers. Licking their wounds later, they discover that between them they know all the basics. Why don't they go into business for themselves, and meantime, teach each other what they need for next year's test? In the course of these lofty pursuits, they are embroiled in a mystery involving ancient sorceries, a kidnapped archeologist, and deadly creatures trying to sneak across the border. Just when they've got their backs to the wall, they discover that one of their number is not who he seems.

"Magic for Hire" is filled with adventure and eerie situations. Mr. Greene juggles his characters and plot threads with care, skill, and blithe humor. When Dix tries desperately to perform mob control with a calming spell, he finds that his spell doesn't work as he'd hoped. The villains still plan to kill him --but very calmly.

This young adult book is well-suited to teenagers, perhaps grades six through nine. The pace is quick and the story interesting, with enough twists and frustrations to keep a reader guessing. Nice work, Mr. Greene. Keep writing!

Jeanette Cottrell, author of At Risk of Being a Fool