A Wizard Alone (digest): The Sixth Book in the Young Wizards Series [Paperback]

Diane Duane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Young Wizards Series (Book 6)

While Nita grieves over her mother's death, Kit tackles a challenge as dangerous as it is strange: Rescue a young wizard who has vanished on his first assignment. This new wizard is unlike any other--he's autistic and he's a magical prodigy. His power is enormous.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Kit and Nita return to join forces against the evil Lone Power, this time over the heart and mind of a young autistic, in Diane Duane's sixth installment of the Young Wizards series. Initially, Kit finds himself flying solo as Nita has sunk into a deep depression over her mother's recent death. Luckily, his telepathic pooch, Ponch, is happy to fill Nita's niche temporarily, as long as biscuits are involved. Kit tries to understand why autistic wizard-in-training Darryl McAllister has been stuck in his Ordeal, or initiation, for over three months. Is it merely the fault of his autism? Inside Darryl's mind, Kit and Ponch find complex landscapes of weird beauty that belie Darryl's rocking, vacant exterior. But they also find the Lone Power, attacking Darryl with an unrelenting brutality that is excessive, even for the Source of all Evil. Meanwhile, Nita is distracted from her sadness by trying to discover the meaning of a series of strange dreams in which a being is pleading for her aid. Could the dreams be a call for help from Darryl? And if so, will Kit and Nita come together in time to destroy the Lone Power before it destroys them?

Though a novice to the series would definitely benefit from reading the previous books, Duane's latest mix of science and spell casting is thought provoking in its own right. She slips enough facts into this fiction to ensure that young readers will not only enjoy the quest, but also learn something along the way. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8-Kit Rodriguez is having a rough time. His family's new DVD player and remote control are too busy yelling obscenities at each other to work the TV, and his dog is asking his mother questions about the meaning of life. Even worse, his best friend and partner in wizardry, Nita, grieving over her mother's death, shuts him out emotionally and telepathically. To top it off, Kit has just been sent on an assignment to see why a new wizard's initial Ordeal is taking so long. Upon investigation, he finds that Darryl, an autistic boy of about 11, has the ability to create complex worlds that can contain the Lone Power, but he cannot seem to end his Ordeal, and Kit and his dog must risk their lives and enter Darryl's world to save him. Finally, when Nita realizes that they might be trapped there forever, she is able to put aside her grief and help them. This sixth book in the series covers a lot of ground. Readers who haven't read the previous books may be a little lost at first, but Duane's characters and plot will quickly draw them in. The scenes between Kit and the electronics are hysterical. The incorporation of Darryl's autism is seamless and drives the plot forward. This book belongs in all libraries that have the earlier titles in the series; those that don't may want to consider buying them so they can justify adding this one.
Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152055096
• ISBN-13: 978-0152055097
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,440 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 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kit and Nita's next adventure is confusing to say the least, October 6, 2002

By 

Nancy E. "Nancy" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Wizard Alone: The Sixth Book in the Young Wizards Series (Hardcover)

The 6th book in the Young Wizards series is short but it doesn't disappoint. As Nita recovers from the death of her mother, Kit takes center stage in this thrilling book. Kit has never really been sent out on a mission, problems usually come to him. But when Tom and Carl, the local Senior Advisors, ask him if he wants to look for someone, he accepts it, thinking it to be no big deal. Unfortunately Kit finds that this particular person it very hard to find. Darryl is an autistic boy who has spent the past 3 months on his ordeal, a difficult process that usually only takes a few days. When Kit "finds" Darryl he finds out quickly that he's not really there. The only way to find him is, with the help of his dog Ponch, to enter Darryl's mind, a very dangerous place. Kit quickly finds out that the reason Darryl is having so much trouble has to do with the Lone Power itself. If only Kit could talk to him.

At the same time, Nita, is recovering from the death of her mother. Her house is strangely quiet with just her wizard sister and her father to take care of them. As she tries to get back to normal life she finds her dreams are being haunted by some very strange creatures in deed, robots, clowns and knight. Nita has no idea why these creatures are in her dreams but she soon realizes that they need help, her help. And if she helps them, she might be able to help Kit.

Wizard Alone is not only an exciting edition to the Young Wizards series but it has the most character development out of any of the books in the series. I won't give anything away but Kit and Nita, like in the last book, do spend a lot of time apart. That gives us a chance to look at their individual personalities more than ever before. Diane Duane does a wonderful job of facing things that we don't usually see in fantasy novels, such as autism. I actually know more about autism now than ever before from reading this.

Ms. Duane also deals very well with Nita's recovery from her mother death. Most books tend to either have the characters wallow over the pain they feel with long passages involving weeping over the sight of their gravestone (such an overdone scene)! or just get over it far too quickly like it never happened. Ms. Duane does neither. She focuses more on the recovery than the pain and how it has changed Nita and her family.

Although this book isn't quite as good as Wizards Dilemma, the best book in the series, it's still one of the better ones. It was great to see Kit as the main character for once. The book is also filled with some really great humor. You'll never look at an egg beater the same way again! I highly recommend to any fans of this series, pick up this book. It's really amazing. I can't wait until the 7th book, A Wizards Holiday, comes out in about a year. ...Dai Sitho!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Go ahead..read it!, November 4, 2003

By 

S. Christensen "reveuse" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Wizard Alone: The Sixth Book in the Young Wizards Series (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, so I like this series.

In this latest Young Wizards' novel, Nita is only partially through the process of recovering from her mother's untimely death from cancer. Her doubts about her own wizardry keep her from getting involved when her best friend and wizard partner, Kit, gets assigned to see what's holding up the Ordeal of a young autistic boy named Darryl. But it's pretty clear, soon, that Nita won't be able to stay on the sidelines as she forges a link of understanding with Darryl and Kit begins to get trapped in Darryl's internal world.

This was a pretty good read. I really enjoyed getting to know Kit, in particular, better. Our main characters here are getting experienced with wizardry, so it may not seem quite as new or exciting. The real point of the book, however, is what's going on in the characters. How both Nita and Kit are handling their situations. What it's going to take to get Nita back in the saddle and engaged with the world again.

I was slightly irritated that the Lone Power didn't get a little more credit here. (He can be a great baddie when he's written right.) I was also irritated that Kit got sent into a situation only Nita really had the skills to handle right. (Because of the way Kit gets into Darryl's world and the nature of Darryl's universe, Darryl starts warping him. Only Nita knows how to get through to Darryl in a way that won't hurt her.) Typical of Duane to underestimate Kit and always let Nita save the day somehow. But, overall, plenty of fun. And by now, you really care about the characters.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but missing that essential "magic", September 7, 2003

By 

Nerine (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Wizard Alone: The Sixth Book in the Young Wizards Series (Hardcover)

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Diane Duane is of course a great author and everything she writes is well worth reading. That said, I really didn't find myself enthralled by this book as I have by others in the Young Wizards series. It was a good enough read and I enjoyed it. But that essential "magic" that sets it apart from the average fantasy book was somehow missing.
My personal hunch is that the series has just gone on too long. The first three books were amazing, mind-expanding, earth-shattering high fantasy at its best. Here we had a couple of teenagers pitted against the evil Lone Power, and the fate of the world, New York, or the entire universe at stake. These books were exciting, enthralling cliffhangers that you just couldn't put down. Even now, chills go up and down my spine when I read certain parts of Deep Wizardry (probably my favorite in the series.) The first three books culminated in the defeat and redemption of the Lone Power at the end of High Wizardry.
The mistake, I think, was in continuing the series. After High Wizardry, the "high fantasy" aspects of the books began to disappear, which was quite understandable. I mean, how much further could Duane possibly go in that direction after the epic battle between Dairine and the Lone Power at the end of High Wizardry? (A Wizard Abroad attempted to retain the "epic" character of the previous three, and did not succeed, IMHO.) Instead, Duane had her characters turn inward, dealing with themselves and the issues in their own lives instead of saving the universe. The fifth and sixth books are very introspective, and as character-development novels they are very interesting. However, as fantasy they are lacking that essential tension that characterized the first three books. In High Wizardry, the fate of the universe was at stake; in Wizard's Dilemma, it's the fate of Nita's mother. (Not to say that this isn't important in its own way -- it just doesn't create the same atmosphere of nervous excitement.) In the first book of the series, the characters explore an alternate universe; in the sixth book, they spend most of the time in a single person's mind. The focus of the series has shifted from the macroscopic, cosmic, and epic, to the microscopic, introspective, and personal. And while nothing is wrong with this in itself, it's not what I look for in a fantasy book.
Another problem is that not as many new ideas are being introduced. In the first three books, the characters were still discovering their own magic and all its aspects. There was an atmosphere of exciting discovery. In this last book, however, the characters have adopted a "been there, done that" attitude to magic. Magic has become routine and predictable; while in the first two books the characters were out discovering new universes, here Kit uses his skills to...fix his VCR by persuading it to work with his TV. (Yawn.) Magic somehow just isn't *magic* anymore...
In summary, though this book is a good piece of writing, it is somehow missing that essential spark that would give it life, like the "dragon's eye" mentioned in the Wizard's Dilemma. However, the book is well worth reading and was highly interesting in several ways (such as its portrayal of an autistic child) if not as exciting as I hoped.