Customer Reviews

So You Want to Be a Wizard (20th): Twentieth-Anniversary Edition

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So You Want to be a Wizard is a long-time favorite of mine--a classic and entertaining clash between magic and science that draws a reader so surely into its pages, you'll be unlikely to emerge until you have savored every word. This new edition has an adorable cover PLUS a new story about Kit and Nita included.

Nita didn't know there was such a thing as magic--until she was hiding in the library one day and came across nothing short of a wizard's manual--and it was waiting for her! Nita takes the wizard's oath and finds herself endowed with power that she doesn't know how to control. Along with her new friend Kit, also a wizard, Nita's first spell summons the concentrated spirit of a white dwarf star and together they spiral deep into an adventure, and finally a battle with an ancient evil that invented death itself.

Duane writes with a fun and inventive style that and manages to make you laugh while writing a serious adventure. This novel is truly for everyone, as the magic will simply fascinate young fans, while more advanced readers will find themselves reading in depth, wondering at the specifics of Duane's wizards and their sorcery.

Buyers of this edition will find that it is very cute and childish (that doens't make it bad!)--older readers might be more interested in the normal editions which have VERY cool covers that are both realistic and magical. If you plan to collect the whole series, this cover won't match the rest of the set.

For fans of the series who already own this book in another edition, I would not purchase this one but rather check it out of the library for the story in the back. The story isn't as good as the books, but its still enjoyable. Happy reading!

This is THE Wizardry book -- Diane was doing Young Wizards way before JK Rowling even thought of ol' HP, and Diane does it better. Nita is a loner, an outsider, a smart, lonely bookworm who gets snagged by the Powers That Be to be a Wizard -- we're not talking cutesy punny-spells ala' HP, we're talking a real Wizard, one who vows to protect & serve Life. Nita doesn't leave the "real" world behind; she's now one of those vowed to protect it from the Lone Power (who invented Death). These books are great mind-stretching, thinking reads, without ever becoming preachy. I fell in love with this book while in high school, and now I'm 37 years old and still eagerly waiting for Diane to write more of the series.

If you don't know how you are going to pass the time during the long long long wait for the next installment of Harry Potter, pick up So You Want to be a Wizard. It's really an amazing book, full of adventures and close calls and the friendship of a budding pair of teenaged wizards, Nita and Kit. A fabulous read!

When 13-year-old Nita has to escape from some bullies, she retreats to her home away from home - the public library. While examining the shelves one book literally seems to grab her hand; its title is SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD. Intrigued by such a title she checks the book out, and finds that it is indeed an introductory book to wizardry.

However, this new knowledge presents Nita with a good deal of responsibilities. Finding another new wizard in the form of 11-year-old Kit, the two set out an adventure that takes them to an alternate Earth, teams them with a creature of most unearthly form and abilities, and pits them against an evil godling and all his hellish minions. Can they win, and what will be the cost?

Though this book is listed as a juvenile book, its story is rich enough to entertain just about any reader. There is very little humor in this book; the action is serious and non-stop. This is a great book, with no sex or anything else a parent need worry about. I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

One of the fantasies that many children have is to have some kind of power. This fantasy is particularly strong when children are in elementary school and they often feel powerless or helpless. Juanita (Nita) Callahan and Christopher (Kit) Rodriguez fall into this category. Kit has been advanced a couple of grades in school, so he is teased for his intelligence and his size. Juanita tends to speak her mind, which frequently gets her in trouble with the supposedly cool crowd.

Juanita is in the library one day, hiding out from ever-present bullies, when she runs across a book titled "So You Want to Be a Wizard." At first Nita wonders whether the book is some sort of joke, or fictional. After she reads the Wizard's Oath, she soon discovers that the book is remarkable in how it keeps itself up-to-date as information about the world and the skill level of its reader changes. Nita also discovers that she has become a wizard.

Nita soon meets Kit and discovers that she is not the only wizard in the world. One of the first requirements of being a wizard is to go on an Ordeal, which has a level of difficulty that matches the power of the wizards involved. Nita and Kit are quite powerful and they go up against the Lone One in a world the Lone One made to prevent the Lone One from unmaking the entire universe. In the course of trying to keep the level of entropy in the universe at the lowest level possible, and keeping the Lone One from unmaking the universe, Kit and Nita find themselves in situations where they risk death. At one point in the book it is only through the sacrifice of two remarkable beings that Kit and Nita survive their sojourn into the Lone One's world.

While Diane Duane wrote this story about children in elementary school, I feel that it is a very mature story in many ways. This story does have a number of intense moments and may be unsuitable for some children under the age of 8 or 9. Additionally, Diane's vocabulary may present an additional hurdle for some ages. However, the story does not treat children as persons to be protected by adults and the children in the story find that they have power to affect their world. One balance Diane brought into the book is an extremely strong code of ethics. Wizards must behave very morally or bad things can happen to them.

This book is a worthy introduction to the Young Wizards series and an enjoyable read.

This must be one of the original books concerning young wizards living in the real world. Diane Duane has done a wonderful job portraying every character and event, almost as if it was really happening today. This book is a must read for any fan of SF-F, as is the rest of the series.

It follows Kit and Nita, two pre-teens, who have just discovered their 'manuals', appearing as books entitled 'So You Want to be a Wizard', throughout their first assignment. Unlike Harry Potter, where it is just the world that is trying to be saved, Diane Duane has created a whole universe of characters, who are fighting to stop the death of the universe. Even non-wizards can help in this sense, just by turning lights off when they leave rooms, not leaving taps running, or just by paying bills on time. It is an all inclusive world that everyone feels a part of, because it is so real.

This book, first publised in _1983_, pre-dates all of the 'mainstream' young adult fantasy novels, such as Harry Potter, or the Dark Tower, which have been published in the past few years. Its sequels, Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, A Wizard Abroard, The Wizard's Dilemma, A Wizard Alone, A Wizard's Holiday, and the upcoming Wizards at War, are all must-reads too.

I first read this book in elementary school, and its an excellent example of young children's fantasy. I read it again and its still great. The new cover design is awesome.

Don't get me wrong I love JK but Diane gives her a run for her money. Using a whole other side of magic she keeps you guessing and hoping against hope that Nita an Kit make it out alive.

The book is about 2 young wizards. One was a boy, Kit and the other a girl, Nita. They both have special powers for different kinds of elements. They use a different language called Speech. They talk to their special elements using it. The boy can talk to cars and different mechanical things and becomes friends with a sports car. The girl can talk to trees and other things, that can grow. Each of them has a special manual, which is how the book got its name, So You Want To Be A Wizard? In their manual it gives them information on their element. They end up having to use their special abilities in different elements to save our world from evil.

They get transported through a portal into another world where darkness rules. It is a world just like ours, except in this world there is no sunlight and cars have feelings and act like humans. Which there is only one human when they get there. It has the same buildings and subways. They can escape only one way, the way they got there through the portal from Manhattan. Sound like fun? Taxicabs come after you and you try to find Central Park in time to save the light world from the evil one.

There are many positive points about the book. Once you get into it it's so hard to put it down you just want to keep reading. It's also a good book for people who are into wizardry and fantasy novels. It has a great ending and leads you into the next book. The author makes it easy to understand what everything is. They also give a little detail, but don't go overboard.

There are few negative points. One I really remember is that it was hard to stay interested in the beginning until it picked up. It was a bad book for anyone who hated the concept of other things beside humans talking or absolutely hates fantasy or wizardry. The last point I want to point out is that at first it was hard to know if they were talking regular, talking in speech, nonverbally talking, or just thinking.

I thought the book was very good. I would probably rate it a 4 out of 5, because the book was so good and it had a lot more positive points than negatives. I would recommend it to anybody who has read or liked Harry Potter or Charlie Bone, and anyone who likes the idea that cars, plants and other things talk, have their own language, and their own personalities. It was a very good book for what I am interested in.

This was the first book I ever read by Diane Duane, and I must say she is one of, if not THE, most talented author I have ever read. Like everything else by her that I have read, this book is very intellectually challenging and even upon rereading it recently I didn't understand everything. But who cares?! This book (the whole series, really) is unbelievably creative and breaks the mold in every possible respect. It's just. . . wow. Words can't really describe.

Unfortunately, most people who decide to read this book are going to say "Oh, this is a total ripoff of Harry Potter," upon which I would be tempted to tear their throats out. First of all, This book was first published back in 1983, FOURTEEN YEARS before Harry Potter ever grazed the shelves. And even if HP did happen to precede this series, you have to ask yourself. . . which one is better? Would you rather read about a wizard with rudimentary skills whose ultimate task is to save himself, his closest friends, and maybe eventually a country, from a mere rogue (albeit powerful) wizard, or would you prefer to read about a wizard with the potential to manipulate the very fabric of space and time whose job is to assist in the salvation of THE WHOLE OF EXISTENCE from the very manifestation of death and evil itself?!?!!? C'mon, people, even if your minds have been narrowed and rotted by delving wholeheartedly into the HP craze, you should be able to answer that.

I would like to conclude by encouraging everyone reading this to read the entire series, as well as The Book of Night With Moon and To Visit The Queen, as fast as you possibly can. I would also like to thank Ms. Duane for sharing this wonderful story with us. Although, sadly and wrongly, it will probably never achieve the acclaim and attention that HP has managed, I still wish to congratulate and thank her for showing the lucky few of us what REAL wizardry is like.