Wizards at War

I've been trying to finish this book since shortly after I bought it, a year and a half ago. Which is unusual for me, since I usually devour Duane's book on sight.

I think the problem is that, for most of WaW, joy is missing. And joy is something that DD in general - and YW in particular - does very

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well. The joy of discovery, of friendship, and learning, and fighting and forgiving and growing and living -- and there's precious little of that in most of WaW.

Mind you, the fact that joy has gone missing is a plot point, so I suppose it can be called a sign of craft - but goshdarnit, I read these books *for* the joy. Perhaps that's why it's so satisfying that the characters who make it all go right in the end are the ones who refuse to say no to joy.

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Pretty good but the series is getting awfully heavy...I wish she'd quit. I _love_ the first three books - first four, really. But Wizard's Dilemma is too heavy - depressing - and none of the later ones have recovered that brightness that was in the first ones, even while they were saving the

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world/species/universe. The Cat Wizards series is still bright enough - of course, she's only now writing the third one. And a lot of deus ex machina (literally! well, literally deus(s), anyway).

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Number 8 in the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. Nita and Kit have to save the universe. Again.

If you haven't read the rest of the series, DO NOT start here. You will be so lost. And it has major spoilers for the previous books too. It does revisit a scene from High Wizardry, so that was fun,

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and it links closely with the previous book, Wizard's Holiday.

So without spoiling it in case you want to read the series and haven't yet, let me say that the universe is in a rather odd crisis. Dark matter seems to be spreading throughout and it's beginning to affect Life on all levels. And the darkness is also affecting the wizards. Soon, all Seniors will lose their magic, and it will all depend on the kids.

Luckily, the visiting wizards from Wizard's Holiday haven't gone home yet, and they stay to help in the fight against the Lone One.

This one was full of action and some great twists. Lots of character develpment in this one, and some major losses as well. I loved Carmela in this one - she is so funny. Some definite romantic tension as well, but I won't say more!

If you enjoy YA fantasy, this series is really worth a try. It is very original and well written. The first one is So You Want to be a Wizard.

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You may ask, does this book really deserve four stars? And I will answer, no, it really doesn't. There are the usual issues with Duane's conception of the wizarding world never being quite the same twice; there's the usual question of just how many times one can defeat the Lone Power before it

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loses all sense of epic proportion; there's the matter of our heroes conveniently being the one team present at the fulcrum of universal events; there's the question of why Nita's dad and her school counselor can retain their knowledge of the wizarding world when it's faded from the memories of full-fledged senior wizards; there's the unwillingness to sacrifice a single major character for good; and oh sweet merciful heavens, I don't even want to get into what the author does with Ponch.

So, no. I will freely grant that this series jumped the shark shortly after the book with the shark. (Funny how that works out.)

So why four stars? Mostly it's because I've been reading about these characters for a very long time now, and I'm perhaps overly fond of them. Even so, I think I'd have bumped this one down to a slightly generous three... if not for Kit's sister. I love Carmela Rodriguez.

But if she turns out to have any secret powers in a future book -- be they wizardly or godlike -- I shall be very, very cross.

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After the unexpected events of Wizard's Holiday, Nita and Kit are back home, making friends with the three visiting aliens who are staying with Nita's family and getting ready to go back to school. Then Tom and Carl show up to say that the universe is ending and it's up to them to save it...

While

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there is as much wizardry and wackiness as ever, the character relationships really drive this story. The complex interactions between Dairine and Roshaun, Nita and Ronan, Kit and Carmela, Ponch and Kit, and so on are where the most interesting parts of the book take place. And as with many of Duane's books, the non-human characters are some of the most fascinating voices in the story.

I definitely recommend this book, but I'm really recommending the series as a whole, since to understand it you need to start at the beginning with So You Want To Be A Wizard.

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The events of this installment immediately follow what happened in the previous book, and Diarine's extra guests join Kit and Nita and company to try to save the universe as they know it. As adult wizards begin to loose their powers, the fate of the universe is placed in the hands of the young and

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Nita, Dita, and their friends embark on intergalactic adventures as they attempt to trace the problem affecting wizardry before its too late. I didn't enjoy this installment as much as previous ones, although I did enjoy seeing Roshaun's home world and the character evolution of Ponch.

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Perhaps the best since book one and emotional punch like book 4.

Perhaps the best since book one and emotional punch like book 4.

Kit and Nita, Nita's sister Dairine and their wizard guests from other worlds must find the source of a force that is changing physical laws by expanding the dark matter in the universe, The quest involves family dynamics, loss of the advice from Senior Wizards (who literally forget that wizardry

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is real) and the realization that, even if they save the universe, their home planets may suffer permanent damage. Needless to say, the Lone Power is behind it all. My only problem with the metaphysics of this series is the assumption that death is an evil force rather than a part of the endless cycle of being. There is a hint that the difficulties faced by the multiple species of the universe are adventures that the One is having with aspects of Itself. Fun read. Recommend these to any magic interested kids you know, and adults too. Also catlovers, two companion volumes feature wizard cats.

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Wow, this book was intense.

Remember how I complained that in the seventh book of The Young Wizard series the plot took forever to take off? The eighth book pulls no punches, and the tension’s there from the very first chapter.

You definitely need to have read the prior books in the series (start

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with So You Want to Be a Wizard) before picking up Wizards at War, which builds upon the prior books, reintroduces characters, and starts almost immediately where the last book left off.

In the last book, Tom and Carl weren’t strangely weren’t in contact. Now we find out why. The universe is ending. Entropy has suddenly speed up with the appearance of ominous dark matter that is pushing apart galaxies. Wizardry is failing, and soon people will cease to care about all but material things. The senior wizards will lose their powers first, along with any memories of wizardry every existing. It’s up to the young wizards to save the universe.

“Suddenly Nita began to understand the feeling she’d read about in books, but never really understood: the feeling that it was genuinely all over, that nothing further could be done… except to go out as well as you could.”

Kit and Nita have just gotten back from the events of the prior book, and the three alien house guests are still present. Kit, Nita, Dairine, Filif, Sker’ret, and Roshaun are joined by Ronan, from A Wizard Abroad, in a trek across galaxies to try and get to the heart of the problem. Their quest will take them to a world darker than any seen before, one that belongs completely to the Lone Power.

“So there’s still hope?”
“Always hope,” said the mirror-scaled koi. “But you can’t just sit there and stare at it. You have to do something with it.”

Everything about this book was fantastic. All the character building scenes of the previous books paid off here when beloved and familiar characters suddenly face something they’ve never seen the likes of. The book was incredibly paced, the moments of humor were a wonderful release, the aforementioned characters were great, and there so many scenes that were genuinely moving. There was particularly something that happened near the end with one of my favorite characters that really gets me.

On the subject of favorite characters, Wizards at War has given me an incredible love for Carmela Rodriguez. She’s been very good in the last few books, but here she moves from endearing to truly awesome.

I really, really loved Wizards at War. If you’re a fan of the series, I think you’ll likely to love it as much as I do. If you haven’t read any of the Young Wizards books, why not? It’s one of the best YA fantasy series out there, and if you’re at all a fan of the genre you should be giving it a look.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

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giving 5 out of 5. Great read Good story. Just please stop with adding more people that are wizards.

Another great installment in the series. I wasnt down with everything in the book (did giant bugs really need misogynistic gender roles?) but I love all the characters and the emotional aspects of the story are very effective. I liked seeing a bit more of Dairine and her relationship with her

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wizardry, and also found a lot of funny parts even with the threats the characters are facing. Also Nita is a badass and its great.

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