Young Wizards

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Cover of So You Want to Be a Wizard, the first book in the series
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Cover of So You Want to Be a Wizard, the first book in the series

Young Wizards is a series of novels by the fantasy fiction author Diane Duane.

The Young Wizards series presently consists of eight books, with a ninth to come in spring of 2008, focusing on the adventures of two young wizards named Nita and Kit. Each novel places Nita and Kit against the "Lone Power", an entity bent on the destruction of the entire universe. The series began in 1983 with the book So You Want to Be a Wizard, which told the story of Nita's first experience with magic. In 1997, Diane Duane began a spin-off series called the Feline Wizards series that takes place in the same universe as the main series, but with different protagonists.

The series incorporates elements of fantasy, science fiction, and religion. Although it deals with wizards capable of casting magic spells, the spells in question are held to a rigorous scientific basis. For example, in one spell, Nita and Kit are travelling to the moon and must calculate the amount of air they will breathe, as well as the amount of power necessary to escape the Earth's gravitational well. Additionally, Diane Duane does not shy away from serious topics, dealing with such mature ideas as death, sacrifice, and redemption.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Books

[edit] Young Wizards

  1. So You Want to Be a Wizard (1983) (ISBN 0-15-204738-7)
  2. Deep Wizardry (1985) (ISBN 0-15-216257-7)
  3. High Wizardry (1990) (ISBN 0-15-216244-5)
  4. A Wizard Abroad (1993) (ISBN 0-15-216238-0)
  5. The Wizard's Dilemma (2001) (ISBN 0-15-202551-0)
  6. A Wizard Alone (2002) (ISBN 0-15-204562-7)
  7. Wizard's Holiday (2003) (ISBN 0-15-204771-9)
  8. Wizards at War (2005) (ISBN 0-15-204772-7)
  9. A Wizard of Mars (projected: May 2007)

A short story within the same universe, "Uptown Local", has also been published as part of Jane Yolen's Dragons and Dreams anthology. Another short story, "Source Material", is in the works for an anthology to be published in 2007.

[edit] Feline wizards

Two other books are not strictly in the Young Wizards series, but take place in the same setting, between books 4 and 5:

[edit] Adult wizards

Another book about an adult wizard was apparently meant to start another sub-series in the same setting, but no books have been written or published yet.

  • Short Circuit (projected) [1]

[edit] The Powers That Be

The series shows the influence of many religious and mythological tropes from around the world, and the traits of traditional angels and various gods or heroes of ancient mythology are united in semi-divine, demiurgic beings referred to as the Powers that Be. The Powers exist outside of mortal time, capable of manifesting themselves anywhere in the universe, at any point in time. They were created by a being known only as "the One", and are portrayed as Its active assistants in the business of creating and maintaining the universe.

During the process of Creation, one Power -- described as originally the greatest and most glorious of them -- went apart from the others and invented the "gift" of death (often referred to in the series under the blanket term of entropy), turning it loose in the universe and thus corrupting or subverting much work done by the other Powers. This rebellious (or at least extremely self-willed) being became known as the Lone Power, and as a result of Its destructive behavior was cast out of the creative order by the other Powers. It has since manifested in many avatars or alternate forms throughout the universe: on Earth, for example, It appeared in ancient Ireland as the evil Balor. Its incarnations roam the multiverse, seeking new species to trick into accepting Its "gift". When a species becomes sentient, a process called "The Choice" begins, during which the Lone Power appears and offers the species the opportunity to support a lifestyle or course of action which may seem tempting but ultimately serves entropy. However, the species also has the opportunity to reject the offered "gift" and choose to fight against entropic behavior -- meaning pain and evil. The Lone Power is conniving and devious, so to make the right "Choice" is difficult. Rejecting the "Choice" outright can sometimes lead to suffering for the entire species. The seventh book in the series, "Wizard's Holiday", deals with a unique "Choice" that one species made. Humanity's "Choice" appears to have ties to the Biblical story of creation involving Adam and Eve eating the apple from the tree of Knowedge of Good and Evil, with the Lone Power being "behind" the purported actions of the serpent.

When involved in a Choice, the Lone Power tends to work subtly, controlling minds or events to result in its "gift" being accepted. It sometimes appears physically when becoming involved in the Choice process, though almost always in some kind of disguise.

One of the central themes of the series, however, is the idea that the Lone Power truly wants to return to the light and be good again, and in some senses already has, since It lives outside of time. The Lone Power is portrayed as not outright evil, but rebellious and incredibly stubborn.

[edit] Wizardry

To combat the Lone Power, the One created wizards. A wizard is a member of a sentient race gifted with The Speech, a language that is used to describe all things. The wizards use it to persuade or convince the universe to do what they ask.

The Powers that Be choose individuals who have the potential to become wizards. The selection is often motivated by the need for a particular individual to solve a particular problem. Once a person has been offered the opportunity to become a wizard, if he or she decides to accept it, that person will be offered the "Wizard's Oath" -- a pledge to fight entropy and death wherever it may be found.

If the potential wizard takes the Oath, the event is usually immediately followed by an Ordeal -- a period during which the wizard combats the Lone Power directly, or helps other humans (such as in Ronan Nolan's Ordeal in the fourth book). Not all Ordeals are successful, and the result of being unprepared or careless during Ordeal is often death. (Failed Ordeals are said to account for a certain percentage of what the real world perceives as "child disappearances".)

Every wizard has access to the Wizard's Manual, a book written in the Speech that gives the reader as much information about the business of wizardry and spells as he or she requires or is capable of handling. The Manual can take many forms and is often tailored to the race and personality of the wizard in question. Water-dwelling wizards, such as dolphins and whales, use the Sea itself as their Manual, drawing answers for their questions out of the songs of the ocean, aka the "Heart of the Sea". Cat wizards have a similar method of accessing the Manual called "The Whispering". Human wizards tend to use books as the Manual, although some hear voices like the cats and whales, and Irish wizards memorize the information. Recent advances in technology have allowed some wizards to use digital versions of the Manual, such as laptops and, more recently, iPods.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Main Characters

[edit] Nita

Juanita "Nita" Louise Callahan begins the series in junior high school as the typical "book-nerd" who is often bullied by stronger girls. As the series goes on, she deals with such issues as parents, romance, death, and school all while continually fighting against the Lone Power. She lives at home with her mother(in books 1-5), father, and genius kid sister Dairine. Relating to wizardry, her specialty initially seems to be the art of dealing with the living world (sometimes referred to as organic wizardry) and later on shifts more toward precognition.

[edit] Kit

Christopher "Kit" K. Rodriguez also starts the series in junior high school, dealing with the issue of becoming a responsible adult. Despite being one year younger than Nita, Kit is usually the more mature member of the pair. Kit is in Nita's grade in school, having skipped a grade. He often gets teased because of his Spanish accent and in the first book for being short. Kit also lives at home with his mother, father, his older sister Carmela, and his dog Ponch in Nita's neighborhood.The oldest child in his faimly, Helena, no longer resides at home with the family and attends College. Kit is skilled with mechanical objects and sometimes, through Ponch, he is skilled in 'scent'.

[edit] Ponch

Ponch (Kit's black Labrador/Collie mix) is an average dog. More worried about food than anything else, Ponch accompanies Kit and Nita on some of their adventures (mainly A Wizards Dilemma, A Wizard Alone, Wizard's Holiday, Wizards at War). As the series progresses it is obvious that something is different about Ponch; at the beginning of the series, he is featured as a minor character, mostly a source of canine comic relief, but further on his character is developed into more of a supporting role and partner to Kit in Nita's absence. He starts to find alternate universes (his favorite being a squirrel universe) and eventually becomes what would be considered as the "king of dogs". Eventually, Ponch is shown to be a canine avatar of the One, conquering the Pullulus (A dark substance that devours everything that it covers) in direct combat. Although he was originally thought to be dead after his battle with the Pulullus, it is later revealed that he continues to live on in every single dog on Earth.

[edit] Dairine

Dairine "Dair" E. Callahan is a brainy child, wise beyond her years. She is known for being obsessed with all things Star Wars and wants to be a Jedi. Although she is two years younger than Nita, she cannot stand it if Nita knows anything that she does not. She figures out that Nita has odd powers, finds out about wizardry, and eventually becomes a wizard herself, enormously powerful and prematurely skilled. Though after her ordeal the large amount of power she received decreases a little. Her Ordeal is a pivotal moment in the history of the universe, as she not only becomes the Manual (in a way) but helps to change the nature of one of the Powers, or at least give this Power the potential to change its nature. Dairine's skill comes through computers.

[edit] Spot

Spot is Dairine's sentient Apple computer, originally an Apple IIc variant, but later appearing to be a Macintosh Powerbook, which also serves as her wizard's manual. He is shy around others, but (according to Dairine) is quite talkative in one-on-one conversations with her. He also has the power to upgrade himself, changing his platform and appearance as the series progresses to keep up with contemporary technology. After getting an upgrade from his siblings (Dairine's 'children'), he seems to develop a sense of the future.

[edit] Roshaun

Roshaun is a haughty humanoid alien prince first featured in A Wizard's Holiday and remains a prominent character until his apparent death in Wizards at War. He is one of the exchange students from the exchange program and his skills focus on stars.

[edit] Sker'et

Sker'et is one of the exchange students in A Wizard's Holiday. He has an insatiable appitite for almost anything and is the son of the Stationmaster in addition to being a member of the Rirhait, a sentinet centipede-like alien species.

[edit] Filif

Filif is one of the exchange students in A Wizard's Holiday. He resembles a small Christmas tree and devolops a fetish for human clothing. He is very magically powerful and excels at writing new spells.

[edit] Minor Characters

[edit] Betty Callahan

Nita's mother, and the focus of The Wizard's Dilemma.

[edit] Ronan Nolan, Jr

A wizard who Nita meets during the events of A Wizard Abroad. He has the One's Champion inside of him and has the Spear Luin(Spear of Light), making him extremely magically powerful until the One's Champion leaves him in Wizards at War. He is one of the main characters in Wizards at War and appears to be Nita's love interest.On his Ordeal he 'took the sea in'.

[edit] Transcendent Pig

Inspired by Chinese mythology, this is a being of mysterious origins, first mentioned in So You Want to Be A Wizard and first seen in The Wizard's Dilemma. He has been called Chao, but it is unclear if that is a personal name or merely an epithet, as Chao is a Chinese word for pig. The Pig is designated as being between mortals and the Powers That Be, more than a mortal but less than a Power. The purpose the Pig serves is that it knows the meaning of life for an unexplained reason, but it does not just let anyone know. This makes it wizardly custom to immediately ask the Pig the meaning of life upon seeing it.

[edit] Kkirl

An alien wizard who Nita and other alien wizards help to stabilise her planet. This act gives Nita an idea of how she might cure her mother.

Note: Characters from the Feline Wizards books who make cameo appearances are not listed, as they should have a page for their own series.

[edit] Temporal setting

Time in the Young Wizard series does not progress in a straightforward manner, and in fact there is some disagreement among fans as to the chronology of events in the series. For example, in So You Want to Be a Wizard, Carmela is fifteen, Nita is thirteen, Kit twelve, and Dairine eleven. By Wizard's Holiday, they should have all aged two years, since two summer vacations (Deep Wizardry and A Wizard Abroad) have passed. However, Nita only progresses only one grade between from High Wizardy to The Wizard's Dilemma, which means that either Deep Wizardry and A Wizard Abroad take place in the same summer, or Nita and the other characters got held back in school. In addition, the latest book, Wizards at War, puts Nita's age at fourteen. The books, however, are always set in the year of publication. Few dates are ever given, but Deep Wizardry explicitly says that the events occur in 1985 while High Wizardry, set two months later, gives the eleven-year-old Dairine a 1978 birthdate. The discrepancy in time is particularly noticeable when it comes to computers; in High Wizardry Nita's family obtains a brand new "Apple IIIc+," apparently modelled on the Apple IIc+ of 1988, while less than a year or two later in Wizard's Holiday Dairine's computer Spot is apparently imitating an Apple Titanium PowerBook. Even more obviously, in the 2005 podcast version of the 1986 short story "Uptown Local," Duane changes a line so that one minor character is using an iPod, and in Wizards at War a fellow wizard shows off his specialized manual known as a WizPod. In the same book, Nita thinks about the Manhattan skyline when someone refers to recent troubles, signifying that it takes place after 9/11. The sliding scale is similar to those used in the James Bond films and Marvel comics.

[edit] External links

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