What do you think?
Rate this book
Young Wizards #9.3
Not On My Patch: A Young Wizards Halloween
Just another Hallowe'en in the Young Wizards universe...
In this 14,000-word novelette, written for UNICEF's 60th annual "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" campaign, we tag along with Nita Callahan, Kit Rodriguez, Ronan Nolan, and Dairine Callahan as they do a little overage Trick or Treating in their own neighborhood, and find themselves going up against an old adversary with a peculiar new ally...
In this 14,000-word novelette, written for UNICEF's 60th annual "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" campaign, we tag along with Nita Callahan, Kit Rodriguez, Ronan Nolan, and Dairine Callahan as they do a little overage Trick or Treating in their own neighborhood, and find themselves going up against an old adversary with a peculiar new ally...
ebook
First published January 1, 2011
10 people are currently reading
456 people want to read
About the author
Diane Duane
167 books2,416 followersDiane Duane has been a writer of science fiction, fantasy, TV and film for more than forty years.
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
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."
(From her official website)
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
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."
(From her official website)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 23, 2021
A cute halloween story with a sentient pumpkin that fits into the Diane Duane's Young Wizards novels.
February 9, 2016
A lot of fun. I really enjoyed Diane Duane's twist on Halloween and zombies. One thing is for sure, I'll never look at pumpkins the same.
NOTE: My copy had a lot of typos in the beginning such as repeated words. It almost ruined my enjoyment before it started but I pushed through and I'm glad I did.
NOTE: My copy had a lot of typos in the beginning such as repeated words. It almost ruined my enjoyment before it started but I pushed through and I'm glad I did.
October 29, 2020
This is a cute novelette set in the Young Wizards world, using the main characters from that series. It was great to revisit the characters and setting from Duane's universe, even though it's been long enough since I've read the books that I don't remember who all of the side characters are. This is a fun Halloween story, perfect for a quick, non-scary read that matches the season.
February 4, 2016
“Not on My Patch” is a Halloween themed short story from Nita’s perspective. Nita, Kit, Ronan, and Dairine are all going out trick or treating and they run into some mischief. It really doesn’t go much beyond that, although I did love Dairine’s jedi costume.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
September 17, 2017
I liked this quite a bit more than A Wizard of Mars. Really enjoyed Nita and Kit showing Ronan how Hallowe'en is celebrated in North America and his telling them how it differs in Ireland. The through story with the pumpkin was charming.
August 23, 2018
I really liked some of the structures and ideas in this one.
May 21, 2025
Cute, fun, short, and imaginative -- what else can we ask for?
January 12, 2021
I LOVE the Young Wizards books. I've been reading them since "So You Want To Be A Wizard" came out in the '80s; the manager at the Little Professor bookstore -- an actual, live bookstore with real paper books -- literally shoved it at me with a "YOU GOTTA READ THIS", and thus started my lifelong love of YA & kids books, even though I was first-year college.
(and I firmly believe Duane could've kept the original Apple II computer in "High Wizardry" -- easy enough to claim that wizards nudged our technology along a bit to catch up with what's-laughingly-called-real-life).
I cried my eyes out over "Deep Wizardry"; I was ecstatic when Duane picked the series back up with "A Wizard Abroad". I didn't like the idea of the series being rewritten to catch up with the tech -- you will only pry my yellowed, crumbling original paperbacks from my cold dead fingers -- but, ok, I know, life moves on, the decade-long gap in the tale needed explaining & fixing to keep up, and I'm still reading and loving where this series has gone, is going, and is still to go.
With "Patch", we've got Nita, Kit, Ronan, & Dairine taking on Halloween, trick or treating, and one helluva zombie invasion. I ADORE Dairine having an OMIGOD I WANT ONE TOO lightsaber; it's about time the Star Wars fanatic peeps back out of her character again. (Seriously, was I the only one who thought it was a slumming Luke Skywalker who helped her at the Crossings in "High Wizardry"? Being in backasswards southwest Ohio, I'd never heard of Dr Who until the 2000s!) Kit dressing up as Captain Jack Sparrow who can't get his mustache to stay on -- HAH.
I did have a quibble with Nita's costume -- dear gods, Halloween in New York, and she's wearing Burroughs-style female Martian garb?? Wizard or not, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Even in the debauchery of the Athens OH/Ohio University Halloween chaos, not even the sorority girls wanted to freeze various body parts off with skimpy costumes. Though maybe Nita's built up a massive cold tolerance from all the galactic planet-hopping...?
Still...BRRRRRRRRRRR.
Small quibble, though. Second small quibble is over things that show Duane hasn't lived in the US for a while & definitely hasn't dealt with US trick or treating, especially in urban/suburban areas. The Callahans giving out those awful "circus peanut" things to trick-or-treaters? Man, that's a good way to ensure your house/car getting soaped or toilet-papered; those things are considered the worst, lowest-level "old people" candy to give out, even back when I was a kid. Getting pennies is better. Even getting boxes of RAISINS was better.
Peeps are usually an Easter thing, for Easter baskets -- I've seen the Halloween versions, but they aren't sold in big-enough bulk packages for US trick or treating. Most folks don't make up treat bags, either (as the Callahans are shown to do). In communities of any size, folks just buy bags of pre-wrapped, trick-treat-size candy & hand it out piecemeal, as-is -- it's waaaayyy too much work to sort out candy for the hordes you're likely to get, and it's common for parents to drive groups of kids around to various neighborhoods to get bigger candy hauls.
Duane shows parents ferrying kids from house to house, but around here, the kids go on foot thru the neighborhood, then get in the car to go to another neighborhood. And most communities limit the trick-or-treating hours: three hours is usually it.
But, again, they're small quibbles, things that'll make US readers go "huh?", but don't detract from the wonderful weirdness of the tale. Our Wizards go out trick or treating, see the awesomeness of a haunted house done by Senior Wizards, and then end up in the middle of a zombie invasion. Duane is an awesome writer. You fall in love with her characters, you want to keep reading, and unlike too damn many other series, the Young Wizards books keep being great reads, keep being awesome, and there's no sign of the boredom-rot that usually strikes long-running series.
Duane avoids that because she lets her characters grow and change and learn. She handles the hard stuff. She's not afraid to handle situations and problems that are real, right alongside the fantastic -- she follows the rules of her universe out to their logical end, no matter how mundane or heartbreaking. Her wizards handle a zombie invasion, but can't get a mustache to stick on a costume (conservation of energy!).
Ok, I'm ranting. Too long a review for a short story. TL;DR -- it's awesome, it's fun, read it, and try not to wince about Kit and Rolan actually liking those awful peanut things.
One other small thing: Duane does bring up that jack-o-lanterns were initially carved out of turnips. My husband tried carving a jack-o-turnip one year. Never again: it was like trying to chip petrified wood. No wonder the US Samhain'ers moved to pumpkins: no more major blood loss!
(and I firmly believe Duane could've kept the original Apple II computer in "High Wizardry" -- easy enough to claim that wizards nudged our technology along a bit to catch up with what's-laughingly-called-real-life).
I cried my eyes out over "Deep Wizardry"; I was ecstatic when Duane picked the series back up with "A Wizard Abroad". I didn't like the idea of the series being rewritten to catch up with the tech -- you will only pry my yellowed, crumbling original paperbacks from my cold dead fingers -- but, ok, I know, life moves on, the decade-long gap in the tale needed explaining & fixing to keep up, and I'm still reading and loving where this series has gone, is going, and is still to go.
With "Patch", we've got Nita, Kit, Ronan, & Dairine taking on Halloween, trick or treating, and one helluva zombie invasion. I ADORE Dairine having an OMIGOD I WANT ONE TOO lightsaber; it's about time the Star Wars fanatic peeps back out of her character again. (Seriously, was I the only one who thought it was a slumming Luke Skywalker who helped her at the Crossings in "High Wizardry"? Being in backasswards southwest Ohio, I'd never heard of Dr Who until the 2000s!) Kit dressing up as Captain Jack Sparrow who can't get his mustache to stay on -- HAH.
I did have a quibble with Nita's costume -- dear gods, Halloween in New York, and she's wearing Burroughs-style female Martian garb?? Wizard or not, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Even in the debauchery of the Athens OH/Ohio University Halloween chaos, not even the sorority girls wanted to freeze various body parts off with skimpy costumes. Though maybe Nita's built up a massive cold tolerance from all the galactic planet-hopping...?
Still...BRRRRRRRRRRR.
Small quibble, though. Second small quibble is over things that show Duane hasn't lived in the US for a while & definitely hasn't dealt with US trick or treating, especially in urban/suburban areas. The Callahans giving out those awful "circus peanut" things to trick-or-treaters? Man, that's a good way to ensure your house/car getting soaped or toilet-papered; those things are considered the worst, lowest-level "old people" candy to give out, even back when I was a kid. Getting pennies is better. Even getting boxes of RAISINS was better.
Peeps are usually an Easter thing, for Easter baskets -- I've seen the Halloween versions, but they aren't sold in big-enough bulk packages for US trick or treating. Most folks don't make up treat bags, either (as the Callahans are shown to do). In communities of any size, folks just buy bags of pre-wrapped, trick-treat-size candy & hand it out piecemeal, as-is -- it's waaaayyy too much work to sort out candy for the hordes you're likely to get, and it's common for parents to drive groups of kids around to various neighborhoods to get bigger candy hauls.
Duane shows parents ferrying kids from house to house, but around here, the kids go on foot thru the neighborhood, then get in the car to go to another neighborhood. And most communities limit the trick-or-treating hours: three hours is usually it.
But, again, they're small quibbles, things that'll make US readers go "huh?", but don't detract from the wonderful weirdness of the tale. Our Wizards go out trick or treating, see the awesomeness of a haunted house done by Senior Wizards, and then end up in the middle of a zombie invasion. Duane is an awesome writer. You fall in love with her characters, you want to keep reading, and unlike too damn many other series, the Young Wizards books keep being great reads, keep being awesome, and there's no sign of the boredom-rot that usually strikes long-running series.
Duane avoids that because she lets her characters grow and change and learn. She handles the hard stuff. She's not afraid to handle situations and problems that are real, right alongside the fantastic -- she follows the rules of her universe out to their logical end, no matter how mundane or heartbreaking. Her wizards handle a zombie invasion, but can't get a mustache to stick on a costume (conservation of energy!).
Ok, I'm ranting. Too long a review for a short story. TL;DR -- it's awesome, it's fun, read it, and try not to wince about Kit and Rolan actually liking those awful peanut things.
One other small thing: Duane does bring up that jack-o-lanterns were initially carved out of turnips. My husband tried carving a jack-o-turnip one year. Never again: it was like trying to chip petrified wood. No wonder the US Samhain'ers moved to pumpkins: no more major blood loss!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2013
Read my full review at wadingthoughbooks.wordpress.com!
Diane Duane is one of my favourite authors, and this is a great addition to her Young Wizards universe. Even on a holiday, wizards can’t have a day off from fighting evil.All they can do is defeat it as quickly as they can and go back to their candy. Told with Duane’s characteristic quick wit, this story really emphasizes that saving the world is all in a night’s work for these young wizards, even though it is a job that they will never take lightly or for granted. And remember, pumpkins are people too. Well, they are if you’re a wizard with a specialty in talking to plants. You know what I mean.
Diane Duane is one of my favourite authors, and this is a great addition to her Young Wizards universe. Even on a holiday, wizards can’t have a day off from fighting evil.All they can do is defeat it as quickly as they can and go back to their candy. Told with Duane’s characteristic quick wit, this story really emphasizes that saving the world is all in a night’s work for these young wizards, even though it is a job that they will never take lightly or for granted. And remember, pumpkins are people too. Well, they are if you’re a wizard with a specialty in talking to plants. You know what I mean.
September 29, 2015
Possibly three and half.
December 11, 2015
Rather silly and sweet. If you like the Young Wizard books, worth reading.
November 6, 2014
A tiny, but awesome, tidbit to tide you over until the next book. Read only after Wizard of Mars.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews