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Young Wizards #3
High Wizardry
Nita's bratty little sister Dairine, 10, is too smart and powerful for a new wizard. Her computerized wizard manual glibly sends her off on her novice Ordeal. Kit and Nita chase her across the galaxy, trying to catch up before she gets into trouble so deep that not even her brains can rescue her.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1990
125 people are currently reading
2623 people want to read
About the author
Diane Duane
167 books2,411 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)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews
July 21, 2013
There is so much science fiction in High Wizardry, the third book in Diane Duane's wonderful Young Wizards series, that it barely counts as fantasy. Which is entirely awesome; this is the Diane Duane whose name I saw with pleasure and anticipation on those Star Trek novels of my youth, except even more cosmic. More cosmic in every possible way.
I've praised Duane's scientific/mathematical approach to magic before, but little did I know just how scientific and mathematical it was yet to become. For, as the focus shifts from Nita's and Kit's explorations of the powers and responsibilities of wizardry to Nita's astoundingly precocious and fierce little sister Dairene's, Duane adds an important new tool to the mix: computers. As in when Dairene starts investigating this amazing new world that her sister finally had to come clean about in Deep Wizardry, her version of the Wizard's Manual shows up on the family's new Apple computer, which Dairene of course already knows how to put together and program even as her parents are carefully sorting through what order in which to Read the Fine Manuals.
Lickety split, Dairene has taken the Oath (every wizard must promise to protect life and delay entropy with all his or her power, with her very life if need be) and is programming spells of genius-level complexity. The world all but quakes; the younger a wizard is, the more raw power he or she can command, and Dairene is the youngest, smartest wizard ever. The youngest, smartest wizard, with a fixation on outer space and Star Wars and finding her own Darth Vader to fight. Which means soon she is computing her way to and through outer space, with each jump getting progressively farther and farther from home until she's in another galaxy -- with her danger growing at each jump.
Nita and Kit and their mentor wizards' red and blue macaw, Picchu (wizards' pets get strange over time, and Picchu is something of a sibyl) more or less to the rescue, but by the time they catch up with Dairene, she is on the verge of having things pretty much under control. Having discovered a planet that's one giant computer chip, awakened it to sentience and taught it to create artificial life and all. You know, nothing but a thing. Except oh, there's her Darth Vader, except her Darth Vader is a million times craftier, more subtle and, yes, more powerful. Gulp. Okay, maybe a little help.
So again, it kind of drives me nuts that the Harry Potter books, with their elitism, their ugly "muggles vs magic" divides, their contempt for the world, were the ones to get popular, and these have remained as obscure as they have. In the universe next door, which I so long to visit, these got made into big CGI blockbusters and all the kids strive to emulate Nita, Kit and Dairene by cultivating their intelligence, exercising their imaginations, and thinking their way out of problems. Ah, me.
I've praised Duane's scientific/mathematical approach to magic before, but little did I know just how scientific and mathematical it was yet to become. For, as the focus shifts from Nita's and Kit's explorations of the powers and responsibilities of wizardry to Nita's astoundingly precocious and fierce little sister Dairene's, Duane adds an important new tool to the mix: computers. As in when Dairene starts investigating this amazing new world that her sister finally had to come clean about in Deep Wizardry, her version of the Wizard's Manual shows up on the family's new Apple computer, which Dairene of course already knows how to put together and program even as her parents are carefully sorting through what order in which to Read the Fine Manuals.
Lickety split, Dairene has taken the Oath (every wizard must promise to protect life and delay entropy with all his or her power, with her very life if need be) and is programming spells of genius-level complexity. The world all but quakes; the younger a wizard is, the more raw power he or she can command, and Dairene is the youngest, smartest wizard ever. The youngest, smartest wizard, with a fixation on outer space and Star Wars and finding her own Darth Vader to fight. Which means soon she is computing her way to and through outer space, with each jump getting progressively farther and farther from home until she's in another galaxy -- with her danger growing at each jump.
Nita and Kit and their mentor wizards' red and blue macaw, Picchu (wizards' pets get strange over time, and Picchu is something of a sibyl) more or less to the rescue, but by the time they catch up with Dairene, she is on the verge of having things pretty much under control. Having discovered a planet that's one giant computer chip, awakened it to sentience and taught it to create artificial life and all. You know, nothing but a thing. Except oh, there's her Darth Vader, except her Darth Vader is a million times craftier, more subtle and, yes, more powerful. Gulp. Okay, maybe a little help.
So again, it kind of drives me nuts that the Harry Potter books, with their elitism, their ugly "muggles vs magic" divides, their contempt for the world, were the ones to get popular, and these have remained as obscure as they have. In the universe next door, which I so long to visit, these got made into big CGI blockbusters and all the kids strive to emulate Nita, Kit and Dairene by cultivating their intelligence, exercising their imaginations, and thinking their way out of problems. Ah, me.
June 12, 2021
Not for Diane Duane, simplistic spells such as the ‘wingardium leviosa’ or expelliarmus, nor is she interested in summoning rain, thunder and snow, or ancestors long dead.
No, not at all, Duane takes us deep into our amazing Universe and we traverse it with stops at the Planets, we check the atmosphere, the clouds, the precipitation, the little laptop never lets us down, it now is in close connection with us, an ingrained part of us.
Diane, takes us on a wondrous journey through deep space and we encounter a 'little' black hole. The effect of the little black hole on a nearby Star and the the planet where Dairinne is standing, is described so well, that it fills you with dread.
And then the most wondrous part of it all, the climax, a planet that interacts with Dairine and the the little laptop and turns into a massive computer it self ! The wonder of it all!
Diane just did not just give me great joy but made me think, questioned my beliefs, put doubts in my mind, and I am left with 'Could it be so? Could I have been wrong all this while?'
Really got me to revaluate so many of my beliefs, something that no other other magical book has ever done. Pleasant and enjoyable though they have been but beyond that...
No, not at all, Duane takes us deep into our amazing Universe and we traverse it with stops at the Planets, we check the atmosphere, the clouds, the precipitation, the little laptop never lets us down, it now is in close connection with us, an ingrained part of us.
Diane, takes us on a wondrous journey through deep space and we encounter a 'little' black hole. The effect of the little black hole on a nearby Star and the the planet where Dairinne is standing, is described so well, that it fills you with dread.
And then the most wondrous part of it all, the climax, a planet that interacts with Dairine and the the little laptop and turns into a massive computer it self ! The wonder of it all!
Diane just did not just give me great joy but made me think, questioned my beliefs, put doubts in my mind, and I am left with 'Could it be so? Could I have been wrong all this while?'
Really got me to revaluate so many of my beliefs, something that no other other magical book has ever done. Pleasant and enjoyable though they have been but beyond that...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2018
This series continues to be nothing like what I expected. Yes, the protagonists are kids, and Dairine especially acts like a self-centered brat for much of this book. But damn, this series zigs where others would zag, and it goes at Warp 10 where others are barely making it out of the stratosphere. It's not afraid to tackle issues like death or hate, as well as self-doubt, bullying, and adolescence. The parental figures and authority figures are good people who the kids can trust and go to in times of need for guidance, not to be told what to do. And the kids learn important life lessons, like how not to strangle your little sister, or how to tell a boy you kind of like him like that, alongside the fantastical and sci-fi elements of magic and traveling the galaxy and going up against your own personal Vader. Kind of.
This book, even more than the previous two, shows that there are no limits to this world. Mars? Pah! Why stop at Mars when you can go to other side of the Unseen Universe? Who has time to worry about bra sizes when the ultimate evil is going after your little sister? This series is amazing and absurd and just a fun time all around, even when it's creeping the bejesus out of me.
I am a little disappointed that
Highly recommend!
This book, even more than the previous two, shows that there are no limits to this world. Mars? Pah! Why stop at Mars when you can go to other side of the Unseen Universe? Who has time to worry about bra sizes when the ultimate evil is going after your little sister? This series is amazing and absurd and just a fun time all around, even when it's creeping the bejesus out of me.
I am a little disappointed that
Highly recommend!
June 22, 2018
After reading the second book in the series and being utterly dissapointed (see review) I was somewhat hesitant to pick up the third book. Well, I can say I'm glad I did.
Unlike the first two books the main characters are not Kit and Nita - it's Dairine, Nita's bratty, annoying, kid sister who is far too smart for her age.
Many of the reviewers on here didn't like Dairine. I actually did. Sure she's bratty, and a know it all but beneath all that she's a good person who's navigating her way through life (and secretly wants to be like her big sister, Nita). I really enjoyed seeing her develop and learn that she's not always the smartest person in the room.
Aside from Dairine's story, Duane manages to weave in incredibly complicated wizard-esque technology (unfortunately, most of it isn't real in real life) and further expand upon the wizarding world she created in the first two books. Many of the concepts in the book will appeal to both adults and children alike. For me this is how I know a story is excellent: it can transcend across audiences and be examined at a higher level. I'm highly impressed with the complexity of these novels and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Unlike the first two books the main characters are not Kit and Nita - it's Dairine, Nita's bratty, annoying, kid sister who is far too smart for her age.
Many of the reviewers on here didn't like Dairine. I actually did. Sure she's bratty, and a know it all but beneath all that she's a good person who's navigating her way through life (and secretly wants to be like her big sister, Nita). I really enjoyed seeing her develop and learn that she's not always the smartest person in the room.
Aside from Dairine's story, Duane manages to weave in incredibly complicated wizard-esque technology (unfortunately, most of it isn't real in real life) and further expand upon the wizarding world she created in the first two books. Many of the concepts in the book will appeal to both adults and children alike. For me this is how I know a story is excellent: it can transcend across audiences and be examined at a higher level. I'm highly impressed with the complexity of these novels and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
June 27, 2009
As a geek, this will inevitably always be my favourite of the series, which makes my rating slightly less that useful here. (It should only merit 4 stars really...)
From the opening sequence (which brought back memories of our own first computer arriving!) through to the moment of the Choice, the story fairly rattles along, even if it is a bit too easy to see that the whole Nita/Kit storyline is rather redundant (other than for the "family" subtext.) But pretty much the whole of Darine's experience on the planet is fantastic and even though the outcome can never be in doubt, the journey there is genuinely thought-provoking.
And this book expands the universe quite significantly, introducing the Crossings and also expanding on the idea of the Avatar, both of which are key parts of the series in the future.
A great entry in a very consistent series.
From the opening sequence (which brought back memories of our own first computer arriving!) through to the moment of the Choice, the story fairly rattles along, even if it is a bit too easy to see that the whole Nita/Kit storyline is rather redundant (other than for the "family" subtext.) But pretty much the whole of Darine's experience on the planet is fantastic and even though the outcome can never be in doubt, the journey there is genuinely thought-provoking.
And this book expands the universe quite significantly, introducing the Crossings and also expanding on the idea of the Avatar, both of which are key parts of the series in the future.
A great entry in a very consistent series.
July 25, 2025
This is becoming needlessly messianic
In the previous two novels of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series we got to know the titular young wizards, Nita and Kit. Nita's specialty is living things and Kit's is inanimate objects such as stone and earth (which, it turns out, in the hands of a wizard such as Kit are not really inanimate at all). It was also broadly hinted that Nita's prodigy kid sister Dairine would become a wizard in the next novel. Dairine's expertise, it turns out, is computers. This was a very forward-looking idea in 1990, when personal computers were just becoming a thing. (I started a new job in 1990 and had an IBM PC XT running Windoze 2 at work.) In her acknowledgments Duane makes it clear that she was a leading-edge computer warrior.
This is a pretty exciting story. Dairine is a VERY young wizard, indeed, eleven years old, and since younger wizards are more powerful, she is a very powerful wizard. She is also, we quickly learn, extremely bright, but she has about the maturity and capacity for forethought you would expect of an eleven-year-old. When the brand new Apple IIIc+ her parents just bought arrives at the Callahan home Nita discovers that it comes with a digital copy of the Wizard's Manual preinstalled. And she's off on her ordeal.
Book 2 of the series, Deep Wizardry, was something very like a Passion Play, that is, a dramatic depiction of the suffering of Jesus Christ in the days before his crucifixion, with Nita standing in for Christ. In fact, when Dairine reads about it in her Wizard's Manuals, she refers to it as "a sort of underwater passion play". Actually, what it's really like is C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Although I'm a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, I was not and am not sure I'm up for a repeat performance.
High Wizardry doubles down on the religious allegory. Although it is not explicitly Christian, "the One", the old evil that is the principle antagonist of wizards, is clearly identified with Satan here, and one of the "higher powers" with an angel.
So, as far as I'm concerned, Young Wizards is now on probation. I'll probably read one more novel, but if it continues to go down the proselytizing route, that'll be it for me.
Blog review.
In the previous two novels of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series we got to know the titular young wizards, Nita and Kit. Nita's specialty is living things and Kit's is inanimate objects such as stone and earth (which, it turns out, in the hands of a wizard such as Kit are not really inanimate at all). It was also broadly hinted that Nita's prodigy kid sister Dairine would become a wizard in the next novel. Dairine's expertise, it turns out, is computers. This was a very forward-looking idea in 1990, when personal computers were just becoming a thing. (I started a new job in 1990 and had an IBM PC XT running Windoze 2 at work.) In her acknowledgments Duane makes it clear that she was a leading-edge computer warrior.
This is a pretty exciting story. Dairine is a VERY young wizard, indeed, eleven years old, and since younger wizards are more powerful, she is a very powerful wizard. She is also, we quickly learn, extremely bright, but she has about the maturity and capacity for forethought you would expect of an eleven-year-old. When the brand new Apple IIIc+ her parents just bought arrives at the Callahan home Nita discovers that it comes with a digital copy of the Wizard's Manual preinstalled. And she's off on her ordeal.
Book 2 of the series, Deep Wizardry, was something very like a Passion Play, that is, a dramatic depiction of the suffering of Jesus Christ in the days before his crucifixion, with Nita standing in for Christ. In fact, when Dairine reads about it in her Wizard's Manuals, she refers to it as "a sort of underwater passion play". Actually, what it's really like is C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Although I'm a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, I was not and am not sure I'm up for a repeat performance.
High Wizardry doubles down on the religious allegory. Although it is not explicitly Christian, "the One", the old evil that is the principle antagonist of wizards, is clearly identified with Satan here, and one of the "higher powers" with an angel.
So, as far as I'm concerned, Young Wizards is now on probation. I'll probably read one more novel, but if it continues to go down the proselytizing route, that'll be it for me.
Blog review.
April 20, 2014
Montana Library2Go
I read this at speed, which for me and in this case meant 375 pages in 75 minutes. I would have skipped it entirely if I weren't concerned that I might need to know about some of what happens in it for future books in the series. I actively disliked Dairine in previous books and I hated her in this one. I was hoping bad things would happen to her. I wanted her knocked down 10 or 12 pegs. I longed for her to understand that her view of herself as high-and-mighty better than everyone else practically perfect was not only false, but had led her to interact with the world in a way that was worse than useless. Straight through I kept wishing that she would suddenly have a realization that she had worked so hard at believing herself to be superior that nobody liked her, she was alone in life, friendless and merely tolerated by her family.
The computerized wizard's manual was a cheat by the author, plain and simple. Nita and Kit and every other human wizard on Earth have had to learn magic. They need practice, they need to work their way up, they need to collect objects that they wield to use their powers, etc. If Dairine had to follow the rules that Diane Duane had already set in place for wizardry, she wouldn't be able to be so reckless and idiotic about it. So she had to be provided with a shortcut. Thus the computer, which allows Dairine to do magic without really being involved in it in any way. She doesn't have to know anything, she doesn't have to understand anything, she doesn't have to think, or learn, or practice, or empathize, or collect totems, or do any of the other myriad sensible things that Duane created as aspects of the wizardry of this series. That's lazy.
More laziness: offscreen, so to speak, Kit's family was told about his wizardry for the first time, were made to properly understand it, accept it, be wary/proud, and allow him to head off for more of it, in a matter of minutes. Yeah, right. Convenient! There was one example of lazy writing after another in this book. I'm not ok with creating a world through 2 books and then just skipping right over all the natural laws and rules of that creation because they don't serve a story that wasn't worth telling in the first place. I'm also not ok with spending a couple books creating characters who are all about empathy and understanding and saving creatures and avoiding harm and only causing suffering to the antagonist and his minions...just to throw it all out the window to speed up a story that isn't very good. The Satan/fall from Heaven crap was laziness, too, and totally unnecessary.
There was nothing here I liked. After I've read book 4 and if I decide at that point to continue with the series, I'll try to remember to come back and update whether this book can be skipped without missing anything important to later books.
I read this at speed, which for me and in this case meant 375 pages in 75 minutes. I would have skipped it entirely if I weren't concerned that I might need to know about some of what happens in it for future books in the series. I actively disliked Dairine in previous books and I hated her in this one. I was hoping bad things would happen to her. I wanted her knocked down 10 or 12 pegs. I longed for her to understand that her view of herself as high-and-mighty better than everyone else practically perfect was not only false, but had led her to interact with the world in a way that was worse than useless. Straight through I kept wishing that she would suddenly have a realization that she had worked so hard at believing herself to be superior that nobody liked her, she was alone in life, friendless and merely tolerated by her family.
The computerized wizard's manual was a cheat by the author, plain and simple. Nita and Kit and every other human wizard on Earth have had to learn magic. They need practice, they need to work their way up, they need to collect objects that they wield to use their powers, etc. If Dairine had to follow the rules that Diane Duane had already set in place for wizardry, she wouldn't be able to be so reckless and idiotic about it. So she had to be provided with a shortcut. Thus the computer, which allows Dairine to do magic without really being involved in it in any way. She doesn't have to know anything, she doesn't have to understand anything, she doesn't have to think, or learn, or practice, or empathize, or collect totems, or do any of the other myriad sensible things that Duane created as aspects of the wizardry of this series. That's lazy.
More laziness: offscreen, so to speak, Kit's family was told about his wizardry for the first time, were made to properly understand it, accept it, be wary/proud, and allow him to head off for more of it, in a matter of minutes. Yeah, right. Convenient! There was one example of lazy writing after another in this book. I'm not ok with creating a world through 2 books and then just skipping right over all the natural laws and rules of that creation because they don't serve a story that wasn't worth telling in the first place. I'm also not ok with spending a couple books creating characters who are all about empathy and understanding and saving creatures and avoiding harm and only causing suffering to the antagonist and his minions...just to throw it all out the window to speed up a story that isn't very good. The Satan/fall from Heaven crap was laziness, too, and totally unnecessary.
There was nothing here I liked. After I've read book 4 and if I decide at that point to continue with the series, I'll try to remember to come back and update whether this book can be skipped without missing anything important to later books.
March 11, 2008
This is Book 3 of Diane Duane's Wizard series, and like the first two books, it is very well written, containing serious and dramatic elements, believable descriptions of wizardry, and a spiritual or philosophical element running throughout.
I think I liked the first two a bit better, though not because they were better books--I think I just preferred the adventures the main characters, Nita and Kit, went on. Also, Nita's sister Dairine is a major character in this one, and I never liked her, so that probably didn't help :-)
Still, I love the mix of science, magic, and positive messages. The technical details occasionally were over my head, but I didn't feel that they bogged down the action--instead, it seemed like the explanations made the wizardry more plausible.
The series sounds rather Harry Potter-esque, with its good vs. evil plots and young magic-makers, but it really isn't; I believe the books were written before HP, and the feel of the series is also quite different.
I think I liked the first two a bit better, though not because they were better books--I think I just preferred the adventures the main characters, Nita and Kit, went on. Also, Nita's sister Dairine is a major character in this one, and I never liked her, so that probably didn't help :-)
Still, I love the mix of science, magic, and positive messages. The technical details occasionally were over my head, but I didn't feel that they bogged down the action--instead, it seemed like the explanations made the wizardry more plausible.
The series sounds rather Harry Potter-esque, with its good vs. evil plots and young magic-makers, but it really isn't; I believe the books were written before HP, and the feel of the series is also quite different.
April 17, 2018
The MC is an over confident know-it-all whiny little brat!
She literally knows everything without needing to learn it, despite being so small.
The philosophy and life lessons that I loved so much in the second book are reduced to: the worst thing that can happen is having dogs burn in cars! Not children or other people getting killed but dogs!! And we should do anything to save those dogs!
I'm done with this series! It's just not worth my time.
Would I want my kids to read it? It's a series meant for a young audience after all.
Hell no! And I wouldn't recomend it either.
She literally knows everything without needing to learn it, despite being so small.
The philosophy and life lessons that I loved so much in the second book are reduced to: the worst thing that can happen is having dogs burn in cars! Not children or other people getting killed but dogs!! And we should do anything to save those dogs!
I'm done with this series! It's just not worth my time.
Would I want my kids to read it? It's a series meant for a young audience after all.
Hell no! And I wouldn't recomend it either.
February 13, 2022
For a third book, and a noticeably shorter installment, this sure had a LOT packed into it. It had Dairine's main story, it had Nita and Kit's story chasing after her, it had battles, it had Creation, it had 'Heaven', it had philosophy, it had space ports, it had aliens, it had...more that I won't get into... Frankly, I found the amount of material a bit daunting for one book.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Approximate Reading Time: 3.5 Hours
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Approximate Reading Time: 3.5 Hours
December 20, 2020
As with the previous two books in the series this is equally devoted to the problems of growing up and those of fighting the evil entity who opposes all good. And, not being the target audience, I didn't care much about the real life problems although I did enjoy the moments when each sister realizes the other is actually admirable. As always, Diane Duane's world building skills are amazing and the ultimate struggle with evil reveals deep inner truths that readers of any age can benefit from and find inspiring.
Currently reading
May 24, 2012This is the third of a series that I really wanted to like, enough to buy the whole set in one go – and I’m so disappointed that it didn’t work out that way. On the good side, the visit to an alien airport was fun, and briefly lifted the book, and the race of little machine creatures was cute, if a little cutesy. I'm giving it three stars because, while problematic, it wasn't bad, as such - just really not the exciting, emotionally involving children's fantasy I hoped it would be.
First of all, it reads like a narrative strung around Apple product placement. The amount of precious page space spent talking about how amazing and wonderful Apple computers are, up to and including Dairine getting a special magical Apple, is just ridiculous. And secondly, I feel like the author is constantly standing behind me telling me “Learning is good! Reading is awesome! Computers are exciting! Cool kids go to planetariums!” Even as a geeky kid who read every moment she could, I would have resented being told that in such a heavy-handed way. As an adult, it drives me up the wall.
Part of my disappointment with these books is the muddled ethical stance – really a big problem in books so didactic about ethical issues. This is most clear in the way animals are depicted. In Deep Wizardry, sea animals and fish are speech-capable “people”, but their deaths were only tragic if they were “special” ones, and the rest were killed and eaten without negatively. This problem stretched into High Wizardry. It’s not often that I would complain that characters aren’t vegetarian, but in a book which seems to value animals above human life – it is explicitly stated that killing a dog is the ultimate evil, more evil than killing *children*, and worth dying to stop – having the characters munch unconcernedly on bologna seems a bit hypocritical. Especially when they could *talk* to the animals slaughtered for it.
The worst example of this is when Dairine murders an alien – referred to as a BEM – who grasps her arm, because it “felt evil.” She does not attempt any other resolution, deliberately selecting a killing spell, and at no point is it even implied that this is anything but a perfectly moral and clever thing to do. Certainly, the murder is something she never thinks about again, her sister and friend aren’t dismayed at all by seeing footage of her do, and most of all it is not allowed to interfere with the way the narrative keeps telling us Dairine is the most good and clever and amazing girl in the entire Universe, literally the only one in billions of years to be special enough to face down the Lone Power for good.
This signals another problem: yet again, the protagonist must die to save the situation, and yet again, they don’t. It’s a cop-out that is becoming awfully repetitive in this series.
Dairine is a problem, too – she reads like a self-insert Mary Sue. She is just too smart, too self-reliant, too all-around fabulous and special to be remotely likeable. Like most Mary sues, although the original protagonists are still present in the book, Dairine completely pulls the focus of the book around her.
Worst of all, even if you get over the inherent problems with the whole “silicon planet turns itself into a sentient supercomputer” plot, it’s just all a bit dull.
I don’t think I will be finishing this series. Which is a bit sad, as Diane Duane seems like a really nice person – and I paid for it. But I’ve given it three goes now, and life is just too short.
First of all, it reads like a narrative strung around Apple product placement. The amount of precious page space spent talking about how amazing and wonderful Apple computers are, up to and including Dairine getting a special magical Apple, is just ridiculous. And secondly, I feel like the author is constantly standing behind me telling me “Learning is good! Reading is awesome! Computers are exciting! Cool kids go to planetariums!” Even as a geeky kid who read every moment she could, I would have resented being told that in such a heavy-handed way. As an adult, it drives me up the wall.
Part of my disappointment with these books is the muddled ethical stance – really a big problem in books so didactic about ethical issues. This is most clear in the way animals are depicted. In Deep Wizardry, sea animals and fish are speech-capable “people”, but their deaths were only tragic if they were “special” ones, and the rest were killed and eaten without negatively. This problem stretched into High Wizardry. It’s not often that I would complain that characters aren’t vegetarian, but in a book which seems to value animals above human life – it is explicitly stated that killing a dog is the ultimate evil, more evil than killing *children*, and worth dying to stop – having the characters munch unconcernedly on bologna seems a bit hypocritical. Especially when they could *talk* to the animals slaughtered for it.
The worst example of this is when Dairine murders an alien – referred to as a BEM – who grasps her arm, because it “felt evil.” She does not attempt any other resolution, deliberately selecting a killing spell, and at no point is it even implied that this is anything but a perfectly moral and clever thing to do. Certainly, the murder is something she never thinks about again, her sister and friend aren’t dismayed at all by seeing footage of her do, and most of all it is not allowed to interfere with the way the narrative keeps telling us Dairine is the most good and clever and amazing girl in the entire Universe, literally the only one in billions of years to be special enough to face down the Lone Power for good.
This signals another problem: yet again, the protagonist must die to save the situation, and yet again, they don’t. It’s a cop-out that is becoming awfully repetitive in this series.
Dairine is a problem, too – she reads like a self-insert Mary Sue. She is just too smart, too self-reliant, too all-around fabulous and special to be remotely likeable. Like most Mary sues, although the original protagonists are still present in the book, Dairine completely pulls the focus of the book around her.
Worst of all, even if you get over the inherent problems with the whole “silicon planet turns itself into a sentient supercomputer” plot, it’s just all a bit dull.
I don’t think I will be finishing this series. Which is a bit sad, as Diane Duane seems like a really nice person – and I paid for it. But I’ve given it three goes now, and life is just too short.
May 27, 2012
This is the third in the Young Wizards series. I quite enjoyed the first, but no more than that, and was prepared to abandon the series. However, I was persuaded to read the second, and after a mediocre first half it turned out to be wonderful - unexpectedly deep and moving for a young adult book. I bought this one at the same time, since it was about computers and therefore highly appropriate for geeky me.
Memo to all authors: technology moves on so fast that whatever current gadgets you include as part of your plot will undoubtedly be obsolete before the book hits the stores. All the references to green screens and MBasic and diskettes and ones and zeroes - they just don't age well. Much better to be vague about the details, rather than have your readers rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter only a few years later.
Rather than focus on Nita and Kit, the newbie wizards of the previous two books, this one is about younger sister Dairine, a paragon of intellect and self-taught knowledge, who becomes a wizard too, and sets off into the universe armed only with a magic computer and a frighteningly high level of self-confidence. This part of the story was quite dull, unless you like a lot of details about planets and moons and galaxies. I rather liked the inter-galactic travel terminal, though, although I rolled my eyes rather at the inexplicably helpful stranger who gets Dairine out of a jam. Even though the author explains it away with an airy handwave - sometimes people do help out strangers - it still feels like a plot cheat.
But eventually Dairine gets to somewhere more interesting, and Nita and Kit set off in pursuit and... no, honestly, this is not working for me. There a section where they're trying to think of the worst possible thing ever, and decide that, actually, burning dogs in cars is the worst, far worse than killing children or adults, and they would do absolutely anything to stop it. No, sorry, I can't subscribe to a philosophy like that. There are far worse things. Destroying entire planets, for one thing. Or stars, or galaxies, or whatever it is the Big Bad is supposed to be doing. Get a grip, people.
But then, eventually, Dairine gets to where she's going and starts doing stuff, and yes, it gets more interesting. There's a point where she's arguing logic and philosophy with a bunch of computers, essentially (not wanting to give away too much here), which is terrific and reaches the heights of 'Deep Wizardry'. But then it's back to hurling spells round, and the book lost me again. To be honest, by the time it got to the final confrontation with the Big Bad, it all got too easy. Dairine was just too powerful, and really, that's not interesting. She knows everything, she can do everything, she understands everything that's going on, and she can respond far quicker than anyone else. She didn't even have to learn how to do this stuff, she just knows, or else the computer tells her. And the whole parrot business... bleah.
I'm not really sure how this would play out for the target young adult demographic. There are some incredibly clever and imaginative ideas in here, and a lot of knowledge or research behind it. Unfortunately, I found there were just too many info-dumps explaining physics or computer theory, the magic was too easy, and the plot not interesting enough to compensate. Two stars.
Memo to all authors: technology moves on so fast that whatever current gadgets you include as part of your plot will undoubtedly be obsolete before the book hits the stores. All the references to green screens and MBasic and diskettes and ones and zeroes - they just don't age well. Much better to be vague about the details, rather than have your readers rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter only a few years later.
Rather than focus on Nita and Kit, the newbie wizards of the previous two books, this one is about younger sister Dairine, a paragon of intellect and self-taught knowledge, who becomes a wizard too, and sets off into the universe armed only with a magic computer and a frighteningly high level of self-confidence. This part of the story was quite dull, unless you like a lot of details about planets and moons and galaxies. I rather liked the inter-galactic travel terminal, though, although I rolled my eyes rather at the inexplicably helpful stranger who gets Dairine out of a jam. Even though the author explains it away with an airy handwave - sometimes people do help out strangers - it still feels like a plot cheat.
But eventually Dairine gets to somewhere more interesting, and Nita and Kit set off in pursuit and... no, honestly, this is not working for me. There a section where they're trying to think of the worst possible thing ever, and decide that, actually, burning dogs in cars is the worst, far worse than killing children or adults, and they would do absolutely anything to stop it. No, sorry, I can't subscribe to a philosophy like that. There are far worse things. Destroying entire planets, for one thing. Or stars, or galaxies, or whatever it is the Big Bad is supposed to be doing. Get a grip, people.
But then, eventually, Dairine gets to where she's going and starts doing stuff, and yes, it gets more interesting. There's a point where she's arguing logic and philosophy with a bunch of computers, essentially (not wanting to give away too much here), which is terrific and reaches the heights of 'Deep Wizardry'. But then it's back to hurling spells round, and the book lost me again. To be honest, by the time it got to the final confrontation with the Big Bad, it all got too easy. Dairine was just too powerful, and really, that's not interesting. She knows everything, she can do everything, she understands everything that's going on, and she can respond far quicker than anyone else. She didn't even have to learn how to do this stuff, she just knows, or else the computer tells her. And the whole parrot business... bleah.
I'm not really sure how this would play out for the target young adult demographic. There are some incredibly clever and imaginative ideas in here, and a lot of knowledge or research behind it. Unfortunately, I found there were just too many info-dumps explaining physics or computer theory, the magic was too easy, and the plot not interesting enough to compensate. Two stars.
February 4, 2012
This book is Awesome. With a capital A. Dairine is one of my favorite characters, and the adventure that she has reminds me of all of my favorite sci-fi books mixed together. I am amazed at the worlds that Duane has created. Everything is so expertly woven, and the plot is very fast paced. Although the story mainly revolves around two girls, I think that boys would enjoy this book too because of its high paced action. It is full of complex "theories" that make this immense magical domain believable.This book is very well written.
. With this series, I lost interest after the fifth book(Hey, that's odd. Maybe fifth books are always bad or something, because Order of the Phoenix was my least face HP book, too) mainly because it became too real. This book was not like that. In my opinion, this is the best book in the Young Wizards series other than The Book of Night with Moon, and that doesn't really count because that was about cats. Unlike the rest of the series, this book is much more sci-fi than fantasy, mainly because almost the whole thing involves being on some other planet.
I know this is a bit stereotypical, but if you consider yourself a "geek", you will most likely enjoy this book because of all the computer programming references.
Anyway, five stars.
. With this series, I lost interest after the fifth book(Hey, that's odd. Maybe fifth books are always bad or something, because Order of the Phoenix was my least face HP book, too) mainly because it became too real. This book was not like that. In my opinion, this is the best book in the Young Wizards series other than The Book of Night with Moon, and that doesn't really count because that was about cats. Unlike the rest of the series, this book is much more sci-fi than fantasy, mainly because almost the whole thing involves being on some other planet.
I know this is a bit stereotypical, but if you consider yourself a "geek", you will most likely enjoy this book because of all the computer programming references.
Anyway, five stars.
October 24, 2010
Diane Duane continues to astound me with this series. As in the previous two books, the classic archetype of Good versus Evil is played out with such raw emotion in the climax that you'll be swept right into the wizardry. While I, like protagonists Nita and Kit, find Dairine more than a little annoying at times - she managed to redeem herself substantially in this installment. I think there is a part of all of us that approaches life with cold, calculating logic and it isn't until we acknowledge our humanity and weaknesses that we can truly overcome them and turn our knowledge into a real force for good. Dang it, Ms Duane, you've made me philosophical again! Then again, its because her books resonate so deeply that I keep reading them... ;) I'm gonna have to acquire the next book in the series.
February 27, 2014
Oh crud. I think I might not be reading anything else for a little while.
I have a Leetle Wixxard addiction, and I am not sure if I need to get a life or not, or even if I want one.
Oh my god, Dairine and the turtlethings, though. Oh man.
I was absolutely delighted by this book, and by finding out that it is possible to have a younger sister character who, if powerful (a fair enough reason is provided), doesn't turn into another insufferable Dawn Summers character. Good for you, Dairi!
I would have liked a bit more with Nita and Kit, but what I did get was charming, as usual. I really enjoy their dynamic and there are some hints in this book that suggest some changes in their partnership may be coming about. Hmmmm...
Already about 50 pages into the next book. Guess I won't be working on my others for awhile. :)
I have a Leetle Wixxard addiction, and I am not sure if I need to get a life or not, or even if I want one.
Oh my god, Dairine and the turtlethings, though. Oh man.
I was absolutely delighted by this book, and by finding out that it is possible to have a younger sister character who, if powerful (a fair enough reason is provided), doesn't turn into another insufferable Dawn Summers character. Good for you, Dairi!
I would have liked a bit more with Nita and Kit, but what I did get was charming, as usual. I really enjoy their dynamic and there are some hints in this book that suggest some changes in their partnership may be coming about. Hmmmm...
Already about 50 pages into the next book. Guess I won't be working on my others for awhile. :)
February 10, 2015
It seems like every book in this series can make me cry. And yet, while full conflict and darkness, you could say that the books are mostly about joy. About life and living.
In this one, Nita's smartmouth little sister has taken the oath and become a wizard. Because of reasons, she gets a computer rather than a book as a manual. Instead of spells having to be carefully prepared and checked and so on, the computer does the calculations, making magic simple for her. Did I mention that the pain in the ass wants to be a Jedi knight as well? Oh, she does, and so of course the first thing she does is go looking for Darth Vader.
It is never wise to go searching for the Lone Power. Misadventures befall her as does genuine life-snuffing danger. Is she smart enough to solve this?
Tremendously good book.
In this one, Nita's smartmouth little sister has taken the oath and become a wizard. Because of reasons, she gets a computer rather than a book as a manual. Instead of spells having to be carefully prepared and checked and so on, the computer does the calculations, making magic simple for her. Did I mention that the pain in the ass wants to be a Jedi knight as well? Oh, she does, and so of course the first thing she does is go looking for Darth Vader.
It is never wise to go searching for the Lone Power. Misadventures befall her as does genuine life-snuffing danger. Is she smart enough to solve this?
Tremendously good book.
January 27, 2008
Nita's younger sister, Dairine, has always been precocious -- and now she's become one of the youngest and most powerful wizards out there. Now she's gone off half-cocked into the universe, and it's up to Kit and Nita to track her down before the Lone Power does.
In some ways this book was slightly dated; Dairine's Wizard's Manual takes the form of a computer, and a lot of the computer stuff is clearly primitive. Other than that, though, it's a great story.
In some ways this book was slightly dated; Dairine's Wizard's Manual takes the form of a computer, and a lot of the computer stuff is clearly primitive. Other than that, though, it's a great story.
July 29, 2016
I enjoyed this probably more than SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD but not as much as DEEP WIZARDRY. I appreciate Dairine more than I explicitly like her, so the focus on her through this was at times difficult. Since I'm more a "characters and relationships" fan than a "huge plotty world building" fan, this at times dragged a bit to me. It was reallllllly conceptually cool, though, and it definitely feels like a shifting point for the series as a whole.
January 26, 2016
My mom sent this as a book my 10 yo daughter might like. It sat there for a month before I grabbed it, just to check it out. I devoured it in 75 minutes, enjoying it immensely. My daughter loves it, too. It's just lovely, reminding me of A Wrinkle in Time and Harry Potter with more hard science thrown in.
July 9, 2016
It's a good story, but as usual it ended way too abruptly for my tastes. I want an epilogue. I want to see the explanations and the reactions of her parents and Tom and Carl to everything that's happened. For that matter, why didn't we get to meet Kit's family and see him explaining that he's a wizard? I feel cheated when it all happens off page.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2016
I am really enjoying this series.
Every book so far has been vastly different from its predecessors. This one being more sci-fi than fantasy.
Last few chapters of the book got very philosophical, much to my surprise.
Overall, I am really enjoying this series and look forward to continuing it.
Every book so far has been vastly different from its predecessors. This one being more sci-fi than fantasy.
Last few chapters of the book got very philosophical, much to my surprise.
Overall, I am really enjoying this series and look forward to continuing it.
May 23, 2018
A series with a good premise told from the POV of a whiny, bratty little girl.
July 28, 2021
The Young Wizards series has always had to balance between its blend of fantasy and science fiction. The first two books contained elements of both -- the convention of needing specific reagents for spells struck me as solidly magical, while Duane's side characters (like the memorable white hole, Ed) felt like a nod in Duane's history as a writer for Star Trek. High Wizardry is a shift decidedly in the science fiction direction, as the setting expands to allow for galaxy-wide and then intergalactic adventure. The New Millenium edition modernises the technology in the original book, which is welcome as the technology did not age well. Now, instead of a classic Macintosh, Dairine is excited about the delivery an iMac at the beginning of the book.
Duane's experience with writing science fiction is on full display here, and she focuses in this book on computers and how technology and magic can intersect and mesh. For those who like the concept of artificial intelligence and the relationship between creator and their machines, this book should be on your radar. Dairine, the sister of Nita Callahan, is the main protagonist of this novel, and she is a prodigy with a predilection for programming spells (yes, I do mean programming and not casting).
Compliments aside, this book was never going to be my favorite. Some of the conversations in this book were just too intelligent for me -- even if I allow that Dairine is a prodigy! What bothered me was the scientific concepts and the way its logic was explained. Yes, these can be a form of verbal ornamentation to tantalise the imagination, but if you get too abstract it detracts from the emotional core of a good plot. Where the science fiction elements work better for me is when they are lighter on the science - as when the book introduces us to Duane's vision of an inter-galaxy airport called The Crossings. Still, it is testament to Duane's writing that this didn't become a book I never finished. There was enough action and plot pacing to keep me going, back then and now.
Scintillating in its concepts, but maybe a tad too abstract. 4 stars.
Duane's experience with writing science fiction is on full display here, and she focuses in this book on computers and how technology and magic can intersect and mesh. For those who like the concept of artificial intelligence and the relationship between creator and their machines, this book should be on your radar. Dairine, the sister of Nita Callahan, is the main protagonist of this novel, and she is a prodigy with a predilection for programming spells (yes, I do mean programming and not casting).
Compliments aside, this book was never going to be my favorite. Some of the conversations in this book were just too intelligent for me -- even if I allow that Dairine is a prodigy! What bothered me was the scientific concepts and the way its logic was explained. Yes, these can be a form of verbal ornamentation to tantalise the imagination, but if you get too abstract it detracts from the emotional core of a good plot. Where the science fiction elements work better for me is when they are lighter on the science - as when the book introduces us to Duane's vision of an inter-galaxy airport called The Crossings. Still, it is testament to Duane's writing that this didn't become a book I never finished. There was enough action and plot pacing to keep me going, back then and now.
Scintillating in its concepts, but maybe a tad too abstract. 4 stars.
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April 6, 2024When I first read this, at 11 years old, the disappointment was crushing; you can read my review of Deep Wizardry for a sense of why. Trying it again... ugh, again. But ugh because there's so much of interest here, so many cool little extensions of what Diane Duane was doing in the first two books. I genuinely like a lot of the sci fi elements in play, and they gel immediately with the world we've come to understand in the series. The showdown with the Lone One is fucking awesome, exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to a long-gestating showdown. But it's awesome because of Nita and Kit, the characters I actually care about. Dairine, oh my gooooooooood, flames on the side of my face. I get that Duane was going for an intentionally-annoying-character-has-hidden-depths thing here, but the intentional annoyance outpaces the hidden depths by miles. I actively dislike her; worse, she's stealing precious pages away from my beloved Nita and Kit, who I dreamed of being friends with for countless hours as a kid. Maybe I'm just too close to this one to judge fairly. But I kind of hate it.
November 13, 2020
Third Young Wizards novel. Last one in the omnibus Support Your Local Wizard. Nita has confessed to her parents that she is a Wizard, something that Dairine had figured out for herself. Now she's jealous of her older sister and has been looking in Nita's wizard's manual. She may even have read the oath. When the Callahan's get a computer the next day Dairine finds a disk with more on it than could possibly be there. Her manual is not a book like the ones Nita and Kit have.
Dairine is off to Mars and farther, attracting the attention of the Lone One, getting chased, finding a silicon based planet which starts out featureless. All new wizards must face an Ordeal, and this is hers. Meanwhile Nita and Kit are worried and want to find her.
The science is Star Trek-ish (i.e. far out stuff works, first time, etc.) with magic thrown in. The resolution was also on the same level as Star Trek or Dr. Who with conversation between the hero and the evil entity during their climactic confrontation. Three and three-quarter stars.
Dairine is off to Mars and farther, attracting the attention of the Lone One, getting chased, finding a silicon based planet which starts out featureless. All new wizards must face an Ordeal, and this is hers. Meanwhile Nita and Kit are worried and want to find her.
The science is Star Trek-ish (i.e. far out stuff works, first time, etc.) with magic thrown in. The resolution was also on the same level as Star Trek or Dr. Who with conversation between the hero and the evil entity during their climactic confrontation. Three and three-quarter stars.
May 12, 2024
I love these books in theory, but sometimes I wonder how different a middle schooler's brain was back when this was first published. There were so many science terms and science situations that my brain noped out so many times. I am 100% not a science person and these books are always reminding me of that, LOL.
The adventure itself was fun and I loved that the MC's sister is now a part of their magical world, but holy hell the lingo. It was like reading A WRINKLE IN TIME all over again.
I'm continuing this series even though my brain doesn't understand half of the lingo. Also, this is starting to feel more like a teen series than middle grade one.
Happy reading!
The adventure itself was fun and I loved that the MC's sister is now a part of their magical world, but holy hell the lingo. It was like reading A WRINKLE IN TIME all over again.
I'm continuing this series even though my brain doesn't understand half of the lingo. Also, this is starting to feel more like a teen series than middle grade one.
Happy reading!
December 26, 2023
Well fuck me.
Read the first book as a kid and always had it as a nostalgic half memory. Never read more of it because only the first was in the library and I was opposed to anything but one off books. Opted to read the series after finding and rereading the first book while hoping it wasn't only good as a kid. Then I get to this book.
I wish I kept reading this series when i was a kid and first found it in the library. The first book stayed with me for decades after reading it once but this one blows it out of the water.
Read the first book as a kid and always had it as a nostalgic half memory. Never read more of it because only the first was in the library and I was opposed to anything but one off books. Opted to read the series after finding and rereading the first book while hoping it wasn't only good as a kid. Then I get to this book.
I wish I kept reading this series when i was a kid and first found it in the library. The first book stayed with me for decades after reading it once but this one blows it out of the water.
July 17, 2023
I thought I read this whole series as a kid but I'm realizing 1) there's a lot more than I suppose my library had at the time and 2) I definitely would've remembered this one if I had read it! space, aliens, robot life, epic ancient forces...
April 30, 2025
I really enjoyed this. I think it might be my favorite of the three. Dairine makes a great main character and her sheer audacity at bending the universe to her will was a lot of fun. As with the previous books, the second half was much better than the first.
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