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Wandmaker #1
The Wandmaker
Magical fiction from the author of the New York Times bestselling Wandmaker's Guidebook!
Magic is real -- and it runs in the family -- in this charming fantasy adventure about a boy who must balance his magical education with the demands of big-brotherhood, perfect for fans of Jenny Nimmo and Angie Sage.
Henry Leach wants nothing more than for magic to be real and for his little sister, Brianna, to leave him alone. Both wishes come true, but not in the way he expects.
As it turns out, Henry's family has a history with magic -- a history that dates back to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Now his father has been caught up in an evil wizard's scheme, and the last Wandmaker, Coralis, needs Henry's help to save the world. It would be a dream come true for Henry -- except that in his first act of magic, he accidentally turns his sister into a hedgehog. Oops!
Henry, Coralis, and a bristly Brianna all have to learn to work together if they're going to stop the evil wizard, cure Brianna, save Henry's dad ... and bring some magic back into the world.
Book #2 to follow in Spring 2017!
Magic is real -- and it runs in the family -- in this charming fantasy adventure about a boy who must balance his magical education with the demands of big-brotherhood, perfect for fans of Jenny Nimmo and Angie Sage.
Henry Leach wants nothing more than for magic to be real and for his little sister, Brianna, to leave him alone. Both wishes come true, but not in the way he expects.
As it turns out, Henry's family has a history with magic -- a history that dates back to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Now his father has been caught up in an evil wizard's scheme, and the last Wandmaker, Coralis, needs Henry's help to save the world. It would be a dream come true for Henry -- except that in his first act of magic, he accidentally turns his sister into a hedgehog. Oops!
Henry, Coralis, and a bristly Brianna all have to learn to work together if they're going to stop the evil wizard, cure Brianna, save Henry's dad ... and bring some magic back into the world.
Book #2 to follow in Spring 2017!
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 10, 2016
108 people are currently reading
850 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
December 26, 2016
Maybe a 2.5?
This book left me conflicted. On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall concept - that a Wandmaker would have more than one wand, depending on the type of spell that needed casting. Different materials and elements have unique magical properties or are more conducive to casting particular spells. This makes a lot of sense to me. My friend who I buddy-read this with did point out that it might be tedious to carry several wands - but I got the impression that there are general wands you can use for "every day" purposes, versus more specialized wands you would only need to pack for certain occasions.
I was also intrigued by the fact that Henry, our main character, was the seventh son of a seventh son, with a magical lineage on his mother's side. It lent believability to the fact that at 12, with no training, he appeared to have a decent, instinctual grasp on magic, as opposed to just being a boy wonder for no other reason than that he's the main character.
However, this book left me with a lot of questions. Masessa has crafted what seems like a rather large backstory and it felt like he was trying to cram it all into one book, but by giving readers only vague clues and tidbits. Throughout the whole read I had so many questions it was frustrating and as it's middle-grade, I wondered if a younger reader would be so frustrated with questions that they would put the book down, or if they'd be oblivious and keep reading.
Henry was a fair main character, though I didn't really become attached to him. His sister, Brianna, was a problem for me, as she was supposed to be eight, but fluctuated between acting like she was six or twelve. I couldn't get a solid feel for who she was and she felt like a pointless sidekick, despite apparently having some of her own power, though the adults around her neglect to think about training her for whatever reason.
The main villain in this book felt like a caricature and had little motivation for the things he did, which I found frustrating. Perhaps younger readers would find him amusing, but I like a little threat to my villains, even in middle-grade.
My biggest issue, however, was my inability to picture most of what was going on. The writing itself wasn't bad, but at the same time, I had almost no visuals in my head when any of the action scenes started up. I simply couldn't conjure up what Masessa was trying to describe and my friend had issues with this as well. It added to my overall confusion in regards to the plot.
The end was hastily wrapped up and had even more elements crammed in. I was left unsatisfied and confused. While I don't think it's a bad book, I won't be continuing on with the series.
This book left me conflicted. On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall concept - that a Wandmaker would have more than one wand, depending on the type of spell that needed casting. Different materials and elements have unique magical properties or are more conducive to casting particular spells. This makes a lot of sense to me. My friend who I buddy-read this with did point out that it might be tedious to carry several wands - but I got the impression that there are general wands you can use for "every day" purposes, versus more specialized wands you would only need to pack for certain occasions.
I was also intrigued by the fact that Henry, our main character, was the seventh son of a seventh son, with a magical lineage on his mother's side. It lent believability to the fact that at 12, with no training, he appeared to have a decent, instinctual grasp on magic, as opposed to just being a boy wonder for no other reason than that he's the main character.
However, this book left me with a lot of questions. Masessa has crafted what seems like a rather large backstory and it felt like he was trying to cram it all into one book, but by giving readers only vague clues and tidbits. Throughout the whole read I had so many questions it was frustrating and as it's middle-grade, I wondered if a younger reader would be so frustrated with questions that they would put the book down, or if they'd be oblivious and keep reading.
Henry was a fair main character, though I didn't really become attached to him. His sister, Brianna, was a problem for me, as she was supposed to be eight, but fluctuated between acting like she was six or twelve. I couldn't get a solid feel for who she was and she felt like a pointless sidekick, despite apparently having some of her own power, though the adults around her neglect to think about training her for whatever reason.
The main villain in this book felt like a caricature and had little motivation for the things he did, which I found frustrating. Perhaps younger readers would find him amusing, but I like a little threat to my villains, even in middle-grade.
My biggest issue, however, was my inability to picture most of what was going on. The writing itself wasn't bad, but at the same time, I had almost no visuals in my head when any of the action scenes started up. I simply couldn't conjure up what Masessa was trying to describe and my friend had issues with this as well. It added to my overall confusion in regards to the plot.
The end was hastily wrapped up and had even more elements crammed in. I was left unsatisfied and confused. While I don't think it's a bad book, I won't be continuing on with the series.
June 22, 2016
Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfic...
2.5 Stars
Aiming for the magically inclined, this Middle Grade urban fantasy feels like the start of a series while standing well on its own.
Wandmaker is told in third-person from multiple viewpoints, though readers spend the majority of time in the head of the primary young protagonist: Henry Leach. Henry is the 7th son of a 7th son—and from the get-go is clearly a catalyst to the larger story arc. He is kind-natured and ambitious, but largely clueless as to what he’s getting himself into. (Some may appreciate the resulting learn-as-he-goes approach taken with the storytelling.) The vocabulary usage is strong, and the subtle south-eastern Native American elements (more prominent in the 2nd half) add a unique angle of approach.
What I Liked:
The most robust part of this tale was, by far, the intricacies paid to the creation of wands—including the personalizing and variations thereof. The author initially gained notoriety with the 2006 release of The Wandmaker’s Guidebook, an interactive book and wand-assembly kit. Wandmaker seems to present as an inventive effort to back the existing guidebook with lore.
Another plus to this story was the growth of the brother/sister relationship. The progress that Henry and his younger sister make, in both a familial and complementary sense, is significant and well developed. (Which is quite the relief, as readers may spend the first third of this book wanting to throw Brianna out a window.)
What Didn’t Work For Me:
As one might guess by the cover, it’s difficult not to compare this book to Harry Potter. Although, the feel of it is closer to Fablehaven meets the American version of Harry Potter--minus the wizarding school and a large majority of the world-within-a-world. (An extra-special boy with no idea of his chosen-one status, annoying younger sister sidekick, evil magical overlord with a heinous plan, spells that go terribly wrong out of user-ignorance, etc.) Instead you get a crotchety old man in a castle, who loosely heads up a group that adamantly refers to themselves as “Wandbearers” rather than wizards.
Harry Potter IS mentioned by name and its author alluded to by the characters within this book, but primarily with the intent of emphasizing all that existing pop-culture got “wrong” about magic.
Henry Leach isn’t an orphan, though for the vast majority of this book his parents are basically a non-factor. Despite the fact that they both have been involved in the magical side of their reality, they’ve more or less left Henry to figure some distressingly dangerous things out all on his own. Initially I thought there must be a reason for this trial-by-fire parenting style, but near the end when some attempt was made by Henry’s mother to assure him she’d done the best she could, I couldn’t find the explanations for familial non-disclosure at all satisfying.
Side Note: Unfortunately, it truly chaffed at me to see yet another example of albinism being used as the prominent trait of a one-dimensional villain. The albino mutation is portrayed negatively enough in literature and pop-culture (in this reader’s opinion).
On the whole, a serviceable option for those insatiable light fantasy fans.
2.5 Stars
Aiming for the magically inclined, this Middle Grade urban fantasy feels like the start of a series while standing well on its own.
Wandmaker is told in third-person from multiple viewpoints, though readers spend the majority of time in the head of the primary young protagonist: Henry Leach. Henry is the 7th son of a 7th son—and from the get-go is clearly a catalyst to the larger story arc. He is kind-natured and ambitious, but largely clueless as to what he’s getting himself into. (Some may appreciate the resulting learn-as-he-goes approach taken with the storytelling.) The vocabulary usage is strong, and the subtle south-eastern Native American elements (more prominent in the 2nd half) add a unique angle of approach.
What I Liked:
The most robust part of this tale was, by far, the intricacies paid to the creation of wands—including the personalizing and variations thereof. The author initially gained notoriety with the 2006 release of The Wandmaker’s Guidebook, an interactive book and wand-assembly kit. Wandmaker seems to present as an inventive effort to back the existing guidebook with lore.
Another plus to this story was the growth of the brother/sister relationship. The progress that Henry and his younger sister make, in both a familial and complementary sense, is significant and well developed. (Which is quite the relief, as readers may spend the first third of this book wanting to throw Brianna out a window.)
What Didn’t Work For Me:
As one might guess by the cover, it’s difficult not to compare this book to Harry Potter. Although, the feel of it is closer to Fablehaven meets the American version of Harry Potter--minus the wizarding school and a large majority of the world-within-a-world. (An extra-special boy with no idea of his chosen-one status, annoying younger sister sidekick, evil magical overlord with a heinous plan, spells that go terribly wrong out of user-ignorance, etc.) Instead you get a crotchety old man in a castle, who loosely heads up a group that adamantly refers to themselves as “Wandbearers” rather than wizards.
Harry Potter IS mentioned by name and its author alluded to by the characters within this book, but primarily with the intent of emphasizing all that existing pop-culture got “wrong” about magic.
Henry Leach isn’t an orphan, though for the vast majority of this book his parents are basically a non-factor. Despite the fact that they both have been involved in the magical side of their reality, they’ve more or less left Henry to figure some distressingly dangerous things out all on his own. Initially I thought there must be a reason for this trial-by-fire parenting style, but near the end when some attempt was made by Henry’s mother to assure him she’d done the best she could, I couldn’t find the explanations for familial non-disclosure at all satisfying.
Side Note: Unfortunately, it truly chaffed at me to see yet another example of albinism being used as the prominent trait of a one-dimensional villain. The albino mutation is portrayed negatively enough in literature and pop-culture (in this reader’s opinion).
On the whole, a serviceable option for those insatiable light fantasy fans.
December 1, 2017
Great debut novel. I look forward to reading the second book in this series.
August 4, 2018
YA or even middle schooler's book. so feel childish. Read for a challenge. Some similarities between Harry Potter. 3.5 stars. Looks promising.
Read
November 28, 2016I really enjoyed this book because it's super funny. My favorite part is when he tryed to make his sister disapear. this book has really good twists and turns i loved it so much. I recomend this to people that mystery super funny and great hope there is a second book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
September 16, 2019I abandoned this book because I really didn't understand it. It was a little under my level of reading.
July 10, 2021
Dude that was awful like genuinely :|
December 16, 2023
I don't ever DNF books, but if I did, this would be one of them. On the back of the book, the description says "Heartfelt, funny, and imaginative, Wandmaker is sure to leave young readers spellbound." Okay, you could say it was heartfelt, the brother and sister have like two little moments, but it is not funny or imaginative. And it does specifically say young readers, it's a middle-grade book, so I'm probably a bit old for it. But that does not excuse bad writing, bad plot, bad villains, bad characters, a bad love interest that adds absolutely nothing to the story, and probably more I'm forgetting.
First of all, it's common that all books that have wizards in them like to mention Harry Potter and try to be special and sparkly and different, etc. As this book does. And I've read some great books about witches and/or wizards that aren't like Harry Potter, and some of them even do this mentioning thing too. In this book, the mentor guy, Coralis, talks about how authors are getting all the facts wrong. Even though the premise of the way magic works in this universe isn't that different from how it works in Harry Potter and other wizard-magic books. The only thing that was really actually different was the whole moon thing.
Speaking of, the bad moon??? Really? Couldn't have come up with a better name than that? "'The bad moon is on the rise, Henry.'...'Do you mean full moon?' He knew all the moon's phases, and 'bad' wasn't one of them.'" I just don't even have anything to say on that last part - it's just so ridiculous.
Another part about this kid being an idiot - Coralis was talking about how "'No more energy can be created or destroyed. It will change form... or re-manifest itself... but never disappear.' Henry's glazed look and slack jaw told him he had overestimated his audience. He needed to simplify things." This is a basic thing that you learn in, like, 6th grade. Energy cannot be created and destroyed. This kid is 11, and he's supposed to be super smart... how would he not know this. It doesn't make sense.
So, for the villains - first we have Dai She. He's a comical villain, but none of the supposed-to-be funny parts were funny, the only thing funny was how ridiculous the character was. This is not a children's cartoon, you can't have a stupid villain, unless you don't want any of the readers to worry about the hero's success at all (no matter how dumb the heroes themselves may be). But fear not, we have the real villain, the one we're actually supposed to be afraid of, but not know it at first (even though we do) - I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to be. But this guy just gets no motivation or explanation of what his real evil plan is, even in the slightest. He's just an evil shell. Speaking of, at least Dai She got those - he wanted to to get revenge on everyone. (I'm not sure exactly what the evil plan was - ...? Or ...?)
And next we have the bad love interest that adds absolutely nothing to the story. Serena. She comes along on page 271, and the second thing she says is "'I am your dream girl... figuratively, of course.'" This never gets explained...? I don't know whether she means something like a girl he's been seeing in his dreams, or if it literally just means dream girl like what you think of when you hear "dream girl." I counted, and she speaks 12 times out of 326 pages... yet they're just now randomly in love. Also, I'm pretty positive she's there with them for the rest of the story... yet she barely gets mentioned. She just stops being a character, like the author forgot that they were writing about a group of people on a journey, people who are not just NPCs and only talk when they're needed. And at the end of the book, she left for a little bit (not anything important, she just left), then they meet again, and this is what takes place "'Serena!' Henry rushed forward before skidding to an awkward stop. 'Oh for goodness' sake, Henry.' Serena closed the gap and wrapped him in a bear hug, which he eagerly returned." So, by the way she talks, like it's ridiculous that he wouldn't just hug her, you'd think that they knew each other for a while, right? That they were just such good friends that they just hug all the time. They. Just. Met. It would be so weird if he'd just hugged her without asking or anything - and it's not even like she returned from a near-death experience or anything!
Quick mention on the mom -
Near the end of the book, nearing the climax, there's a part where
As for the actual ending, Henry doesn't even save everyone. The protagonist barely does anything. And for how much the rest of the book dragged on, the ending was very rushed. And yet it almost felt too painfully long at the same time...
And, finally:
So, all in all... 0.5 stars, if I could give it that.
First of all, it's common that all books that have wizards in them like to mention Harry Potter and try to be special and sparkly and different, etc. As this book does. And I've read some great books about witches and/or wizards that aren't like Harry Potter, and some of them even do this mentioning thing too. In this book, the mentor guy, Coralis, talks about how authors are getting all the facts wrong. Even though the premise of the way magic works in this universe isn't that different from how it works in Harry Potter and other wizard-magic books. The only thing that was really actually different was the whole moon thing.
Speaking of, the bad moon??? Really? Couldn't have come up with a better name than that? "'The bad moon is on the rise, Henry.'...'Do you mean full moon?' He knew all the moon's phases, and 'bad' wasn't one of them.'" I just don't even have anything to say on that last part - it's just so ridiculous.
Another part about this kid being an idiot - Coralis was talking about how "'No more energy can be created or destroyed. It will change form... or re-manifest itself... but never disappear.' Henry's glazed look and slack jaw told him he had overestimated his audience. He needed to simplify things." This is a basic thing that you learn in, like, 6th grade. Energy cannot be created and destroyed. This kid is 11, and he's supposed to be super smart... how would he not know this. It doesn't make sense.
So, for the villains - first we have Dai She. He's a comical villain, but none of the supposed-to-be funny parts were funny, the only thing funny was how ridiculous the character was. This is not a children's cartoon, you can't have a stupid villain, unless you don't want any of the readers to worry about the hero's success at all (no matter how dumb the heroes themselves may be). But fear not, we have the real villain, the one we're actually supposed to be afraid of, but not know it at first (even though we do) - I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to be. But this guy just gets no motivation or explanation of what his real evil plan is, even in the slightest. He's just an evil shell. Speaking of, at least Dai She got those - he wanted to to get revenge on everyone. (I'm not sure exactly what the evil plan was - ...? Or ...?)
And next we have the bad love interest that adds absolutely nothing to the story. Serena. She comes along on page 271, and the second thing she says is "'I am your dream girl... figuratively, of course.'" This never gets explained...? I don't know whether she means something like a girl he's been seeing in his dreams, or if it literally just means dream girl like what you think of when you hear "dream girl." I counted, and she speaks 12 times out of 326 pages... yet they're just now randomly in love. Also, I'm pretty positive she's there with them for the rest of the story... yet she barely gets mentioned. She just stops being a character, like the author forgot that they were writing about a group of people on a journey, people who are not just NPCs and only talk when they're needed. And at the end of the book, she left for a little bit (not anything important, she just left), then they meet again, and this is what takes place "'Serena!' Henry rushed forward before skidding to an awkward stop. 'Oh for goodness' sake, Henry.' Serena closed the gap and wrapped him in a bear hug, which he eagerly returned." So, by the way she talks, like it's ridiculous that he wouldn't just hug her, you'd think that they knew each other for a while, right? That they were just such good friends that they just hug all the time. They. Just. Met. It would be so weird if he'd just hugged her without asking or anything - and it's not even like she returned from a near-death experience or anything!
Quick mention on the mom -
Near the end of the book, nearing the climax, there's a part where
As for the actual ending, Henry doesn't even save everyone. The protagonist barely does anything. And for how much the rest of the book dragged on, the ending was very rushed. And yet it almost felt too painfully long at the same time...
And, finally:
So, all in all... 0.5 stars, if I could give it that.
February 27, 2018
I loved this book because it was a lot like Harry Potter because it had wands and it had castles and magic. This book would be perfect for 5th graders who enjoy reading fantasy books. If you liked the Harry Potter series then you like this book because the Harry Potter series is a lot like this book because this book has magic, castles, and most importantly, wands. This story focuses on a boy who is named Henry Leech the 8th and he is from a long line of wizards. Will Henry defeat the evil doers? Read this book to find out.
August 1, 2021
(lowercase intended)
i was assigned this book for my summer reading this year. the other books either didn't appeal to me, or i've already read them. now take my review with a grain of salt: i'm not necessarily a fantasy lover, but i wanted to give fantasy books another go. i tried to keep the most open mind possible, but this book made it hard.
spoilers up ahead:
there were a lot of things that didn't make sense? who delivered henry's guidebook? does brianna have a connection with magic too, or is voice the only thing she can do? does brianna know when she's using voice or is it unintentional? how did malachai posses henry's dad? how did coralis and joseph know each other before this? i'm not sure if these things are explained in the sequel or not, but i felt as though these things don't need a sequel to be explained and that they should've been explained in this book.
now we need to talk about the plot. the plot, on paper, is pretty good! an ordinary boy is actually a powerful wandbearer that needs to save the world from an evil villain trying to force natural disasters to occur to conquer world domination. it's a good idea but- its all over the place. i don't know what i should focus on? i feel that books should have one main development to focus on, and then other side developments involving dai she, etc. but with this, they made dai she's evil process as prominent as henry coming to arizona. i'm glad we got some understanding on his process, but i felt some of it was unnecessary. then more characters got added such as joseph and serena? and then malachai is alive? and then randall dies? do you see what i'm saying? we arrive the climax so slowly, but then everything became crammed at the very end. in my opinion, joseph or serena should've been added in while they were traveling to arizona. this would've added more spice to part two, which was grueling to read because other than the occasional bonding fluff it was such a bore. in addition, randall needed more time inside the book. my brain becomes confused just thinking about randall's role in the story. i think that instead of getting so much time on dai she shaping the crystals and randomly torturing people in part two, we could've used that time to further develop randall. to talk more about randall's wands, his process of turning himself into a falcon, and most importantly, his fate in the urania wand. the fact that randall could've turned into a human at any time, especially while spying on viktor, and then turned back into a falcon to travel, would resolve a lot of the problems faced in the story. there must be a reason he didn't? but we never got that reason.
i see a lot of people calling this book a "Harry Potter knockoff". in a way, i somewhat agree, but i also strongly disagree. it is incredibly difficult to write a book about wands and magic and not have it compared to any of J. K. Rowling's works. i only read the first book of Harry Potter, like i said, fantasy never interested me. however, from my knowledge of the first Harry Potter book, this isn't anything like that. but then, dai she had to be there. as i was reading the description of dai she's features, i couldn't help but think, this sounds a lot like another antagonist i know. and then i remembered voldemort. the nose? being rotund? i could list more, but you can read other reviews. i don't have much of a problem with this as much as my other arguments, but i am angered about people comparing this whole plot to Harry Potter.
lastly, the difficulty level of this book. this book has a more imaginative plot, which tends to appeal to younger audiences. however, the vocabulary choice is very advanced, and so there's a sort of disconnect. you have an 11 year old protagonist, a whimsical plot, magic, and then words such as meandering, torrents, garbled, chastised, stark, and any 11-12 year old reading that just has to google it. there's nothing wrong with that, but it does confuse me. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying magic spells and wands are only for kids 12 and under, but the majority of teens aren't very interested in that. me? i'm 12, and i'll proudly admit that i did google some of these words (meandering, stark, conclave). but that just makes me wonder, who is the target audience? this isn't a complaint but more of something i'm just wondering.
so why did i give it a two if all i did was completely nark on the contents of this book? well, a book that was nothing like Harry Potter besides the villain is worth one star. plus, i enjoyed the inclusion of the dine or navajo tribes. i liked how detailed they went into the culture of the tribes and overall arizona. though the messy plot, i think the idea of the mom's paintings actually being a clue on where they needed to go was pretty cool. so, those are my nice things to say.
would i recommend this book? no. is it the worst book out there? also no. this book would go into my more disliked reads, but it isn't the worst book out there, and i do think it does depend on the reader. there are some readers out there that enjoy this kind of action where something is always happening and then the excitement of the story perhaps being further explained in a sequel. but i am not that type of reader, therefore, i would choose another book if i had the chance.
i was assigned this book for my summer reading this year. the other books either didn't appeal to me, or i've already read them. now take my review with a grain of salt: i'm not necessarily a fantasy lover, but i wanted to give fantasy books another go. i tried to keep the most open mind possible, but this book made it hard.
spoilers up ahead:
there were a lot of things that didn't make sense? who delivered henry's guidebook? does brianna have a connection with magic too, or is voice the only thing she can do? does brianna know when she's using voice or is it unintentional? how did malachai posses henry's dad? how did coralis and joseph know each other before this? i'm not sure if these things are explained in the sequel or not, but i felt as though these things don't need a sequel to be explained and that they should've been explained in this book.
now we need to talk about the plot. the plot, on paper, is pretty good! an ordinary boy is actually a powerful wandbearer that needs to save the world from an evil villain trying to force natural disasters to occur to conquer world domination. it's a good idea but- its all over the place. i don't know what i should focus on? i feel that books should have one main development to focus on, and then other side developments involving dai she, etc. but with this, they made dai she's evil process as prominent as henry coming to arizona. i'm glad we got some understanding on his process, but i felt some of it was unnecessary. then more characters got added such as joseph and serena? and then malachai is alive? and then randall dies? do you see what i'm saying? we arrive the climax so slowly, but then everything became crammed at the very end. in my opinion, joseph or serena should've been added in while they were traveling to arizona. this would've added more spice to part two, which was grueling to read because other than the occasional bonding fluff it was such a bore. in addition, randall needed more time inside the book. my brain becomes confused just thinking about randall's role in the story. i think that instead of getting so much time on dai she shaping the crystals and randomly torturing people in part two, we could've used that time to further develop randall. to talk more about randall's wands, his process of turning himself into a falcon, and most importantly, his fate in the urania wand. the fact that randall could've turned into a human at any time, especially while spying on viktor, and then turned back into a falcon to travel, would resolve a lot of the problems faced in the story. there must be a reason he didn't? but we never got that reason.
i see a lot of people calling this book a "Harry Potter knockoff". in a way, i somewhat agree, but i also strongly disagree. it is incredibly difficult to write a book about wands and magic and not have it compared to any of J. K. Rowling's works. i only read the first book of Harry Potter, like i said, fantasy never interested me. however, from my knowledge of the first Harry Potter book, this isn't anything like that. but then, dai she had to be there. as i was reading the description of dai she's features, i couldn't help but think, this sounds a lot like another antagonist i know. and then i remembered voldemort. the nose? being rotund? i could list more, but you can read other reviews. i don't have much of a problem with this as much as my other arguments, but i am angered about people comparing this whole plot to Harry Potter.
lastly, the difficulty level of this book. this book has a more imaginative plot, which tends to appeal to younger audiences. however, the vocabulary choice is very advanced, and so there's a sort of disconnect. you have an 11 year old protagonist, a whimsical plot, magic, and then words such as meandering, torrents, garbled, chastised, stark, and any 11-12 year old reading that just has to google it. there's nothing wrong with that, but it does confuse me. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying magic spells and wands are only for kids 12 and under, but the majority of teens aren't very interested in that. me? i'm 12, and i'll proudly admit that i did google some of these words (meandering, stark, conclave). but that just makes me wonder, who is the target audience? this isn't a complaint but more of something i'm just wondering.
so why did i give it a two if all i did was completely nark on the contents of this book? well, a book that was nothing like Harry Potter besides the villain is worth one star. plus, i enjoyed the inclusion of the dine or navajo tribes. i liked how detailed they went into the culture of the tribes and overall arizona. though the messy plot, i think the idea of the mom's paintings actually being a clue on where they needed to go was pretty cool. so, those are my nice things to say.
would i recommend this book? no. is it the worst book out there? also no. this book would go into my more disliked reads, but it isn't the worst book out there, and i do think it does depend on the reader. there are some readers out there that enjoy this kind of action where something is always happening and then the excitement of the story perhaps being further explained in a sequel. but i am not that type of reader, therefore, i would choose another book if i had the chance.
February 26, 2024
It was ok. Really confusing and all the secrecy was driving me crazy. Not much action and took forever for the plot to move on.
January 23, 2020
Some things are not what they seem
January 17, 2025
DNF
It is exceptionally rare that I do not finish a book. Often, I will read an entire series, once started, even if I don't particularly love the first book. However, I could not bring myself to slog through this book. On the surface, the plot was very promising, but the details were confusing and disjointed. I had a very difficult time connecting with any of the characters. It felt like way too many details and plot devices were being mashed together, and it make keeping track of them all in my mind nearly impossible. I am an adult reader who works in a middle school library, and I know that if I couldn't keep up with the disjointed pacing of this book, there is no way my students could possibly manage it. Unfortunately, I had to give up on this book, because it was just too poorly executed to keep my interest.
I wish a different author would pick up the main idea of this story and run with it in a better direction, because I love the concept of a wizard having to make his own wand.
It is exceptionally rare that I do not finish a book. Often, I will read an entire series, once started, even if I don't particularly love the first book. However, I could not bring myself to slog through this book. On the surface, the plot was very promising, but the details were confusing and disjointed. I had a very difficult time connecting with any of the characters. It felt like way too many details and plot devices were being mashed together, and it make keeping track of them all in my mind nearly impossible. I am an adult reader who works in a middle school library, and I know that if I couldn't keep up with the disjointed pacing of this book, there is no way my students could possibly manage it. Unfortunately, I had to give up on this book, because it was just too poorly executed to keep my interest.
I wish a different author would pick up the main idea of this story and run with it in a better direction, because I love the concept of a wizard having to make his own wand.
January 8, 2017
I totally judged this book by its cover, title, and description on the back! I had such high hopes...
It started somewhat strong and intriguing. Masessa created a very unique world with a great deal of backstory, but it felt like too much was being crammed into the book, and not in a very clear or well-explained manner. Like eating a meal so fast, you didn't even taste it. I had trouble visualizing quite a bit of the story and I'm an adult/avid reader--it makes me wonder/worry about the target middle-grade audience getting frustrated and giving up or, perhaps worse--just pushing through and finishing the story without really knowing what they read.
While I liked the ideas of Henry and his mentor, Grand Wand Master Coralis, the realities of these characters didn't meet my expectations. Henry's sister, Brianna, did not act like an 8-year-old (and as a school librarian, I have lots of quality time with 8-year-olds), and the main villain, Dai She (setting aside the fact that I was irritated about not being 100% certain how to pronounce his name) was not a villain to be taken seriously.
I don't enjoy giving 1-star reviews (after all, I have yet to write the next great children's/middle-grade/YA book) and, like I tell my students, just because *I* don't like a book doesn't mean that someone else won't love it. There's a reader for ever book...I just wasn't the reader for this one.
It started somewhat strong and intriguing. Masessa created a very unique world with a great deal of backstory, but it felt like too much was being crammed into the book, and not in a very clear or well-explained manner. Like eating a meal so fast, you didn't even taste it. I had trouble visualizing quite a bit of the story and I'm an adult/avid reader--it makes me wonder/worry about the target middle-grade audience getting frustrated and giving up or, perhaps worse--just pushing through and finishing the story without really knowing what they read.
While I liked the ideas of Henry and his mentor, Grand Wand Master Coralis, the realities of these characters didn't meet my expectations. Henry's sister, Brianna, did not act like an 8-year-old (and as a school librarian, I have lots of quality time with 8-year-olds), and the main villain, Dai She (setting aside the fact that I was irritated about not being 100% certain how to pronounce his name) was not a villain to be taken seriously.
I don't enjoy giving 1-star reviews (after all, I have yet to write the next great children's/middle-grade/YA book) and, like I tell my students, just because *I* don't like a book doesn't mean that someone else won't love it. There's a reader for ever book...I just wasn't the reader for this one.
February 28, 2020
it ok to start over this book will take you into a world like harry potter
January 5, 2018
Read aloud to my 11 year old. It took us a long time to read because we just didn't love it. The book had such potential! But, alas, it didn't quite live up to its possibilities. It had an interesting set of characters and a great premise, but the plot kind of rambles and never has a cohesive feel. Henry is supposed to someday be a magnificent wand master and his mentor, the cantankerous hermit-like Coralis, along with some seemingly random people (Joseph, anyone??) and a falcon, need to stop the evil Dai She, (who seemed like a parody of an evil character to me... he seemed a bit too odd and almost laughable) and I didn't really get invested in any of the characters, although I did really enjoy Brianna as a hedgehog! I have hopes that the 2nd book in the series might be better, but sadly, I don't have any desire to run out and get it.
September 26, 2018
This book ended up being so disappointing. Given the description and the beautiful cover, I thought Wandmaker might appeal to fans of Potter and Magyk. I'm not so sure. Even though I am an experienced fantasy reader, I found the writing so disjointed, I often had to slow down and reread sections just to find out who was involved in the action this time. The fact that a couple of characters were "possessed" and had two different names didn't help much. Working in Navajo (Dene) culture was interesting to a point, but some of the religious elements went on too long for my liking. In the end, I was glad I finished, but had to admit I didn't enjoy it at all.
February 5, 2021
I read this aloud with my 10 year old daughter. We both found the beginning to be slow and difficult to get into, but as the story progressed it became a lot more entertaining. I thought it was because it’s not one of my preferred genres, but she is more into fantasy and agrees with my assessment. I give it 3.5 stars. My daughter gives it 4, “especially the last three or four chapters,” she says.
April 29, 2023
Really hard to get through as there wasn't enough that hooked me in this book. If I'm hooked or interested by a book, I will be reading it every opportunity I get but this one took me over a week to finish simply because of its poor quality and that is such a shame because the concept of this book was so intriguing. I did decide to continue with this series and the second book was an improvement, but not by much.
July 29, 2018
too much back story for a J book and I just didn't find it compelling. I read half way through and then decided to skim until I had just a few chapters left. It left me generally flat. It did try to endear with some humor. It may appeal to a reader who will read anything about magic wands. I am fascinated by geology, but it didn't make the story.
June 30, 2018
O carte plina de aventura si speranta!O iubesc si sunt tare fericita ca are si o continuare(,,Ucenicul magicianului”)De-abia astept sa o citesc si pe aceea!😇😇🤩Personajul meu preferat e Henry deoarece el e curajos si puternic.
December 3, 2019
DNF
I really didn't enjoy this book, mainly because of the writing style and the characters. I felt they were bland and really didn't have any special traits. There wasn't any pizzaz to this book, and because of that I found myself not wanting to read it.
I really didn't enjoy this book, mainly because of the writing style and the characters. I felt they were bland and really didn't have any special traits. There wasn't any pizzaz to this book, and because of that I found myself not wanting to read it.
August 10, 2017
Highly recommend for Harry Potter fans. But there are lots of other elements thrown in; family, travel, the Southwest, Navajo lands and history, Monument Valley....
June 1, 2019
I barely finished this book. It was terrible. It was too choppy and very few things flowed together.
January 26, 2024
It was a dark but beautiful book
May 4, 2024
Litterally the worst. It was super boring and had me drifting into other thoughts all the time. Also put me in a reading slump both times I tried to read it.
March 7, 2019
Don’t you wish you can take back mistakes? Well, Henry Leech The Eight sure does in the novel Wandmaker, by Ed Masessa. When his younger sister Brianna, just so innocent, accidentally is caught in the fire of Henry’s first major spell! The main characters in this book are protagonists Henry, Brianna, Coralis, Henry’s mom and dad, and Antagonist Dai She. Anyways, weird things have been happening to Henry, and his family. It was just one day, Henry’s father walked in on Henry, and he asked how his magic was going, and Henry did some magic, and things just went blurry, and then things went back to clear, and his father was on the other side of the room, weird right! After that, Henry’s dad went missing, and then on some weird night, Henry’s dad showed up to get something, and Henry kept getting zapped in the leg by his wand, and then his mom started yelling at him to go upstairs, even though it was just his dad. A few days later, Henry gets a box, dropped off by a bird, and it is a wand givin to Hernry by Coralis himself.(Coralis is a famous wandmaker) So Henry did some messing around with the wand, and on accident, he made to mole rats appear. So a few days later, Henry decided that he wanted to take his mind off of things, so he went to a magic show, and the name of it is “The amazing Zeppo.” When Henry got in, he and Brianna sat in the front row, and while the amazing Zeppo was doing magic, she couldn’t take her eyes off Henry and Brianna. It turns out that she is one of Coralis’s workers, and she tells them to go to Coralis’s castle. When the two of them get there, Coralis leads them to an underground cemetery, and there are a bunch of rooms. So Caoralis tells them to go into “his office, or his place,” and Coralis starts to teach Henry major spells, and when he is doing one, Brianna accidentally interfered with it and now they can’t find her. Meanwhile all of this is happening, Dai She is trying to get to Coralis, and he finally gets to the castle, and so Dai She said that if you beat me, then I will give you back Brianna(Dai She can do pretty much everything) and so Henry accepted the challenge.
I personally really enjoyed this novel. I stayed up all night reading this book. It was full of action, adventure, and there was also some real life connections in this book. I would rate it a 4 out of 5(I never give anything a 5) because it just contained all of the things that I like in a book. The age requirement to read this book is probably 9-17, because this is definitely a book for a younger group of people. The types of people who would like this are people who like adventure, action, real life connections, and a little bit of humor.
The theme of this book, I would say, is always help someone in need. I think this is the theme, because Brianna went missing, and Henry did anything he could to save her. He had to battle a villain, be he was going to risk his own life for others. This also matters in real life, because if you aren’t there for your family, first of all, you could have consequences. You also might lose your trust in your family, they depend on you to be there. You have to love your family, they mean a lot to you. They helped raise you, and if you can’t give back, then they shouldn’t rely on you.
I personally really enjoyed this novel. I stayed up all night reading this book. It was full of action, adventure, and there was also some real life connections in this book. I would rate it a 4 out of 5(I never give anything a 5) because it just contained all of the things that I like in a book. The age requirement to read this book is probably 9-17, because this is definitely a book for a younger group of people. The types of people who would like this are people who like adventure, action, real life connections, and a little bit of humor.
The theme of this book, I would say, is always help someone in need. I think this is the theme, because Brianna went missing, and Henry did anything he could to save her. He had to battle a villain, be he was going to risk his own life for others. This also matters in real life, because if you aren’t there for your family, first of all, you could have consequences. You also might lose your trust in your family, they depend on you to be there. You have to love your family, they mean a lot to you. They helped raise you, and if you can’t give back, then they shouldn’t rely on you.
March 19, 2017
Wandmaker by Ed Masessa is a book about a kid named Henry who is gifted with a host of problems when he discovers that his ancestors were wandmakers, people with magical powers that could take what looked like an ordinary stick and infuse it with magic. Henry tries multiple times to cast spells with his new wand, but when he finally pulls one off, his little sister, Brianna, gets in the way – and she is transformed into a blue hedgehog. To try to save her, he goes on a magical journey with Wand Master Coralis, learning about his and Brianna’s powers and origins and saving the world. The book takes the concept of a magical accident and takes it to the next level, connecting it to the plot in ways many could never imagine. The book is warm, funny, and creative, and it’s a lot of fun to read.
One of my favorite characters in the story is Brianna. At the beginning of the story, Henry detests her, comparing her to a loose tooth – “attached by an invisible thread, useless for doing anything, yet refusing to go away.” Later on, just before the hedgehog transformation, Henry starts to get a hint of Brianna’s powers when she subconsciously uses them to give Henry a glass of mint tea. Henry’s inner monologue describes “a humming sound behind the words” she was saying, comparing her voice to “the musical warbling of a songbird.” Her voice is “soft yet amazingly clear,” and it takes any anger out of his mind. When he is forced to bring her to a hypnotist show at the local library, the hypnotist describes her as “strong-willed,” pointing out “how she fights me.” She’s extremely feisty – when she meets Coralis, instead of bowing down and staying quiet, she stands up to him. She calls him “the one who got us into this mess” and says, “The next time you go giving out magic potions, leave my ding-a-ling brother off your list.” When Coralis brings up Gretchen, his friend/hermit back home, she teases him about it, asking if the two are married, and sings the “sittin’ in a tree” song with their names. She and Henry start to grow closer as brother and sister, starting to listen in on Henry’s magic lessons with Coralis. During the climax,
The story is incredibly fun to read, pulling the reader in with twist after twist, a compelling villain by the name of Dai She, and the backstory of Henry’s Arizona origins and its impact on the rules of the wandmakers. The book is interesting, complex, and finishes off with an ending that promises plenty more adventure for Henry, Brianna, and Coralis. Be sure to pick this book up and try it – its excellent story and well-rounded characters make for a very satisfying read.
One of my favorite characters in the story is Brianna. At the beginning of the story, Henry detests her, comparing her to a loose tooth – “attached by an invisible thread, useless for doing anything, yet refusing to go away.” Later on, just before the hedgehog transformation, Henry starts to get a hint of Brianna’s powers when she subconsciously uses them to give Henry a glass of mint tea. Henry’s inner monologue describes “a humming sound behind the words” she was saying, comparing her voice to “the musical warbling of a songbird.” Her voice is “soft yet amazingly clear,” and it takes any anger out of his mind. When he is forced to bring her to a hypnotist show at the local library, the hypnotist describes her as “strong-willed,” pointing out “how she fights me.” She’s extremely feisty – when she meets Coralis, instead of bowing down and staying quiet, she stands up to him. She calls him “the one who got us into this mess” and says, “The next time you go giving out magic potions, leave my ding-a-ling brother off your list.” When Coralis brings up Gretchen, his friend/hermit back home, she teases him about it, asking if the two are married, and sings the “sittin’ in a tree” song with their names. She and Henry start to grow closer as brother and sister, starting to listen in on Henry’s magic lessons with Coralis. During the climax,
The story is incredibly fun to read, pulling the reader in with twist after twist, a compelling villain by the name of Dai She, and the backstory of Henry’s Arizona origins and its impact on the rules of the wandmakers. The book is interesting, complex, and finishes off with an ending that promises plenty more adventure for Henry, Brianna, and Coralis. Be sure to pick this book up and try it – its excellent story and well-rounded characters make for a very satisfying read.
February 5, 2018
So I went into this book knowing full well I shamefully have never read Harry Potter LOL but still tried my hardest with this one set on a premise of a little boy discovering his power with a magic wand…I know I know they are so similar it is silly I have not read or watched the famous wand boy and liked this book but…hey don’t judge….so I got this book during our Scholastic book fair and was drawn into the cover and thought I could booktalk this for some readers who like the Harry Potter adventure but are turned off by the length of the books as they are intimidating looking to some..This book however looks manageable and interesting and I have learned there is a Part two so readers can join in a saga with Henry Leach III a young boy discovering the secrets of his parents and his heritage deep in magic and basically efforts to save the world from evil. Okay so Henry is our unremarkable main character, who is an average kid, bad at sports and tormented by his nosey yet endearing little sister…a fairly mundane life until the day he takes interest in a wand set, after reading all he could about wands and trying to make his work he forges a connection with Coralis, an old wandmaker who joins him on his search to discover who he is and what he can do ...I liked this book with its characters and I was impressed and surprised at the narrative switches from the bad guys, the falcon and the vulture companions and each important character..there are surprising villains and Dai She is described as just a miserable guy with a truly evil side..There is all kinds of talk of energy transfer—crystals, moonbeams and just Earth resources..it was very interesting, eyeopening and okay maybe a nudge for me to read the infamous Harry but I do think young readers will be able to get with this one as I found it entertaining and fast paced, full of just enough action and plot ..I liked this, don’t know about Part Two right now but I will look into getting that at the next book fair….Next something Black History!
January 27, 2019
I read this book in order to that my son might have someone to speak to about it. Sort of a family reading club.
He was very excited about it in the beginning, despite it being a fairly hefty book. We were reading books about 1/4 to 1/2 the size when I was in the 5th and 6th grade, but in the post Harry Potter age, texts of this size seem the rule rather than the exception.
He gave up after the first few chapters. He said he had a hard time following what was happening. I must confess that I too felt it hard to keep up. There are two story lines taking place at the ame time (nothing unusual there) but they jumped between the two at seemingly odd times. This, along with the unusual names can make the story hard to keep up with for kids in the early middle grades. However it was a solid book in the sense that there was only a little snarky behavior between the kids. It was almost like the publisher made the author write these into the book. It was certainly beneath the books promise to do so.
I stuck with it until the end and it is certainly the first book in a multi volume set. It employs an interesting vehicle in terms of wands, crystals and other magical tokens, an an epic travel across many miles, but I am not sure if it lives up to its promise. We don't really learn much or perhaps enough to feel satisfied that we have an understanding of the ecosystem in which the book takes place. Perhaps in future volumes some of the unanswered questions will be addressed.
This book is certainly a piece of a larger story where more needs to be told. I would say it does a mediocre job of standing on its own. So unless you want to invest the time to read the entire series, it will likely leave you feeling like you didn't get the full story. In a contemporary environment where publishers are looking for a series of books that can produce big profits over time and not solid stand alone works of YA fiction, this is the type of book we are more often than not stuck with. I had hoped for more.
He was very excited about it in the beginning, despite it being a fairly hefty book. We were reading books about 1/4 to 1/2 the size when I was in the 5th and 6th grade, but in the post Harry Potter age, texts of this size seem the rule rather than the exception.
He gave up after the first few chapters. He said he had a hard time following what was happening. I must confess that I too felt it hard to keep up. There are two story lines taking place at the ame time (nothing unusual there) but they jumped between the two at seemingly odd times. This, along with the unusual names can make the story hard to keep up with for kids in the early middle grades. However it was a solid book in the sense that there was only a little snarky behavior between the kids. It was almost like the publisher made the author write these into the book. It was certainly beneath the books promise to do so.
I stuck with it until the end and it is certainly the first book in a multi volume set. It employs an interesting vehicle in terms of wands, crystals and other magical tokens, an an epic travel across many miles, but I am not sure if it lives up to its promise. We don't really learn much or perhaps enough to feel satisfied that we have an understanding of the ecosystem in which the book takes place. Perhaps in future volumes some of the unanswered questions will be addressed.
This book is certainly a piece of a larger story where more needs to be told. I would say it does a mediocre job of standing on its own. So unless you want to invest the time to read the entire series, it will likely leave you feeling like you didn't get the full story. In a contemporary environment where publishers are looking for a series of books that can produce big profits over time and not solid stand alone works of YA fiction, this is the type of book we are more often than not stuck with. I had hoped for more.
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