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The Wizards Trilogy #1
Wizard Chase
The first book in the Wizards Trilogy. Until he was 13, Gerrald did not know there was a place called Kimyra. He had not met a walacatoon, a scraler or even a ribek. Then one day he went after a cat in a cave and his life changed forever. The skinny kid was suddenly the leader of alien trekkers on a quest to steal the eyes of a dragon. He would soon discover there was something more powerful than magic, myth or mysticism--and only he knew its name.
- GenresFantasy
296 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2000
13 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Rick Just
27 books17 followersI am a native Idahoan who grew up on a ranch along the Blackfoot River. I am a former Marine, a whitewater kayaker, a sculptor, a sports car buff and the alpha male of my mutt pack.
As a student, I served as editor of Boise State University's nationally acclaimed literary magazine, cold-drill. My undergraduate degree from BSU is in English/Communication. I also have a Masters of Public Administration from Boise State.
During Idaho's Centennial, I wrote and produced the official Centennial radio series, "Idaho Snapshots," which aired daily on stations statewide. The program won the Governor's Take Pride in Idaho award and was honored in the national Take Pride in America program. My book of the same name contains about half the programs from the radio series.
My young adult books, Wizard Chase , Wizard Girl and Wizards' End are one, two and three of the Wizards Trilogy. My adult novel Keeping Private Idaho takes a wry look at the xenophobia that occasionally pops up in the Gem State. I was the editor of "100 Years, Idaho and its Parks" the centennial history of Idaho's state parks system.
I am the past president of the Presto Preservation Association and the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals. I have served on the boards of the Learning Lab and ANSER Charter School and am a member of the Idaho Writers Guild.
As a student, I served as editor of Boise State University's nationally acclaimed literary magazine, cold-drill. My undergraduate degree from BSU is in English/Communication. I also have a Masters of Public Administration from Boise State.
During Idaho's Centennial, I wrote and produced the official Centennial radio series, "Idaho Snapshots," which aired daily on stations statewide. The program won the Governor's Take Pride in Idaho award and was honored in the national Take Pride in America program. My book of the same name contains about half the programs from the radio series.
My young adult books, Wizard Chase , Wizard Girl and Wizards' End are one, two and three of the Wizards Trilogy. My adult novel Keeping Private Idaho takes a wry look at the xenophobia that occasionally pops up in the Gem State. I was the editor of "100 Years, Idaho and its Parks" the centennial history of Idaho's state parks system.
I am the past president of the Presto Preservation Association and the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals. I have served on the boards of the Learning Lab and ANSER Charter School and am a member of the Idaho Writers Guild.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 24, 2014
Thank you Rick Just for making bedtime so easy! All I had to do was remind them that story time had started and was wasting and they jumped into bed, begging me to start reading. Since I had the kindle version I was able to read to them with the lights out which made them fall asleep much faster. (Not that anyone could fall asleep during this story though.)
This story has everything you could possibly hope for in a kids story. Starts out with an awkward preteen who experiences the most socially embarrassing event of his life. And though, I could have done without having to explain that part, it was nice to watch him go from basically a social outcast to a confident young man, which happens by the end of the book.
All the characters he meets in his travel were unusual and clearly described in such a way that they were easy to picture. When one of the characters gets trapped and later taken from them, it was difficult not to worry about him. My girls and I quickly found ourselves really loving the small cast of friendly characters and enjoyed seeing how even the ones less sure stepped up and found themselves along the way.
I also liked the message that "everyone will contribute". Even the traitor helped to save everyone before announcing their betrayal and fleeing. So many great discussions arose while reading this book. We had to pause the story many times to address the various issues. In my opinion that is one thing I always love finding in a children's book, topics that open up good discussions. The betrayal was only one of many. And I liked how it played a key part in the story. It was also nice to have a little subtle warning about it from the 'good' wizard before she sent them off. My kids didn't notice it, but it was enough to form her 'voice' while reading. Though there were a couple of parts were it was difficult to tell who was talking and to get to the end of a sentence or two, only to realize I'd used the wrong voice. But with all the excitement, we didn't really mind.
I also loved how the main character kept trying to figure stuff out, but the answer to any questions he asked was always "magic". It was fun to see this frustrate him and his internal dialogue about it reminded me of how some people prefer to 'stick their heads in the sand' while sometimes, some people will look for a better solution or a real explanation. This seemed to be one of the main messages of the book and it was a good one. Then, at the end, when all the "magic" is finally explained, he tries to share it with others, but since they are more the ostrich types, he doesn't have much success. We got several really in depth discussions with that whole line of thought. This would make a great book to read to your kids on a long journey, where you can stop and discuss things every so often. There were several times, when our designated story time had to be extended a little later, since the chapter ended on a cliff hanger. But even those, were really good discussions. It was also fun to read a leading paragraph and see if one of my kids could figure out who would appear next or what the plan might be. This book really gets you thinking.
This is an intense book, so if you're kids like more mellow, happy stuff, I'd steer clear for a few years. However, if your kids enjoy really getting sucked into a good story, I'd recommend this one.
The ending was...extremely emotional. My 9 year old was bawling before we even got to the last two chapters. It was a little hard to get through. There is a really sad goodbye that has to be gone through and then the main character is told he can never return. I liked the ending, but even I was crying at the last paragraph.
We actually started the second in this series first (it was a free read for my kindle, which is how I even found this one) but once I realized that (about halfway through that one) we switched to this one and started reading it first. Now we've got 9 chapters left in the second one and are all excited to start the third. This book is an entire story. It has a very clear ending and wraps everything up very nicely. So far, a favorite series of ours. I would recommend reading them in order, but it's not a must.
This story has everything you could possibly hope for in a kids story. Starts out with an awkward preteen who experiences the most socially embarrassing event of his life. And though, I could have done without having to explain that part, it was nice to watch him go from basically a social outcast to a confident young man, which happens by the end of the book.
All the characters he meets in his travel were unusual and clearly described in such a way that they were easy to picture. When one of the characters gets trapped and later taken from them, it was difficult not to worry about him. My girls and I quickly found ourselves really loving the small cast of friendly characters and enjoyed seeing how even the ones less sure stepped up and found themselves along the way.
I also liked the message that "everyone will contribute". Even the traitor helped to save everyone before announcing their betrayal and fleeing. So many great discussions arose while reading this book. We had to pause the story many times to address the various issues. In my opinion that is one thing I always love finding in a children's book, topics that open up good discussions. The betrayal was only one of many. And I liked how it played a key part in the story. It was also nice to have a little subtle warning about it from the 'good' wizard before she sent them off. My kids didn't notice it, but it was enough to form her 'voice' while reading. Though there were a couple of parts were it was difficult to tell who was talking and to get to the end of a sentence or two, only to realize I'd used the wrong voice. But with all the excitement, we didn't really mind.
I also loved how the main character kept trying to figure stuff out, but the answer to any questions he asked was always "magic". It was fun to see this frustrate him and his internal dialogue about it reminded me of how some people prefer to 'stick their heads in the sand' while sometimes, some people will look for a better solution or a real explanation. This seemed to be one of the main messages of the book and it was a good one. Then, at the end, when all the "magic" is finally explained, he tries to share it with others, but since they are more the ostrich types, he doesn't have much success. We got several really in depth discussions with that whole line of thought. This would make a great book to read to your kids on a long journey, where you can stop and discuss things every so often. There were several times, when our designated story time had to be extended a little later, since the chapter ended on a cliff hanger. But even those, were really good discussions. It was also fun to read a leading paragraph and see if one of my kids could figure out who would appear next or what the plan might be. This book really gets you thinking.
This is an intense book, so if you're kids like more mellow, happy stuff, I'd steer clear for a few years. However, if your kids enjoy really getting sucked into a good story, I'd recommend this one.
The ending was...extremely emotional. My 9 year old was bawling before we even got to the last two chapters. It was a little hard to get through. There is a really sad goodbye that has to be gone through and then the main character is told he can never return. I liked the ending, but even I was crying at the last paragraph.
We actually started the second in this series first (it was a free read for my kindle, which is how I even found this one) but once I realized that (about halfway through that one) we switched to this one and started reading it first. Now we've got 9 chapters left in the second one and are all excited to start the third. This book is an entire story. It has a very clear ending and wraps everything up very nicely. So far, a favorite series of ours. I would recommend reading them in order, but it's not a must.
June 2, 2014
This review is for the Kindle edition ebook.
Disclosure: I was asked to do a review of this book by the author.
A good story about wizards and dragons for all ages.
A boy falls into a lava tube, and is mysteriously transported to a different planet. Magic, wizards, dragons, and all kinds of really neat creatures await discovery in an unknown land. If he can survive long enough, he will discover the secret of magic and return to his home.
This story has all the elements good reading for teens and young adults. The language used and explanations given are very good. The author has given the plot enough twists to keep the reader involved. The readers' imagination will make the story come alive. I would have liked to see the hero a bit stronger in this story. He needs a lot of encouragement to continue on the mission.
Rick Just writes because stories are in his head, and need to come out. Good books aimed at teens and young adults can be hard to come by. This story shows the young reader that persistence can overcome the challenges in our lives, even when those challenges seem to be overpowering.
I would recommend this story to teens and young adults. It is a very well written, fun to read book. I have grabbed the next book of this series, I want to know about the hidden world of this story.
Disclosure: I was asked to do a review of this book by the author.
A good story about wizards and dragons for all ages.
A boy falls into a lava tube, and is mysteriously transported to a different planet. Magic, wizards, dragons, and all kinds of really neat creatures await discovery in an unknown land. If he can survive long enough, he will discover the secret of magic and return to his home.
This story has all the elements good reading for teens and young adults. The language used and explanations given are very good. The author has given the plot enough twists to keep the reader involved. The readers' imagination will make the story come alive. I would have liked to see the hero a bit stronger in this story. He needs a lot of encouragement to continue on the mission.
Rick Just writes because stories are in his head, and need to come out. Good books aimed at teens and young adults can be hard to come by. This story shows the young reader that persistence can overcome the challenges in our lives, even when those challenges seem to be overpowering.
I would recommend this story to teens and young adults. It is a very well written, fun to read book. I have grabbed the next book of this series, I want to know about the hidden world of this story.
November 13, 2015
When I first started reading this story...I was a little worried. When Gerrald contemplated suicide over being embarrassed, well, I didn't want to see that in this story. I am sure that a select few kids do think about it, but I didn't want to read about it in a Young Adult story.
Luckily, this is soon left behind when Gerrald leaves Earth behind and the rest of the story reads fine. A lot of the characters that Rick Just introduces are unique and fun to read about, especially Whirly and Petta. I quite enjoyed this book and all of the sticky situations this group of questers get into on their travels to Mantigore's castle.
I think young adults will enjoy the land, the characters and the story in Wizard Chase. I look forward to reading the next story, Wizard Girl, and I think kids will too.
I rated this book an 8 out of 10.
Luckily, this is soon left behind when Gerrald leaves Earth behind and the rest of the story reads fine. A lot of the characters that Rick Just introduces are unique and fun to read about, especially Whirly and Petta. I quite enjoyed this book and all of the sticky situations this group of questers get into on their travels to Mantigore's castle.
I think young adults will enjoy the land, the characters and the story in Wizard Chase. I look forward to reading the next story, Wizard Girl, and I think kids will too.
I rated this book an 8 out of 10.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews