High Wizardry

Young Wizard Series, Book 3

By: Diane Duane

Narrated by: Christina Moore

When a gifted little wizard begins experimenting with her new skills, her big sister and friend must save her from evil in this continuing fantasy series.

Young wizards Nita and Kit face their most terrifying challenge yet: Nita’s little sister, Dairine. Not only is Dairine far too smart for a ten-year-old, she also recently has become a wizard, and worse yet, a wizard with almost limitless power. When Dairine’s computerized wizard’s manual glibly sends her off on her novice adventure—her Ordeal—Kit and Nita end up chasing her across the galaxy, trying to catch up with Dairine before she gets into trouble so deep that not even her brains can rescue her.

“Duane is tops in the high adventure business. … This rollicking yarn will delight readers.”—Publishers Weekly

This audiobook includes an interview with the author.

You can listen to Diane Duane's entire Young Wizard series.©1990 Diane Duane (P)2000 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Duane is tops in the high adventure business....Deftly pairing comic and sensitive scenes, this rollicking yarn will delight readers as they watch Darine's transformation from pesky kid sister to strong-willed heroine." (Publishers Weekly)

"Christina Moore's narration imbues Darine with intelligence, impatience, and arrogance....Moore's vocal flexibility truly shines through." (AudioFile)

An exciting POV shift.

Nita's sister gets in on the action when she's suddenly able to understand the Wizard's Oath page in Nita's manual. The changed wording of the Oath took me a bit by surprise. I wonder if the wording evolves throughout different times and cultures? And something Nita thinks in regards to her father in the second book has a small payout as Harry is allowed to see a translated version of the Oath and doesn't jump at the chance to take it.

The alternating POV between Ni\ta and Dairine can be a little jarring sometimes, until you get used to it, but getting to hear Dairine's inner thoughts is very interesting, as we learn what drives her. Not one of my favorite books in the series as Dairine can be a little tiring sometimes, but still a good story.

As always, Christina Moore is a joy to listen to.

A great book!

The end of this has a wonderful interview with Diane which provides insite into her awriting and beliefs. Well worth tsricking around for.

And the series marches on....

Okay, if you've read the first two books, you're going to read this. And you're going to be surprised.

I always felt that the earlier books had a Heinlein flavor... it really comes through in this book, which adds a heavy sci-fi element to the mix.

I am still amazed at how intelligent these books are, and how much thought went into the rules of the world.

Of course, it has the compelling characters that brought us this far, and I really love what she did with Darine.

A Wonderful Series for Any Age

If you love magic and adventure any of these young wizard books is for you! they are written well enough to be read/heard on their own, but are so much enhanced by each other as a whole series.

Not My Fav.

This is what I felt like when I read this for the first time as a preteen:

One of my least favorites of the series. Dairine was one okay. She wasn't really my favorite up until now. The trouble is that taking that okay character and giving her an entire book where she's better than the other characters combined just wasn't something I was interested in.

I think I'll have to reread this particular book to see if my viewpoint has changed. I'm sure it has, and I think I'd be more willing to like Dairine because of her proficiency with computers.