A Wizard Abroad (Paperback)

Ireland for a wizard is a dangerous place; it's steeped in magical powers, creatures, gateways to other worlds, and dangerously overlapping areas of old spells. And it seems that Ireland has become the center of a growing disturbance that will consume the whole world unless Nita and the other wizards of the area can come together and awaken the powers of country's sacred magic objects. And to think that Nita's parents were just sending her here for summer vacation! A wizard's work is never done.

After a bit of a dip in quality in the previous book, "High Wizardry," Diane Duane bounces back in this wonderful trip through the mythology of Ireland. Duane lives in Ireland and has extensive knowledge of the land and its legends, and she helps to create a vivid, living picture of the Emerald Isle as seen through Nita's eyes. As usual with this series, the story walks a thin line between ancient magic and modern attitude. Imagine what our world would be like if Celtic gods suddenly jumped into the middle of our cities, and you have something approaching Diane Duane's style in this book. This is, however, the most traditionally high fantasy novel of the series, with less focus on the pseudo-scientific magic background that dominates the earlier books. We're on familiar medieval fantasy ground here with the gods and spirits of Ireland (and there's a glossary to help out), and people who loved the scientific aspects of the first three novels may not enjoy this one as much. In general, however, this is one the quickest moving of all the books and the scene setting is superb.

Nita takes center stage; her sister Dairene and wizard partner Kit only appear in certain sections. Nita has grown a lot since the series started, and for the first time she faces the possibility of genuine romance with a boy -- a handsome Irish wizard named Ronan. Unfortunately for both of them, Ronan's part in the adventure might be larger than they guess.

For anyone who has enjoyed the Harry Potter novels, the entire "Young Wizards" series is highly recommended (it starts with "So You Want to Be a Wizard.") Be warned, however, that this is definitely a different kind of reading experience, and you may be hooked.

In this book Diane Duane mixes the story of wizardry that began in "So You Want to Be a Wizard" with myths and legends of Ireland in an effective and intriguing way. An ancient ritual must be re-enacted to return the land to rest. In order to perform the ritual certain artifacts must be recovered. However, some of the artifacts have gone missing, perhaps forever. How can they be recovered in time to perform the necessary ritual? Along the way Nita must visit dangerous parallel worlds where she can easily become killed, and where ultimately many of those who are part of the ancient ritual will become killed.

I prefer this fourth book in the series over the first three. There is a chance to explore Nita's character in more depth along with her maturity into womanhood. The mixture of her newly created Young Wizards mythology with the mythology of Ireland is interesting and fascinating. The story is complex, and thus occasionally confusing to the unfocused reader, but a reader captivated by the story will be well rewarded with Diane Duane's best story in this series to date. Well worth five stars.

This story stands reasonably well by itself. However, I recommend reading at least the first story in the series, "So You Want to Be a Wizard," and preferably the second story, "Deep Wizardry," prior to reading this book. Reading the third book in the series, "High Wizardry," adds little background information other than reinforcing the relationship between Nita and Kit.

PS i know I'D be jelous if i were kit!