If ever anyone asks you what exactly is the point of a site like Goodreads, do please direct them to this review. A few months ago, I read the first in this series, 'So You Want To Be A Wizard', and although I liked it, I had no great desire to read any more in the sequence. But when I posted this in my Goodreads review, a friend begged me to carry on, because this, the second book in the series, was one of her all time favourite books. So I took her advice, and you know what? I love it too. It'...

This review contains spoilers for So You Want to Be a Wizard.I remember, in my younger years, not liking this book as much as So You Want to Be a Wizard (which I’ll be referring to as SYWTBAW from now on because geez that’s a long title). My reasoning? It was “too weird.” I don’t know why humans shapeshifting into whales was “too weird” but I didn’t have a problem with humans teaming up with a celestial object and a sentient sports car to fight evil in a parallel universe. Seems like a pretty ar...

My favorite in the series. I love how Nita discovers that an offhand promise turns out to be very serious, and how the kids find it harder and harder to work around their families. There is a very dramatic storyline that left my in tears, too.

Always my favorite. Is it because transforming into a whale would be so cool?Is it because of Ed?It might just be because of Ed.But also the parrot screaming "Listen to the night!" which, is just so darn funny when it all comes down to it.

I'm torn about reviewing the rest of this series, as the simple truth is that I like the rest considerably less (although the original is quite good as well) and I haven't finished them all. They all have their moments and they're generally well-told works of fantasy in a carefully-drawn universe with consistent rules. They just don't really grab me as much as I'd like; I dig the "technobabble for magic" deal but sometimes it gets to be a bit much. And as is common in the Young Adult world the r...

Oops, I am falling absolutely in love with these little books. First off, let me say that I have been trying a "straddling" technique in reading these; I have been alternating between listening to the (fantastically charming) audiobook for my commute to work and then switching to my paperbacks (which I hastily and excitedly purchased from Orca Books in Oly for a song on store credit) for my 15-minute work breaks in order to continue the story. I can safely say that I have been impatiently shelvi...

After reading and absolutely loving the first book in the series "So You Want to be a Wizard" I just knew I had to read the second book, "Deep Wizardry". In all honesty, this book is nowhere near as good as the first. First, this book is not as creative and riveting as the first book. I mean not even in the same ball park which was extremely disappointing. While it is well written and very well researched (there are many marine biology terms used throughout the novel) the plot is just moves at

While I regretted last time around that I had not encountered Diane Duane's Young Wizards books when I was a young'un, this time around I'm pretty glad I didn't, because if I'd come across Deep Wizardry when I was the age of its two young protagonists, I would have required extensive therapy afterward. Look, I'm not going to get into this much, but man, I could have used a trigger warning becauseGIANT SQUID ATTACKS YOU GUYS.I'm having trouble breathing after just having typed those words.*Fortun...

Read my full review at wadingthroughbooks.wordpress.com!I’m finding it really interesting to read the New Millennium Editions. I’ve read all of the original editions, and the earlier ones have always felt a bit out of sync with the later books, since the nine that are currently out were written and published over 20 years. Technology has changed a great deal, and there are some details that get forgotten in between the books that Duane has fixed. For example, Nita wore glasses in the first book,...

This is one of my favorites of Diane Duane’s ‘Young Wizards’ series – not in the least because it’s full of whales! But what I love most about it is that it’s got the ‘noble sacrifice for the good of all’ scenario going on in it. With great white sharks! How cool is that?

Ah, Ed. He was the best part, but also Carl, and Tom, and Peach... I love that Nita and Kit are solid best friends and are a team. Their magic is very collaborative and I enjoy this so much.

I liked the first book very much, but this was in many ways a disappointment.First, I hope you like whales. Not just like them and hope they aren't all killed by whalers, but that you're fascinated by every little detail about them. Because if not, boy you are going to be sick of them by the end of this book. Secondly, the problems Duane had in the first book with writing the kids appropriately to their age are worse in this one. Sometimes she seems to remember they are tweens, and other times s...

Edit: I do wish the app would allow me to differentiate between the original and NME versions! Original review: One of my favourites in the series. I feel I gained perhaps a little extra insight trying to write fanfiction about Ed (for my friends, that's my Yuletide Madness 2009/10 story "Through the Echoing Dark"). I love hearing about non-human wizards, and the Song of the Twelve is nothing short of delightful in its language, conception and execution. (I love that so much, it's the origin of

I enjoyed the first book more but that is mostly because the concepts were so surprising and original. This also has original concepts but, as others have remarked, is a slower pace that is more in tune with the underwater setting. I liked this a lot and, as with the first book, found it didn't take off for me until about halfway through. Fair enough. I'm not a kid and it is written for kids. But when it takes off, brother it takes off and this adult was in for the ride. Themes of truth, sacrifi...

I'm glad I didn't give up on this series after the dissapointment of the first book because this second one is really worth reading.

These are really just so macaron-sized in reading that I couldn't help but finish another one today... Deep Wizardry picks up about a few months after the events of Book #1. While there is (for me) an annoyingly large amount of exposition and "here's what you missed on book #1" at the beginning, the book soon gets into the thick of things, and with deep pleasure.I hinted briefly at in a review of book #1 that the debut book relies on formulaic tropes. While Deep Wizardry does briefly connect on

This is my favourite book out of the whole "Young Wizards" series. I think it gets to the core of what the series is all about, i.e. the Wizard's Choice and the consequences of that choice, particularly in terms of self-sacrifice. I also like the idea of exploring a new world beneath the waves.I didn't notice any major differences in this new edition compared to the original; they mention mobile phones a few times, but mainly just to say that there's no coverage where they're staying. I think th...

As it was a long time since last I read So You Want To Be A Wizard, it's been an equally long time since I last read Deep Wizardry, and I'd actually forgotten quite a bit about what happens in this book. Revisiting it as an adult was a rather different experience, I'll say, because the themes, the questions raised (and answers those questions are given,) and the arguably-heavy-handed environmental awareness message are all things that have a greater impact and that I have a greater understanding...

I love this series. That being said, of all the books in the series, this one leaves me with the most mixed feelings. The author weaves a haunting and beautiful story, most believably, of a wizardry of the whales and the sea that must occur at the deepest part of the sea floor to contain the oldest and darkest Lone Power. The Twelve Song involves real sacrifice, "real" in the darkest and most complete sense, for in no other way can the Lone Power be conquered. Every race, country, culture and st...

A masterful sequel to the first book in the series. Got me all sentimental over a shark, too. What kept this from being a five star book was the whining of the heroine. Yes, it's definitely fair to whine over discovering that you talked yourself into a situation where you have to commit suicide, but she just does so *much* of it. And her parents. So much sneaking around, so much disbelief. I'm glad that's over with so we won't have to deal with it later in the series, but still, it was a little

This was my favorite book when I was 14. I read it so many times that I memorized large chunks of it. I wanted to live in it. And I haven't read it since then, because I didn't want to taint the memory - so many of our childhood favorites fail to stand the test of time.But I've been craving literary comfort food, and I found this at the library again, and it seemed like time to reread it. And it's every single word as good as I remembered. It still made me cry, and dream, and ache inside in the

Out of all the books in this series that I’ve read 100 times, this one always gets to me the hardest. My advice? Have tissue handy when you read the second half

How has it taken me this long to read Diane Duane??? This was definitely a "too good, will read until I physically pass out" books

I have to admit, I don’t usually read Middle Grade fiction (is this Middle Grade? I think so. That is what I’ve been led to believe). I’m well out of the target-audience (though that alone does not often stop me), and seem to be too far past the age of having the sense of wonder that a lot of MG fiction requires for enjoyment. However, I’m taking a Writing Children’s Lit class this semester, and this book ended up in my hands. “It’s an excellent example of craft,” my professor said. “There’s als...

This may be my favorite of the series; it's certainly one of the top three, because of the emotional and moral power of the story. While on a peaceful vacation on the beach, Nita and Kit find themselves slammed into an adventure that may have deadly consequences. It's essential that the wizards of the sea re-enact the song of the twelve. If it isn't done, and isn't done right, millions of people may die. Nita and Kit volunteer to help the whales, but they have no idea what they're getting into-I...

Duane did it again. This was amazing. It didn't have quite the emotional impact as the first one, but even still I was constantly on the edge of my seat, metaphorically speaking. I couldn't figure out how she was going to pull this off, how this wasn't going to all end in disaster for our heroes because Duane set up this impossible premise and committed to it. Nita and Kit may just be kids (12 and 11 in the NME, 14 and 13 in the older editions) but they prove again to be capable of understanding...

When Nita and Kit go on holiday, they're not expecting to have to save the world, but soon they find out that whale wizards live in the ocean and they need their help. A ritual that originally bound the Lone Power has to be reenacted to keep the world safe, and Nita and Kit agree to participate. But when Nita realizes she's volunteered for the part of the song that requires a sacrifice, she's terrified. But the way wizardry works and the stakes involved won't let her back out just to spare her o...

Re-read from ye olde days from when I was but a wee babe.I decided to go into these not only because Games Wizards Play is FINALLY coming out, but because I've been on a massive Tumblr roleplaying spree and decided to get in touch with my Jesse Turner muse.For those of you who are not familiar, and possibly even familiar with and just have no clue who I'm talking about, Jesse is my favorite antichrist ever. From Supernatural, this is the story of a boy forgotten. Whose powers threatened to shake...

I'm constantly surprised by how much I like Duane's "Young Wizards" books. They're deep without being sappy, hopeful without being saccharine, and fact-filled without being pedantic. Hats off to her for being able to do that.In this, the second of the series, there are lots of references to the first book and its consequences. You don't necessarily have to have read it to get this one, but it would help a lot. So Kit and Nita are on vacation, and their wizardry assignments take them into the wor...

Before there was Harry, there was Nita and Kit, two wizards. Two wizards chosen by a book, which was conveniently named "So You Want to be a Wizard" (which is also the title of the first book in this Tween/YA series by the way).In this second book in the series, Nita and Kit are vacationing at the beach with Nita's parents. Their wizardry skills are called into helping the whale community prevent a disaster. At first, saving a whale, they transfigure into whales themselves...one a sperm whale, t...