It’s here! A WIZARD ABROAD, the New Millennium Edition

by Diane Duane January 29, 2013

January 29, 2013

A Wizard Abroad New Millennium Edition cover

Teenage wizards Nita Callahan and Kit Rodriguez have been working the New York suburbs for nearly thirty years now, through nine novels’ worth of adventures. As the dawn of their fourth decade in print draws near, the long-planned updating of the Young Wizards series continues with the Ebooks Direct release of the fourth novel in the series: A Wizard Abroad.

Abroad, like So You Want to Be a Wizard (book 1 of the Young Wizards series), Deep Wizardry (book 2), and High Wizardry (book 3), now appears in a New Millennium Edition that’s been extensively edited and updated for the present century.

You can find out more about the update project as a whole here. All nine books will be updated by the end of 1Q of 2013, and all brought into alignment with the new (2008-2011-based) timeline.

A little about the story:

There’s magic across the Atlantic…

NitaCallahan’s mom and dad are beginning to get the idea that she and her fellow wizard Kit are “spending a little too much time together”. So — explaining that they want to give their daughter a little vacation from wizardry — they pack Nita off for a month-long stay with her eccentric aunt at her farm in Ireland. But this turns out to have been a bad move on Nita’s parents’ part, since Ireland is even more steeped in magical doings than the United States.

Nita, initially certain that she’s going to be bored out of her mind, soon finds that the serene beauty of the Irish landscape is deceptive. The ghosts of men and beasts and other beings — including what seem to be heroes, ancient gods, and even the Powers that Be — confront her at every turn. And her attention to strictly wizardly business during this crisis is somewhat distracted by the dark and edgy Ronan Nolan, a local teen wizard with uncomfortable secrets… and an agenda that might possibly include Nita.

Along with a group of Irish wizards both young and old, Nita and Kit (who joins her in Ireland) are drafted into an increasingly desperate battle with the Lone Power in yet another of Its many forms. The fight is a personal one, as always — but this time there’s more at stake than usual, as the ancient Enemy of life attempts to submerge the everyday Ireland in an older, more dangerous one: a place where human beings are fairy tales, and the legends and monsters of Celtic myth are a deadly reality….

Reviewers say:

“Duane seamlessly interweaves encounters with creatures from legend with glimpses of modern Irish life and teen culture… So clever and well reasoned that readers will have no trouble suspending disbelief.” (School Library Journal)

“An engaging fantastical tale… Definitely worth reading.” (Book Trust)

“Suitable for a wide range of readers. The colourful descriptions and imaginative characters create an exciting read… found it difficult to put the book down.” (Platform)

Diane Duane

Seed cake: a recipe

3 comments

Fateh January 29, 2013 - 11:28 pm

Sweeeeet! I love that you’re doing this with the books, especially since I was just getting ready for a re-read 🙂

Excellent, now just the decision as to whether to wait and get all of them as a package when they’re inevitably finished, or just go for it now… Decisions, decisions…

Also, any news on when these might be coming out in print? ‘Cause I might just wanna wait for that…

Thanks for all you do!
-Fateh

P J Evans January 30, 2013 - 11:41 pm

I do like that cover!

Darryl Brashier March 23, 2013 - 10:05 pm

When, oh when, will we see Games Wizards Play?

Comments are closed.

It’s here! A WIZARD ABROAD, the New Millennium Edition

Seed cake: a recipe

“Uchenna’s Apples”: New children’s / young adult fiction from Diane Duane

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3 comments