magic tagged posts

House of Secrets—buy it
by Chris Columbus—at IMDb—at Wikipedia
& Ned Vizzini—his website
Recommended Ages: 12+

Without screenwriter, director, and movie producer Chris Columbus, where would your childhood be? Perhaps it would be lost in a world without such films as The Goonies, Gremlins, Adventures in Babysitting, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bicentennial Man, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and—oh, yeah!—the first two Harry Potter movies! So when the folks at HarperCollins offered MuggleNet a sneak peak at Chris Columbus’s new book—going on sale April 23, 2013—what do you think we said? Yes, please!

In this book, apparently the first in a series, the writer and director of so much of our childhood joins forces with co-author Ned Vizzini, whose books include such angsty-teen drama-comedies as Be More Chill and It’s Kind of a Funny Story (now a motion picture), as well as episodes of MTV’s Teen Wolf...

The Second Siege—buy it
by Henry H. Neff—his website
Recommended Ages: 12+

Book 2 of the “Tapestry” quartet continues with Max McDaniel’s second year at the Rowan Academy, a school for magically talented teens somewhere on the east coast of the U.S. I have already noted that Rowan has as much in common with Hogwarts as almost any school for magic. In this book, however, the apparent similarities between the two schools take a backseat to the intriguing differences between them. Not that we get to see much of what goes on in the classroom, this year. Max and his frail, vulnerable, yet super-sorcerous roommate David Menlo miss most of the school year between one perilous adventure overseas and another to the world of the Sidh (which I take to be something like Faerie), where they spend more time than passes in our world...

The Golem’s Eye—buy it
by Jonathan Stroud—his website
Recommended Ages: 13+

If a boxed set of Harry Potter were to fall through the looking-glass, what came out the other side might be a lot like the “Bartimaeus Trilogy,” of which this is Book 2. The fantasy world in this series is somewhat of a bizarro, backward-land version of Harry’s wizarding world, which forms a secret enclave within the present-day world of us ordinary muggles. In Bartimaeus’ world, the British empire is openly run by magicians, while the majority of the population—dismissively called “commoners”—toils in a condition not far above slavery. The press and the schools feed them a steady diet of pro-magician propaganda. The scales of justice are rigged in favor of the magicians. The security and police forces keep the people too frightened to rise up, including an elite squad of werewolves known as the Night Police—without even the ironic touch of a silent K...

Ghost Story—buy it
by Jim Butcher—his website
Recommended Ages: 14+

Book 13 of (so far) 14 in “The Dresden Files” finds Harry Dresden—detective, wizard, guardian of all things Chicago—tasked with solving his own murder. It’s not easy, being dead. When you’re only a shade of your former self—an intangible, invisible, inaudible presence made up of memories, thoughts, and a pinch of will—there isn’t much you can do. Even with loads of raw magical power, you’re limited to spells that affect denizens of the spiritual world. Unless… well, there are a couple of exceptions. Having friends who can see (or at least hear) dead people, for example. Friends like “ectomancer” Mortimer Lundquist, who doesn’t even need a magically doctored walkie-talkie to converse with ghosts, and who is the first person who seems even remotely capable of helping Harry...

Spirits in the Park—buy it
by Scott Mebus—his website
Recommended Ages: 12+

In Book 2 of the trilogy titled “Gods of Manhattan”—which started with the book by the same name—young Rory Hennessy takes big strides toward fulfilling his destiny as the last surviving Light in the city, county, and state of New York. This sentence immediately confronts me with the problem that there is so much to explain, just so you can understand what I’m talking about as I try to describe this book, that I could very well say, “Read no further until you have read Gods of Manhattan.” There’s a lot to be said for doing so. This trilogy is really a most unique fantasy concept, and its complex layering of magical problems and solutions bears witness to a lot of intricate planning on its author’s part. I’m not sure I can do it justice in a paragraph or less. But I’m going to give it my best effort anyway. Brace yourself.

The fundamental idea of “Gods of Manhattan” is that people who have left a strong ...

MuggleNet thanks Cinda Chima, author of the “Heir Chronicles” and the “Seven Realms” novels, for graciously agreeing to let this star-struck reviewer interview her.

For those of you tuning in late, the “Heir Chronicles” is (so far) a trilogy consisting of the books The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, and The Dragon Heir. Set in a variant of our present-day world, these books dramatize the conflict between five “guilds” of magically gifted people, known as Weir. Wizards and warriors are only the tip of the iceberg in a teen fantasy filled with danger, battles, betrayal, and sacrifice. Readers of all ages can enjoy this exciting series, as my parents can bear witness—once I started reading it to them, they couldn’t get enough! As you will see below, there is more to come in this series.

The “Seven Realms” series, meanwhile, boasts four books to-date: The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, and The Crimson Crown...

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Her website

Recommended Age: Adult with crossover appeal, 15+

The first in a series of adult novels that are filled to the brim with details that place the magical world directly in to modern day Oxford. The story of reluctant witch and keen academic of alchemy, Diana Bishop, begins in the dusty and mysterious setting of the Bodleian library. For those missing Hogwarts these libraries feel wonderfully familiar. Likewise fans of Pullman’s Lyra will get a chance to explore more of the city, running and rowing through this antiquated world. And fans of conspiracies in Wicked will enjoy the magical plotting.

In the library Harkness brings the four species of creature into direct contact; human, witch, vampire and demon. When vampire Matthew de Clermont spies Diana using magic, their paths become crossed with consequences only few with the gift of presight could have foreseen.

The book is woven together with a cast of intriguing supporting  char...

The Scarecrow and His Servant—buy it
by Philip Pullman—his website
Recommended Age: 10+

This book by the author of The Firework-Maker’s Daughter and The Ruby in the Smoke combines a fairy-tale concept with elements of the picaresque novel. That is to say, it presents a hero from humble origins, making his way through a corrupt world in a series of funny, ironic adventures. Seemingly set in Italy around the time of the Napoleonic wars, this story pokes fun at the foibles of people in an age quite different from our own – but not so different that we don’t feel the satire poking at us!

The Scarecrow of the title – Lord Scarecrow to you – comes to life one stormy night, and immediately sets out to make his fortune. From the first step of his journey, he is followed by a loyal and honest boy named Jack, whose wits are often the only thing between Lord Scarecrow and disaster...

The Ogre Downstairs—buy it
by Diana Wynne Jones—her website
Recommended Age: 10+

This is a delightful tale, full of charm and laugh-out-loud humor. Plus, the theme of a “blended family” resonates with the personal experience of many of us.

The Brants and the McIntyres are living under one very British roof, since Mrs. Brant (a widow) married Mr. McIntyre (a divorced, single Dad). But after only a couple months, things aren’t going too smoothly. Sally, the mother of Caspar, Johnny, and Gwinny, was swept off her feet by Jack, father of Douglas and Malcolm. Only the kids weren’t swept off their feet, either by their new stepparents or by their new stepsiblings.

Forced to share a crowded house with surly older brother Douglas and sneering twerp Malcolm, the Brant kids start calling their stepfather “the Ogre” because he is apallingly sensitive to noise, messes, and other things that happen when kids are around...

So You Want to Be a Wizard—buy it
by Diane Duane—her website
Recommended Age: 12+

This 1983 book is the first of nine books in the Young Wizards series, which in many ways should be right up your alley (if you like Harry Potter, that is). The author is a prolific science fiction writer who has contributed a number of books to the growing list of Star Trek titles, as well as the Net Force series co-authored by Tom Clancy, and other interesting-sounding series including Doors and Cat Wizards. The Horn Book justly compares this book to Diana Wynne Jones-style magic and Madeleine L’Engle-style science and metaphysics. I would add that the innocence, youthfulness, courage and sacrifice in this story bears comparison to J. K. Rowling. But Duane crafts a completely unique kind of young wizard tale. Jones’ wizardry usually inhabits a fantasy world, and L’Engle’s combines melodramatic teen romance with sophisticated science-fiction concepts...