Nicholas (nwhyte) wrote,
Nicholas
nwhyte

September Books 10) A Wizard Abroad, by Diane Duane

This was an early entry on my list of sf and fantasy set in Ireland, since when I've got to know its author from various sf conventions; with slight embarrassment I admit that this is the first of Diane's novels that I have actually read. It's the fourth in sequence of her successful 'Young Wizards' series, and takes her protagonist Nita Callahan to Ireland from her home in the USA to do battle with the evil Lone Power by reuniting the four ancient treasures of Ireland; there's also some relationship tension between her usual partner Kit and local boy Ronan. The author had lived long enough in Ireland by the time she wrote it to avoid the kind of Oirishry that infects most of the books on my checklist, and local readers will accept her apology for messing with the geography of County Wicklow and feel pleased that she caught the mood of the early 90s rather well. I guess the whole series now can be seen as an ancestor of both Buffy and Harry Potter, an earlyish example of the urban fantasy sub-genre. I may even look out for some of the others in the series, now that young F is approaching the target age.
Tags: bookblog 2010
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