So You Want to Be a Wizard
core novel 1983 Young Wizards
Record
| First published | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.85 (28,444 ratings, collected 2026-08-21) |
| Page count | 323 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780385293051 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
So You Want to Be a Wizard, first novel in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, introduces thirteen-year-old Nita Callahan, who, while hiding from bullies in her local public library, discovers an unusual book shelved among ordinary career-advice titles that turns out to be a manual teaching the art of wizardry. Taking the Wizard's Oath described within, Nita finds herself paired with a fellow young wizard, Kit Rodriguez, and the two begin exploring the strange new responsibilities and dangers that come with their power. Following an early spell together, Nita and Kit are drawn into a perilous alternate version of New York City, a dark mirror of their own hometown shaped by the influence of a great destructive force known to wizards as the Lone Power.
Where it sits
- Universe: Young Wizards
- Series: Young Wizards core; position 1 of 10 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Diane Duane
Notes
- From the series record (Young Wizards): A further main-sequence novel has been announced under a working title but not yet published as of the latest update.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Young Wizards: position 1 of 10: next Deep Wizardry (1985)
Sources
← Young Wizards dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.