Young Wizards
#3884.01 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 10 books Status Ongoing 1983–present Reading commitment High Diane Duane Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Overview
Young Wizards is a ten-book series by Diane Duane following young people who discover they can become wizards and are drawn into a cosmic struggle against entropy and an ancient force of destruction known as the Lone Power. Beginning with So You Want to Be a Wizard in 1983 and continuing through Games Wizards Play in 2016, the series follows Nita Callahan and Kit Rodriguez as they take the Wizard's Oath and confront threats ranging from a dying star to interdimensional creatures, with their magic system built around a formal, almost scientific "Wizard's Manual" rather than incantation for its own sake. The series is notable for treating entropy itself, rather than a single villain, as the recurring cosmic antagonist, and for grounding its young protagonists' magic in genuine scientific curiosity about how the universe works. Duane has continued to revise and re-release earlier volumes to keep the series' technology and references current for new readers.
Portal fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (10 works) counts toward ranking
Young Wizards Diane Duane
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | So You Want to Be a Wizard | 1983 | 1 | core | 3.85 (28,444 ratings) |
 | Deep Wizardry | 1985 | 2 | core | 4.05 (16,836 ratings) |
 | High Wizardry | 1990 | 3 | core | 4.06 (11,355 ratings) |
 | A Wizard Abroad | 1993 | 4 | core | 4.02 (11,807 ratings) |
 | The Wizard's Dilemma | 2001 | 5 | core | 4.07 (8,357 ratings) |
 | A Wizard Alone | 2002 | 6 | core | 4.03 (6,813 ratings) |
 | Wizard's Holiday | 2003 | 7 | core | 4.09 (7,269 ratings) |
 | Wizards at War | 2005 | 8 | core | 4.18 (5,723 ratings) |
 | A Wizard of Mars | 2010 | 9 | core | 4.13 (3,258 ratings) |
 | Games Wizards Play | 2016 | 10 | core | 4.26 (1,539 ratings) |
A further main-sequence novel has been announced under a working title but not yet published as of the latest update.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Young Wizards? Young Wizards's Core Canon is 10 books.
- What is the reading order for Young Wizards? Publication order, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Young Wizards finished? Ongoing (1983–present).
- How much reading does Young Wizards take? High reading commitment (estimated from 10 Core Canon books · ~4,353 pages).
- How is Young Wizards ranked? #388 in this site's official ranking, based on 101,401 reader ratings across 10 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #388?
Ranked #388 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.01 across 10 core books.
- Backed by 101k reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.85 to 4.26.
- Less than 0.01 behind #387, The Singing Hills Cycle (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 10 books · Ongoing · 101k ratings · Ranks #388 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running portal fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (10 Core Canon books)
- So You Want to Be a Wizard (1983)
- Deep Wizardry (1985)
- High Wizardry (1990)
- A Wizard Abroad (1993)
- The Wizard's Dilemma (2001)
- A Wizard Alone (2002)
- Wizard's Holiday (2003)
- Wizards at War (2005)
- A Wizard of Mars (2010)
- Games Wizards Play (2016)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what Young Wizards and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- Tales of Magic Portal fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.00
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.01 across 101,401 ratings on 10 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Young Wizards admitted accepted 2026-08-21
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-21
Rule: Core Canon is the ten main-sequence novels published so far.