#Young Wizards ebooks
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Hi. I'm a totally blind prospective reader who can't find your Young Wizards books on Audible, likely by design. If there are audiobook versions of them, where may I acquire them, and if there aren't, where can I get ebook versions?
All the traditionally-published YW books are absolutely available on Audible! Use this URL to find them:
There are also ebook versions of the original versions of all the novels, available via Amazon and other online retailers from the original publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Alternatively, the New Millennium editions of the YW novels -- revised and updated -- are available as ebooks from Ebooks Direct (https://Ebooks.Direct). This link will lead you to the box-set offer for books 1-9:
http://bit.ly/YWBOXSETS
...HTH! :)
...ETA for those wondering why the Audible YW books aren't distributed outside of North America: It's a rights issue. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt only holds audiobook rights for the US and Canada (and as a sort of bizarre post-colonial appendix, for the Philippines). I hold rights for publication and distribution in all other markets, but no other publishers or recording entities have evinced any interest in doing them.
This of course leaves me free to do them myself... should I eventually come into that kind of money: because good audiobooks aren't cheap. (And ideally I'd like to get Christina Moore to do them, as she's done all the HMH audiobooks... but that also then becomes a matter of her availability.)
We'll have to see how all that goes. ...In any case, apologies for any disappointment
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Might fuck around and reread young wizards. We’ll see how far I get before the adhd stops me
#talking into the void#young wizards#so you want to be a wizard#will this be a lb? who knows#trying to figure out if I annotate this ebook or just lb here
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Book shelf clean out: young wizards
I loved this series! I don't know where my copy of the 1st book went but the others are on their way to the library bookstore, and I hope they find a new home there
It was hard to say bye to these books (but I plan to get the new millennium editions in ebook soon... and i need the space). I read them when I was in high school and college.
They're really excellent, set in Our World (not fantasy whatever land). They remind me in some ways of Terry Pratchett's work--not the setting or voice, but in the underlying ethos of the work. Although the characters go through difficult things (big warning for A Wizard's Dilemma), the world overall feels... kind?
More things to love about this series
Hispanic & queer representation, if you pay attention. In other, more recently-written series, these aspects of the characters might have been played up. In this series, those aspects are still present but more subtly. I actually like this because it's more fitting with my experience of the world. It also serves the story itself better and allows the characters' choices and actions to be the focus of the story.
Even in the case of the antagonists, the characters are... They extend civility and understanding to the antagonists, but they don't veer into "all-forgiving hero" territory. The story doesn't get into really black-and-white good-and-evil morality, but it isn't that tiresome "everyone sucks enjoy your undifferentiated grey." The heroes are heroic because of how they choose to treat others.
I love it when stories say "the way you treat others does matter." Kindness is repaid with kindness.
The styles of magic are cool too! I think many people have read "this character has a connection with plants and growing things" magic before. One of the other characters has a connection with mechanical and technical things! There's a scene in one of the books where he communes with, I think it's an airplane? And he can feel its eagerness to be flying, its fierce joy in speed and movement. I think that's lovely.
There are some good jokes in there, like the pig!
If you love space and astronomy, you'll probably like this series :) Especially the later books.
If you like alien cultures (and more traditional fantasy other-cultures) you'll probably like this seriies
Overall I just really enjoy these books and recommend them okay byeeee
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Hey y'all!
This is a reminder that I write fantasy books. They're cool as fuck, they deal with themes of family and antifascism and the nature of responsibility, and they also happen to be REALLY queer.
For, like, the whole first LONG part of my writing career, I was on an exclusive deal with Amazon. I wasn't allowed to publish or distribute my ebooks on other websites.
That's no longer the case. I'm free!
So, I'm putting all my books on my Patreon. That's THIRTEEN books and counting.
Full-size books, not novellas. (Nothing wrong with novellas. We love'em. Just...this is a lotta books and I need you to understand that).
Want a bi, robin-hood-meets-batgirl, young forest girl becomes master thief adventure? That's the Nightblade Epic.
Want a polyam, trans-friendly, wizard-school-meets-The-Godfather, mystery and intrigue series? That's the Academy Journals.
Want an ace-and-bi best friends, buddy revenge, monster hunter, Princess-Bride-meets-Supernatural-but-queer journey? That's Tales of the Wanderer.
Want a queer-platonic-but-also-SUCH-sapphic-yearning, reluctant chosen one, found family, mysterious past, LOTR-meets-Hot-Fuzz, heroic quest? That's the Resurrection Cycle.
And they're ALL in that post on my Patreon.
I'm trying hard to not only write my own books but publish more marginalized and underrepresented voices. I've already started. I'm planning to do a lot more.
So if you want to help make all of THAT happen...and also just, like, get thirteen new books right now...
Patreon?
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My Top Stories for 2023!
In case you missed ’em: these were my most popular works of fiction and non-fiction of the year!
It’s very nearly 2024, and it’s been a big year for me!
I’ve published so many short stories and new essays, I had a great time at EasterCon and BristolCon, and have published pieces with several new (for me!) publications on top of moving into my new apartment. I’m now based in Yorkshire instead of Ireland, and that means I’ll be attending a bunch more conventions and other events across Wales, Scotland, and England as well as still going back to Ireland from time to time.
Firstly, as a big thank you to all my supporters and to ring in the new year, I’m currently doing an end-of-2023 giveaway! Sign up here!
On 01/01/2024, I’ll be drawing a winner of the giveaway, and they’ll receive by post / mail signed copies of my paperbacks, Heart of Stone and Gerald Poole and the Pirates, vouchers for my eBooks, some badges, and some other goodies that will be contained in the parcel.
Secondly, I wanted to remind people who’ve had a little bonus or gifted money and want to treat themselves that as well as being able to subscribe for access to all reader-locked works on Medium, by any authors, for $5 USD, I have a Patreon where I publish almost all my works (barring those that might be against Patreon guidelines, of which there currently aren’t many), there is an option to pay annually on Patreon!
You can subscribe to me monthly on Patreon for access to my works at £3 / £6 / £10.50 / £17 per month — there’s no difference in the benefits of these tiers, just that you can choose to support me with a subscription for what you can afford.
If you subscribe annually on Patreon, you get a 16% discount on what you would ordinarily pay monthly, and you get full access to everything for the duration of the year’s subscription!
With that intro done, let’s get to my top 24!
My Top 12 Fiction Pieces of 2023
January 2023 — Erotic Short: Running the Table
A trans man is the favourite pocket on the pool table.
Rated E. Cis M/trans M/cis M. 4k. Featuring consent play with a prenegotiated rape roleplay, object insertion (not sanitary, not safe, just sexy), double penetration, begging, tears, size difference, age difference, lots of anal play, belly bulging.
Jock and Phineas first appeared in Centre Pocket, where Jock initially makes the threat of the pool balls.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
February 2023 — Erotic Short: Fresh Bounty
A bounty hunter takes a young wizard to the king’s court.
1.7k, rated E, cis M/trans M! Power play with a lack of negotiation, but fully consensual enthusiasm for it, cockwarming, threatened overstimulation, D/s, implications of public use, and sex on horseback!
CW for a mention of it in dirty talk, but no animals are actually abused, harmed, or looked on sexually.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
March 2023 — Erotic Short: Purpose-Built Toy
A stretchy supervillain goes up against five huge superheroes.
3.2k, rated E. Trans M/5 alien Ms with alien cocks. There is absolutely no redeeming plot features in this, it’s just horrible unrealistic porn with lots of come inflation, objectification, humiliation, and belly kink.
There are several consent issues in this fic, where the trans guy is basically being turned into a fucktoy for these aliens without anyone asking how he feels about it — with that said, he’s really into the whole thing, and absolutely does not want to opt out.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
April 2023 — Erotic Short: Slime Breeder
An elf is used as a distraction as his party fight a gigantic slime.
3.5k. A trans masc elf getting fucked from all ends by a giant slime creature, used as a seedbed by it, then played with by his variously gendered friends in the aftermath.
Mildly to very dubious consent here, but Sam is absolutely enjoying himself by the end of it — featuring a giant slime monster, aphrodisiacs, tentacle sex, encasement, choking, oviposition and egg-laying, cumflation, overstimulation, anal, oral, and vaginal penetration, objectification, lactation, milking. All that fun and beastly stuff!
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
May 2023 — Erotic Short: The Mermaid and the Fisherman
A wanderer meets a mermaid, and the two of them work to understand each other.
This short is also available for purchase on Smashwords as an eBook, and is originally from September 2020.
7.3k, rated E, M/M. A young man fleeing home has taken up residence in an old fishing cabin on the west coast of Scotland. He is observed, very closely, by a mermaid from beyond the maerl beds nearby.
Featuring cultural differences, humour, oviposition, cervix penetration, mild chem sex from the mermaid’s aphrodisiac, some rough sex, some mildly dubious consent, stuffing, belly bulge.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
June 2023 — Erotic Short: Agony and Ecstasy
An abbot takes a stranded sailor on for… personal duties.
6k, M/M, rated E! Age difference, virginity kink, some naivety, some oral and anal, first time enthusiasm.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
July 2023 — Erotic Short: The Stasis Box
A prisoner is frozen in time with his holes still accessible for the crew of a mining vessel to use.
5k, rated E, trans M/cis M but hundreds of other people. A trans twink agrees to be involved in an experiment in lieu of his year-long prison sentence — he’s placed in a stasis box, frozen in time, with his holes still accessible for the crew of a mining vessel to make use of.
This is honestly one of the most fucked-up things I’ve ever written, it goes big on the sci-fi body horror fucky horniness.
Full consent is given throughout, the twink knows what he’s in for. Featuring medical kink, fingering, anal and vaginal fingering and sex, sensitivity, time stop, big overstimulation, mind-break and ahegao, objectification, huge come inflation, gaping, come vomiting, general degradation.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
August 2023 — Erotic Short: The Interview
A workplace roleplay with age difference and some hearty degradation.
Rated E, 4k, cis M/trans M. Younger boss/older prospective employee, pre-negotiated roleplay, degradation and humiliation, daddy kink, nipple play, PIV, riding, sex in the office, casual sex, bareback. The older man is fat, but none of the degrading language is about his body or his size except for commenting on the size of his chest — the degradation primarily is about his age and assumed loneliness.
Words used for the trans man’s body are tits and chest, one comparison to a cow’s udder; cock, cunt, hole.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
September 2023 — Erotic Short: Training Toy
A cheerleader loans out his favourite toy to the football players.
3k, rated E, trans M/many cis M. Continuing on from Stuck.
A cheerleader trains up another student to be a good fucktoy, and shares him out to local football players — featuring D/s, multiple orgasms, mild bimboification vibes, training, multiple penetration, degradation, objectification, anal, vaginal, and oral, big penetrations.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
October 2023 — Erotic Short: A Gift For the Wolfmen
A young man in a brothel is invited to join a quartet of hulking wolf-like warriors.
6.4k, rated E. Two trans men, both being gangbanged by four cis wolfmen with huge cocks.
Fantasy universe with adventurers and so forth. Featuring stuck-through-wall and grope boxes, body writing, vaginal, oral, and anal play, huge come inflation, size difference, knotting, power dynamics, virginity kink, objectification and dehumanisation, degradation, humiliation, breeding kink, body modification, mentions of lactation and pregnancy, and enthusiastic consent throughout.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
November 2023 — Erotic Short: Confession and Penance
A priest takes a hands-on approach to addressing a worshiper’s poor working habits.
11k, cis M/M, rated E! Tiernan, a manipulative workaholic who only ever relaxes during Mass services, is taken aside by Father Mullen when it all gets to be a bit too much. D/s, BDSM-approach to enforcing self-care, spanking, painplay, bit of a priest kink but it doesn’t go into that aspect too much, faith. Also some anal.
Note that by definition consent’s an issue here because this is the very definition of religious abuse, especially because Tiernan is a CSA survivor and references past CSA by another priest. Content warnings for the religious abuse and references to the CSA throughout, as well as dubious consent in other sexual situations. For all that, though, the tone is generally light-hearted and is more dark humour than dark drama.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
December 2023 — Erotic Short: Knight Tactics
An elf serves as a distraction and an exhaustion tactic for a bandit camp. By letting them fuck him.
3k, trans M/loads of cocks, assumed as cis M. Amaethon gets himself stuck in a wall so that the bandits will work out their stamina fucking him rather than fighting off the king’s guard.
Stuck in wall, free use, fully (and gleefully) consensual whilst pretending he isn’t, mild belly bulging and come inflation, gaping, exhaustion, messy and come-spattered, etc. All the fun stuff.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
My Top 12 Non-Fiction Pieces of 2023
January 2023 — Fast “Who am I?”: A Fun Game to Play with Friends
A silly fun game to play rapidly with your friends and loved ones in 2023.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
February 2023 — Our Flag Means Death S01 E01: Close Textual Analysis
Examining OFMD E1: Pilot in close detail and liveblogging/analysing the text.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon / / Read on Ao3
March 2023 — Ringing The Devil’s Doorbell: A Light-Hearted, Practical Guide
Let’s talk sex! Vulvar and vaginal stimulation for fun, pleasure, and profit.
Contents:
Preface
The Anatomy of the Vulva and Vagina: the actual anatomy of the vulva, it and the vagina’s attendant parts, and how everything fits together
On Testosterone: the effects of testosterone as a HRT treatment on the vulva and vagina in the context of sexual pleasure
(I don’t have any specific advice in regards to different intersex configurations or further genital and hormonal diversity, but that section might nonetheless be semi-relevant; there’s also some notes on vaginal atrophy that might be relevant if you’re menopausal or similar)
Stimulating the Vulva and Vagina: ringing the Devil’s doorbell, dancing about in his vestibule, and then running into (then out of) (then into) (then out o — ) his house
Additional Reading: more resources and links
Read on Medium
April 2023 — The Precarity of Subscription-Based Income
We’re basically busking online. No wonder we have anxiety about it.
Read on Medium
May 2023 — The Straight Male Gaze on Pretty Male Gays
How does it feel when straight men want to fuck us?
A quick little intro — I went ham on this one. I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and it just gave me a lot of feelings.
Warnings throughout this piece for discussion of the film’s gore and violence, the homophobia both in- and out- of universe, sexual violence, homophobia in general. I use a lot of slurs in this one because I self-identify with a lot of them, and a lot of this piece is about the ways in which queer identity is weaponised and not weaponised against us.
Bon appetit.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
June 2023 — Passing Privilege: Through My Eyes, as a Trans Man Who Passes
Second puberty and the waves we send through the spaces around us.
On Medium / / On Patreon / / On Tumblr.
July 2023 — Yentl: A Trans Man Studying Talmud is Distracted by Gay Thoughts
Yentl (1983, dir. Barbra Streisand) and Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
On Medium / / On Patreon.
August 2023 — Barbie Isn’t Anti-Men — It’s Anti-Toxicity
Patriarchy does damage to us all, and Barbie (2023, dir. Greta Gerwig) clearly depicts that.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
September 2023 — Close Reading: A Deep Dive into the Process
An in-depth guide into applying analysis to a piece of text and extrapolating meaning.
A close reading is what we call an in-depth analysis of a piece of text, which might be in the case of fiction a short story, or for novels and novellas might be a portion or an extract from the text.
On Medium / / On Patreon.
October 2023 — Looking For 🍑🍆💦: A Beginner’s Guide to Grindr for Trans Men
Approaching Grindr (and cruising culture) as a trans man.
Read on Medium
November 2023 — As a Trans Man, Why Do Doctors Always Want to Get Me Pregnant?
I’m so tired of fielding questions about my “lost” fertility.
Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon
December 2023 — Uncling Duties
A selection of conversations with my friends’ cats, Kira and Bercow.
On Medium / / On Patreon.
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Kamala Khan’s bookshelves
Kamala’s room in The Marvels is an absolute treasure trove of little details to zoom in on, and I’ve identified so many books on her shelves!
Shelf 1, top to bottom:
1. Landmark Experiments in Twentieth Century Physics by George L. Trigg
College-level book about experiments that helped us learn about x-rays, lasers, isotopes, superconductors, and all kinds of other things I don’t understand. Meant to be more practical than theoretical since it talks about the actual methodologies of these experiments. Could be for school, or for Kamala and Bruno to run their own tests of Kamala’s powers. The first of many books in the Khan house that come from Dover Publications.
2. Space Time Matter by Hermann Weyl
“An esoteric initiation into space time physics” -Amazon reviewer. I’m gonna be real, I don’t understand half the words in this book description, but apparently it’s famous for introducing gauge theory, which was later reborn as phase transformations in quantum theory. I can see this being something Kamala reads to try and understand the bangle transporting her to the Partition. Also from Dover.
3. A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong
A graphic novel about a high school girl’s basketball team learning to work together despite their many differences and conflicts. Also it has a gorgeous color palette. Seems fairly self explanatory why it’s in this movie. I’ll definitely be borrowing this from my library! Like my friend Kamala recommended a book to me herself.
4. The Good Immigrant anthology edited by Nikesh Shukla
21 essays from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in the UK about their experiences. It was crowdfunded initially, extremely critically acclaimed, and has gotten spinoffs and sequels. Riz Ahmed, who is British Pakistani, is one contributor, and a fun fact is that Rish Shah (Kamran from Ms. Marvel) worked with Riz Ahmed in an Oscar winning short called The Long Goodbye. Also, the editor, Nikesh Shukla, is currently writing the Spider-Man India comics series!
5. Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam
A coming-of-age story about 3 young adults with complicated family, friend, and romantic relationships between them. They have to travel from Brooklyn to Bangladesh together one summer and thereby discover a lot about themselves. I haven’t read it, but there seems to be a ton of complex representation of LGBTQ, POC, immigrant, and Muslim characters. I wonder how much the three main characters can be compared with our three characters with complex relationships in The Marvels, and I wonder which character Kamala most relates to!
6. I can’t tell! The font is bugging the hell out of me because theoretically, with that amount of contrast, I should be able to read a word when I get two inches from the TV and mess with the settings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
7. I also can’t tell, but I’m being easier on myself because the title is written in white on a yellow background. It’s not the only book I know off the top of my head with this color scheme (Yellowface by RF Kuang) because the title is definitely multiple words. Help!
Shelf 2, right to left:
1. One Night that Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt
A YA romance where, through a convoluted series of events, a teenager must face all of her insecurities in one night. I can see Kamala devouring this as brain candy after wrestling with those advanced science books, or using it as fic inspiration!
2. Can’t tell, but love the color scheme!
This next one is a weird one, because I am 100% sure of what book it is, but I cannot find a picture of a matching edition.
3. Wizard at Large by Terry Brooks
It’s definitely, without a doubt, this book (where a character and a magical medallion are accidentally transported to Earth from another realm and switches places with an evil genie). Like those are the words on the spine and the plot of the book is an obvious choice for this movie. The fonts match on the audiobook, the ebook, and the next two books in the series. But try as I might, I cannot find any proof on the internet that the physical book that appears in Kamala’s room, that uses those two fonts and that spine formatting, exists. This is haunting me…
4. (On the other side of the box) It’s not The Twilight Saga Eclipse, but I definitely thought it was before I could watch in high definition. I think it’s a journal or sketchbook of Kamala’s; there are a bunch scattered throughout the room.
Shelf 3:
I’ve only identified the bottom book, which is Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by Max Born (Dover Publications). The third one up is HAUNTING me, it looks SO identifiable and yet!
Living Room Side Table:
1. Amateur Astronomer’s Handbook by JB Sidgwick (from Dover Publications)
2. Cosmology by Hermann Bondi (also Dover)
Both of these seem less difficult than the science books in Kamala’s room, but reviewers note that it helps to know calculus when reading Cosmology. Idk which member of the Khan family is reading these, but I love their family’s connection to the stars 💫
Tbh I’m having so much fun doing this! And I really wish we got to see Monica’s living space so I can analyze her books 😭
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What places besides FairyLoot have pretty books with sprayed or illustrated edges? I’ve seen lists before but they just tell you what genre of books or whether there are bookish goodies, and not how pretty the books are, which is very silly of them because I and many in the market are very shallow and do not care about the genre, we just want pretty books that are good I guess.
i am also extremely shallow and picked my subscriptions based on book prettiness
fairyloot has boxes with lots of goodies as well as book-only boxes, i've found their books to be some of the prettiest (if i were smart i'd be doing book-only for both young adult and adult but that would mean risking not getting gideon the ninth socks)
illumicrate also has really pretty books and a book-only option, they have a romance box as well HOWEVER the romances are NOT as pretty as the regular illumicrate books. they have sprayed edges but not stenciled or digitally printed. also they're all tradpub romance and i'm a selfpub kinda girl where romance is concerned.
owlcrate books aren't usually as pretty, often are the same book as fairyloot or illumicrate (but less pretty), and they do harry potter merch. no thanks!
i recently bought a book from thebrokenbindingsub.com (the legends and lattes special edition lmao) and i'm going to try to resist Yet Another Subscription but i'm real fucking tempted ngl
i don't trust litjoy because they have a lot of non-book nerd shit and also a lot of unlicensed definitely-totally-generic wink-wink nudge-nudge wizard shit. fuck off with that. also the books aren't as pretty. and their bookshelf alleys don't even have real depth despite looking cool at a casual glance. thumbs down. it's a bit of a shame because i do like the model where instead of paying for a box every month you pay for members-only store credit so you only receive items you actually want instead of having to figure out what to do with an atlas six booksleeve.
(and before anyone gives me shit for spending way too much money on books because they're pretty: i don't actually keep all the books i get and i actually prefer ebooks, but when i really like a book i want the prettiest possible version to keep on my shelf. so it's either subscribe to fancy book deliveries and resell the ones i don't like or else spend $300+ on ebay when a good one shows up. not buying pretty versions of books i like is NOT an option because why the hell did i get an office job if i can't buy pretty books to console me when i get home.)
#original#that last bit is probably unnecessary but people get SO MAD about defiling the sanctity of literature with pretty books lmao#i try to resell via my blog rather than ebay whenever possible#because i'm not trying to be shitty and profit off people still on the waitlist i just don't have fucking room for all these books#only the ones that spark joy may stay#i had to unsub from secretly society because reselling records i didn't want was too much of an ordeal#i don't want things for the sake of having things i want things that i LIKE and that are useful if only in theory#if the physical item isn't pretty i'd rather just have the virtual one#my only exception is books that are way cheaper used through bookfinder and unless i really like those they get donated when i'm done
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What is Young Wizards, is it anything like The Aepects by L C Mawson at all????
(And if it isn't that's even more of an excuse to Tell Us About Young Wizards!! Win-win!!!)
AHHH YES. We could talk about Young Wizards literally for hours.
So. It's, in a nutshell, a series by @/dduane Diane Duane, about teenagers who get the ability to use magic, which is enacted primarily by use of the wizardly language The Speech, in exchange for using it to fight the Lone Power who created death and entropy. The main wizard characters are Nita Callahan, a nerdy bookworm with an affinity for plants; her best friend Kit Rodriguez, who has an affinity for mechanical things; and Nita's little sister Dairine, who is a geek whose Wizards manual is a walking laptop. The books are incredibly inventive, with places in them like an alternate universe Manhattan where cars and other vehicles are alive; multiple distant planets, each with amazing aliens; the bottom of the ocean; Ireland where the myths really are true; a Mars where people's ideas of Mars from various forms of media including War of the Worlds and Marvin the Martian from Looney Tunes are present.
They're also beautifully diverse and life affirming. The Senior Advisory wizards are a gay couple. Kit is Hispanic. One major side character is black and autistic. There's other various queer characters. The series deals with serious topics like bullying, cancer, death and loss. But there's a throughthread of determination and hope.
Also, supportive adults! Parents who really care about their kids and support their wizardry! Family dynamics that are actually really good! (Most of the time. Nita and Dairine have their moments lol.)
And then there's the Oath. It's so wonderful, we patterned our Code of Conduct partly on it. There's many different versions, but the one we love the most is as follows:
In Life's name and for Life's sake, I assert that I will employ the Art which is Its gift in Life's service alone, rejecting all other usages. I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve that which grows and lives well in its own way. Nor will I change any creature unless its growth or life or that of the system of which it is a part are threatened, or threaten another.
To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will ever put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so, looking always to the Heart of Time where all our sundered times are one and all our myriad worlds lie whole in That from which they preceeded.
Also an art version of the Oath:
I can't seem to find the original creator of the art, it was someone on Tumblr but Tumblr search isn't helping, as usual.
We want two tattoos based on this series. One would be Wizard's Knot plus the first little part of the Oath, "In Life's name and for Life's sake". The other would be the traditional greeting of the Lone Power: "Fairest and Fallen, greetings and defiance." Probably would have that one surrounding the semicolon for depression survival, as suicidality is our personal battle with this universe's version of the Lone Power.
They're also super cheap to get as ebooks through the author's own website, as long as you're not in the UK due to Brexit.
We cannot recommend this series highly enough. If you do end up buying the series and reading it, let us know! We'd love to hear what you think. :)
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IU’s book recommendations
There are lots of books IU has recommended in recent years. Links have been provided for the ebooks that you can legally read for free online.
Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove
L. Frank Baum - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Shoes, NOT Red Shoes*]
Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland [Twenty-three]
Lewis Carroll - Through the Looking Glass [Red Queen]
Paulo Coelho - Brida
Osamu Dazai - No Longer Human
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Gong Ji Young - Very Light Feather
Kaori Ekuni - Falling Into the Evening
Hermann Hesse - Demian
Hwang Sun Won - Rain Shower [The Shower]
Hwang Jeong Eun - 파씨의 입문 Introduction to Paschi/Passy
Hwang Jeong Eun - Savage Alice
Im Sol Ah - 최선의 삶 The Best Life
Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Byron Katie - Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life
Kim Hye Jin - 딸에 대하여 About my Daughter
Kim Sung Jong - 계엄령의 밤 The Night of Martial Law
Kim Young Ha - 오직 두 사람 Only Two People
Kwon Yeo Seon - 레몬 Lemon
Lee Hye Rin - 열정 같은 소리하고 있네 You Call It Passion
Lee Kyung Hye - One Day I Died
Lee Seok Won - 보통의 존재 Common Being
Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Haruki Murakami - Hear the Wind Sing
Guillaume Musso - Will You be There?
Friedrich Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Ito Ogawa - Have Some Warmth~
Ito Ogawa - The Restaurant of Love Regained
Park Min Gyu - Castella
Park Min Gyu - 죽은 왕녀를 위한 파반느 Pavane for a Dead Princess
Mirjam Pressler - Bitter Chocolate
Françoise Sagan - Do You Like Brahms?
Leo Tolstoy - Ivan the Fool [Glasses]
José Mauro de Vasconcelos - My Sweet Orange Tree [Zeze]
Virginia Woolf - Jacob’s Room
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway [Black Out]
(*Note: IU’s The Red Shoes did use the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale as a motif, but IU didn’t write that song, therefor it was not included above)
Sources: IU’s fancafe, news etc.
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13 books tag game, tagged by @amemoryofwot and @asha-mage (incidentally I typoed that as "amemeryofwot" which would be an excellent sideblog concept, maybe snatch that one up?)
1) Last book I read:
Mistress of the Empire by Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts (at the time I started filling this out, anyway… I've been working on this ask for several days) This whole trilogy was a delight, thanks to @sixth-light for telling me I would love Mara!
2) A book I recommend:
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord. It's a quiet little road trip romance exploring grief & diaspora, in a setting that I can best describe as 'if Madeline L'Engle had been in charge of Star Trek worldbuilding'. (If you squint you can see analogues to humans, Vulcans, Romulans, and Orions, but the tone is reminiscent of L'Engle.) There are sequels that follow different characters but this is the first one and it works as a standalone. I feel like it has a lovely light touch on some intense subjects and I appreciate the way each chapter works as a separate story while still fitting into the whole.
3) A book that I couldn’t put down:
I remember staying up past my bedtime for The Monster Baru Cormorant, I think? At the very least, that's where we first get my beloved Tau-Indi, and the pacing on the climax is kinda weird, about 2/3rds in, so I think I would have read through to it without stopping. I don't know if this question is supposed to be about compellingness or pacing? Probably compellingness, I think I'm weirdly fixated on structure when I read things. But sometimes I think books you 'can't put down' are at least partially that way because there's no damn place to breathe, and I don't entirely approve.
4) A book I’ve read twice (or more)
I see from literally everyone who has tagged me in this that this is one of the two free spaces for Wheel of Time, but I'll switch it up: Lifeboats by Diane Duane. It's set between Young Wizards 9 & 10 and deals with an emergency response team permanently evacuating an entire alien population from a natural disaster (RIP their moon and also consequently their planet). This novel is a huge comfort read for me and is undoubtedly the Young Wizards work I've read the most. I don't really know how to explain what it means to me… I wish I had had it when I was living and working in a foreign country.
5) A book on my TBR
A friend recommended Cahokia Jazz (in general, not to me specifically) and it sounds SO MUCH like my jam. I suspect if I can't find it at my library soon, I'll end up buying the ebook.
6) A book I’ve put down
Can't think of a recent one, but if I hadn't forced myself to finish reading it because it was a Hugo Award nominee, I would have DNF'd Project Hail Mary.
7) A book on my wish list
I wish for more Baru Cormorant but I also literally cannot imagine how Seth is going to write that next book. So like, I'm girding my loins for Baru #4 either 15 years from now or never.
8) A favourite book from childhood
When I was really little I loved the Berenstain Bear books and my mom HATED that I loved them ("they were so badly written!" - my mom the children's librarian) but she bought them for me anyway. That's love.
9) A book you would give a friend
You all need to read Middlemarch by George Eliot. I don't care what stage of life you're at, you will find something resonant in it. Read it now, and read it again in 20 years. Give it to recent high school grads. Give it as a wedding present. Take it to the beach. BUT I am specifically recommending it to the WoT contingent, because the characters are so good!
10) The most books you own by a single author
It's actually either Diane Duane or Terry Pratchett, and DD's probably winning because I don't have every Pratchett book but I do have almost every DD book including tie-in novels.
11) A nonfiction book you own
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz. I don't read a ton of nonfiction but the writing is very engaging and I think cities are neat.
12) what are you currently reading
I'm between books but I just finished The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (as I am writing this part several days after question 1). I didn't like it as much as the first one, The Mimicking of Known Successes, but I think it's just a taste thing. I didn't like being in Pleiti's POV very much, her overthinking is too much like mine and it alternately stresses me out and makes me angry, because I can see the assumptions/unhelpful thought patterns but I can't fix them. Obviously, to draw that reaction from me the characters are well-defined, and I like everything else about the series, I just hope it goes back to Mossa's POV.
13) what are you planning on reading next?
WHEN WILL 'RED SIDE STORY' BY JASPER FFORDE REACH MY HOUSE??? I have been waiting like 15 years for this sequel to Shades of Grey and the entire point of preordering it was so I could have it ASAP. I could have walked into a bookstore on May 9th and walked out with it, and instead I won't get it until tomorrow. >:(
I think I am supposed to add a shelfie? The organizing principles(s) of this shelf in my bedroom are very weird…. Classics/adventure, fantasy, popular science writing? Someday I need to reshelve everything in the house according to size/favoriteness/genre/theme/vibes (in that order) but I haven’t felt like it.
I think pretty much everyone I was going to tag already got tagged, so whoever want to do it, go ahead!
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So I recently got ebooks of the new revised versions of the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane because I loved the originals so much growing up and I wanted to reread them and see the changes (especially A Wizard Alone) and I was terribly unhappy to discover that the revised editions aren’t available in print in the US probably won’t be for years. But I’ve always wanted to learn book binding, so I’m just going to print out the ebook and attempt to make my own print copy. To that end I spent all day today rapturously fantasizing about end papers and book jackets. This started as an attempt at designing my own endpapers, but it may be a bit much for that actually...
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The Young Wizards series turns 40!
...And yes, we're having a sale to celebrate. But that can wait. :)
I'm sitting here looking at the date and considering how amazing it is that, despite the changes in the publishing world, anything can stay in print nonstop for forty years.
But this book has. Here's how it started:
...Well, not how it started. It started with three things:
A newbie YA writer being deeply annoyed with a non-newbie one for (as she thought) stripping their teenage characters of their agency without good reason.
A suddenly-appearing joke involving two terms or concepts that wouldn't normally appear together: the 1950s young-readers' series of careers books with titles that always began So You Want To Be A..., and the word "wizard."
And the idea immediately springing from that juxtaposition. What if there was such a book? Not a careers book, but a book that told you how to be a wizard—maybe some kind of manual? One that would tell you the truth about the magic underlying the universe, and how to get your hands on it... assuming you felt you could promise the things that power would demand of you, and survive the Ordeal that would follow?
Six or seven months after that confluence of events, there was a novel with that joke-line as its title. A month or so after that, the novel was bought. So You Want To Be A Wizard came out as a Fall 1983 book, as you can see from the Locus Magazine ad above (from back when Locus was only a paper zine). The first reviews were encouraging.
And by the middle of 1984, the publishers were asking, "So, what's next?" A question I'm still busy answering.
There's been a lot of water under the wizardly bridge since. In SYWTBAW's case, this involved a couple/few publishers, a surprising number of covers, a fair number of awards here and there; and lots more books. (I always knew there'd be more, but how many more continues to surprise me. Which is a bit funny, considering how much stuff that universe has going on in it.)
So here we are at forty, and looking ahead to The Big Five-Oh with some interest. More books? Absolutely. Young Wizards #11 is in progress at the moment, and YW #12 is in the late concept stages. More covers for So You Want To Be A Wizard? Seems inevitable. A TV series, perhaps? (shrug) Stranger things have happened: we'll keep our fingers (or other manipulatory instrumentalities) crossed. The New Millennium Editions in translation? and in international paperback? Working on that right now. The sky's the limit.*
And meanwhile, to celebrate, just for today we'll have a sale. (Except in the UK. To our British friends, the usual sad apology: the expensive bureaucracy of Brexit has made it impossible for us to sell directly to you any more. Details here, with our apologies.)
As has been mentioned before, changes are afoot at Ebooks Direct, so this kind of sale won't be happening again for the foreseeable future. (In fact I thought we were all done with them already. But the number 40 suggested one last opportunity that wouldn't be recurring, so I thought, "Aah, what the heck? Let's.")
New things first! Today, to mark this occasion, we're introducing the "All The Wizardry" Bundle. This is Ebook Direct's entire inventory of Young Wizards works; the contents of the bundle are listed on its product page. The $29.99 price listed there is for today only, to celebrate SYWTBAW's birthday, and will go up as of 23:59 Hawai'ian time tonight. As always, should you ever lose your ebooks or need to change reading platforms, we'll change your formats as necessary, or replace the books, for free.
Just click here, or on the image below, for the "All The Wizardry" Bundle. (Please ignore the category listings under the "Pay Using..." icons on the product page: they plainly think they're in a different universe. Kind of an occupational hazard around here...)
The other, older kind of sale folks will have seen here is on the "I Want Everything You've Got" Bundle, which is the whole Ebooks Direct store—obviously including all the Young Wizards books as well: more than 2.5 million words in 36 DRM-free ebooks. Just for today, in honor of the birthday book, we're dropping the whole-store price to USD $40.00. This, too, will go away just before midnight Hawai'ian time tonight... and it will never be lower. So if you want everything we've got at that price, don't wait around.
Make sure you use this link or the one associated with the image to get the baked-in discount at checkout. (If it fails to display correctly, use the discount code "40FOR40" in the checkout's "discount code or gift code" field.)
Meanwhile? Onward into the next decade. The new A Day at the Crossings novel unfortunately won't make it out before the end of 2023; other work in-house currently has taken priority. But as for early 2024... stay tuned.
And for those of you who're Young Wizards readers, and have kept this book, and its sequels, alive for pushing half a century?
Thank you, again and always!
*Though actually, it's not, is it? As the proverb has it, "Wizardry doesn't stop at atmosphere's edge..."
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Arigale Series Free Reading
Since around the release of the first book I have been sporadically dropping free side stories for some of the lesser developed characters. I still have two more planned, but book two has kept me busy enough for a while now. You can see my writing style, learn about some characters prior to the start of the main story, and glean some world-building with these shorts.
You can find the free short stories for Arigale at these links:
Judith’s Parents Short Story
Abigail Short Story
Jacob Short Story
Illene Short Story
Chinea Short Story
Sheila Short Story (TBA)
Drake Short Story (TBA)
Series info like worldview, character bios, synopsis, and more can be found HERE.
Here is the synopsis for book one:
Judith and Chit are called to the lonely tower outside their city with little explanation. The one who summoned them is an old, elven wizard named Maleth, who will send them on a quest to lower their floating city of Arigale to where it once resided. Maleth is intrigued by Judith’s strange form of necromantic magic, yet he is also certain of the anxious young man in training to be a spear-man and scholar.
Judith, a bubbly yet mysterious young woman, is eager to accept. Chit remains withdrawn and cautious, a remnant of being raised by the Order that presides over their land. Soon, both discover their meeting with the wizard carried dire consequences. Can they accomplish what has been asked of them and save Arigale by exploring the land below, no matter the lengths they must go to?
You can also read the first five chapters of book one here on Tumblr for your convenience!
Chapter One - Bonds
Chapter Two - Blood
Chapter Three - Beseeched
Chapter Four - Brazen
Chapter Five - Betwixt
If you like what you see the book is available as an ebook, paperback, and hardcover at these links on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Indiebound, and Kobo.
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Thursday Thoughts: This Is Our Wizardry
Diane Duane’s Young Wizards books meant a lot to me as a kid, and they still do. I’m rereading the series again for the first time in years (specifically the New Millennial Edition ebooks, which I highly respect Duane for creating). While writing this blog post, I’m halfway through the third book, High Wizardry, and I’ve realized that while I have changed in many ways over the years, my childhood self and my current almost-thirty-year-old self have one thing in common: we both think that this is the best book in the series.
That’s not to say that I don’t like the other books. But there’s something about the third book – the one with the computers, the one about the little sister, the one where they go to space for the first time – captured me like none other.
But why? Is it because Nita puts on a WALL-E t-shirt in the first chapter? I do love that detail – if you’ve ever interacted with me at all then you’ll know I love WALL-E with all my heart – but it’s more than just that.
Is it because I, too, am a younger sister and a too-bright-too-early bookworm, and so I related well to Dairine Callahan? It’s certainly part of it. I can be just as territorial as Dairine, and god knows I’m just as nerdy (if I could tell Dairine that I was a writer for the Galactic Starcruiser…!). However, my bookishness is much more Nita’s love of words and escaping into a story than it is Dairine’s desire to know so much that the world can never hurt you.
Is it because the Doctor shows up in this book? Nah, I didn’t know what Doctor Who was yet when I read this book as a kid. But, again, I do love that detail. Diane Duane really is one of us.
What truly grabbed me about this book is the idea that is first put into words in this book – an idea that is central to the worldbuilding in this series.
When the Powers offer wizardry to you, it is because there is a problem in the world that you are the perfect person to solve. You will need help to solve the problem, and you will receive that help. But the point is that the world needs you, as you are, here and now. You don’t need to be someone else. The world needs you – your mind, your heart, the decisions that you will make. All you need to do want to help, and to say yes when the call comes.
And this is true of all wizards, all the people who serve life and slow entropy. This isn’t a “chosen one” situation. Dairine isn’t “more” important than anyone else. Nor is Nita, nor Kit. But their importance is undeniable. This resonates with me as strongly now as it did then. I never wanted to be THE chosen one as a kid. I never thought that I was more important than anyone, and to this day, I hate the idea of someone else, anyone else, thinking that I see myself as superior to them. But even when I was little, I wanted to know that I mattered. I wanted to know that I was special and important in the same way that all people who do good in the world are special and important.
As an adult, I have learned the power of being willing and able to be the right person in the right place at the right time. I know I can make the world better for the people around me with my writing, with my thoughtfulness, or even just with my smile. I believe, more strongly now than ever before, that anyone who wants to can do the same. It’s a power we are all given, if only we choose to accept it. This is our wizardry.
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i’m about to go tell my kids there’s a whole bunch of new books on their tablets, let’s goooooo
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Diversity in my books
I've been reluctant to make this post, because I feel like my intentions could be easily misconstrued. People might think I'm trying to make myself look a certain way or support some kind of agenda, but no. I've just ALWAYS written diverse books. Simply put, I think there should be all types of characters, for all sorts of people to enjoy. So I feature ALL KINDS of characters -- white, black, abled, disabled, straight, LBGT, pretty, plain, old, young, etc, etc. Writing the same character over and over again just isn't fun to me! (I've also had people personally thank me for Asian and disability representation, which is another reason I'm compiling this list)
So, without further ado, here is a (mostly) comprehensive list of my stories that emphasize diversity (these are major characters and plotlines, btw, not unimportant side plots or characters)
(P.S. - this includes a few books written under my other pen name, Caylen McQueen)
Books with diverse lead characters:
The Darker Ages: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077HVG9YW (Alfred du Bois is black and I love him and I will take that love to the grave with me!!! He's my guy for life. I'm putting him first because I think he might be my favorite character of all time.)
School for Spirits: A Dead Girl and a Samurai https://www.amazon.com/School-Spirits-Dead-Samurai-Spirit-ebook/dp/B078YNFD4F/ (Taishi is Japanese)
School for Spirits: Rebel Archangel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GCXT6WV (Chris Pho is Asian-American)
School for Spirits: Angel of Death https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K5ZF89N (Luciana is Hispanic)
A Crew of Criminals and Cutthroats: https://www.amazon.com/Crew-Criminals-Cutthroats-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B0BTS5MJLW (Jean-Rene is black... also, I like that Davin is 70+ and kicking ass)
School for Spirits: Almost an Archangel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQW9NN4 (Kaylene is African-American)
The Fourth Dragon: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Dragon-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B096QB3MBP (Esmay is black)
An Elven Debutante: https://www.amazon.com/Elven-Debutante-Airships-Dragons-Book-ebook/dp/B0BGJLSMZP/ (Julian is Asian; so is Himiko in book 2)
School for Spirits: Pretty Dead Girl https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HN5ZYK2 (Vineet is Indian-American... I SUPER love Vineet, he's one of my favorites of all time)
Vixen's Chosen https://www.amazon.com/Vixens-Chosen-Fox-Assassin-Book-ebook/dp/B08ZD63ZXQ/ (Kylin is a kitsune, and it's strongly hinted that she is Japanese)
Angels & Outlaws: https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Outlaws-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B0BDGBK95Y/ (Bo Lightfoot is Native American)
A Family of Wizards: https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-80s-Family-Wizards-Book-ebook/dp/B0B478DMNP/ (the titular magical family is Chinese)
Pride & Prejudice & Airships: https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Airships-Steampunk-Book-ebook/dp/B07G38N7FF/ (Bin Li is Asian)
Whispers of Steam: https://www.amazon.com/Caged-Princess-Whispers-Steam-Book-ebook/dp/B088PF6K36 (leads in this book are a pair of brown-skinned mercenaries, an Asian hero-turned-villain-turned-hero, and a bisexual woman)
Ghost of Redemption: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Redemption-School-Spirits-Story-ebook/dp/B096Q9Q5ZY/ (Johnny Wong is biracial)
Little Alien on the Prairie: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Alien-Prairie-First-Contact-ebook/dp/B08PDGS9PC/ (Rain is Native American)
The Wishing Princess: https://www.amazon.com/Wishing-Princess-Magic-Dreams-Book-ebook/dp/B09ZVL578X/ (the MC's eventual love interest, Nils, is a dark-skinned elf)
Palace of Maids: https://www.amazon.com/Palace-Maids-Weird-Portal-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B098TNW5K5 (Dustin is indigenous)
Books with disability representation:
School for Spirits: Rebel Archangel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GCXT6WV (Anna uses a wheelchair)
The Darker Ages: https://www.amazon.com/Darker-Ages-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B077HVG9YW/ (Alice has quadriplegia)
Vixen's Challenge: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZD26H6H (Sara uses a wheelchair)
A Sheriff's Redemption: https://www.amazon.com/Sheriffs-Redemption-Lady-Robin-Hood-ebook/dp/B0784QFSKX (the Sheriff of Nottingham's younger brother, Kinlay, is disabled)
Cinderella & Dragons: https://www.amazon.com/Cinderella-Dragons-Complete-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B07D3GLSPW (Terra uses crutches)
Books with LBGT+ characters:
My Lady Robin Hood series https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Locksley-Robin-Hood-Book-ebook/dp/B077LJ9G8N/ (there are many diverse characters in this series, but my trans Little John is most prominent, imo)
The Darker Ages: https://www.amazon.com/Darker-Ages-Aron-Lewes-ebook/dp/B077HVG9YW/ (Jalen/Jai is trans)(Jonathan is bisexual and ends up in a relationship with a man)
The Darkest Knight: https://www.amazon.com/Darkest-Knight-Black-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B07HFTSNDD (Daniul is asexual... and autistic, for that matter... he's another one of my all-time favorite characters)
The Barefoot Barmaid: https://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Barmaid-Belles-Bullets-Book-ebook (there are a ton of diverse characters throughout the series, but there is a gay couple, and Vee is a lesbian)
(I could have more LGBT+ characters, imo, but there are other authors do it better... actually, I'm thinking of one author friend in particular, and if she's reading this... DO write that gay historical, please! I want it!!)
I've probably forgotten some, but I'd say this is a pretty decent (and growing!) list. Also, many of my series starters are free, so they should be easy to get into!
Whoever you are out there, I hope you check out my work! <3
#disability representation#pocfiction#diversity#kindle unlimited#inclusion#school for spirits#aron lewes#diverse books#lgbt books#trans characters#poc main character#ebooks#diverse fantasy#gender diverse#asexual characters
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