Young wizards Nita and Kit face their most terrifying challenge yet: Nita's little sister, Dairine. Not only is Dairine far too smart for a ten-year-old, she also has recenlty become a wizard, and worse yet, a wizard with almost limitless power. When Dairine's computerized wizard's manual glibly sends her off on her novice adventure--her Ordeal--Kit and Nita end up chasing her across the galaxy, trying to catch up with Dairine before she gets into trouble so deep that not even her brains can resuce her.
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Rest and relaxation--that's what Nita thinks she's going to get when her little sister, Dairine, signs her up for a wizardly "cultural exchange" program, sending Nita and her partner-wizard Kit halfway across the galaxy over spring break. But nothing about wizardry--not even vacation--is ever quite that simple. Back home, Dairine and her dad have to cope with their side of the exchange: three young wizards who've just moved in and are eager to start experiencing a strange alien culture . . . Earth.
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While Nita grieves over her mother's death, Kit tackles a challenge as dangerous as it is strange: Rescue a young wizard who has vanished on his first assignment. This new wizard is unlike any other--he's autistic and he's a magical prodigy. His power is enormous. Now Kit and his dog, Ponch, must track down the missing boy before the Lone Power finds him.
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To give Nita a vacation from magic, Nita's parents pack her off for a month-long stay with her eccentric aunt in Ireland. But Ireland is even more steeped in magical doings than the United States, and Nita soon finds herself and a host of Irish wizards battling creatures from a nightmare Ireland--a realm where humankind is the stuff of tales and storybooks, and where the legends and monsters of the country's mythology are a deadly reality.
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Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a . . . books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist . . . a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard.
I don't belive this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious--and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't . . . ?
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Coming to the aid of a wounded whale, Kit and Nita are plunged into deep wizardry. The whale is a wizard, and she enlists Kit and Nita in battle against the sinister Lone Power. Becoming whales themselves, Nita and Kit join in an ancient ritual performed by whales, dolphins, and a single fearsome shark. But which poses more of a danger: the Lone Power, or ed'Rashtekaresket, the enormous shark as old as the sea?
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Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and
found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a . . . books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist . . . a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard.
I don't belive this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in
her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious--and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't . . . ?
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Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a . . . books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist . . . a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard.

I don't belive this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in
her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious--and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't . . . ?
...

...

...

To give Nita a vacation from magic, Nita’s parents pack her off for a month-long stay with her eccentric aunt in Ireland. But Ireland is even more steeped in magical doings than the United States, and Nita soon finds herself and a host of Irish wizards battling creatures from a nightmare Ireland--a realm where humankind is the stuff of tales and storybooks, and where the legends and monsters of the country’s mythology are a deadly reality.
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Seven years ago Freelorn Ferrant’s son fled the land he was born to rule, driven out by his usurping half-brother Cillmod and those who preferred a ruler they could control to a prince whose father had never legitimized him with the vital ceremony of Initiation. Since then Freelorn’s life has been about returning to prove himself the only true successor to the heritage of the demigodly White Lion of Arlen, and taking back his rightful throne. Now, after long wandering endured and many battles survived, Lorn is primed to return. Eftgan, Queen of Arlen’s ancient ally Darthen, is ready to ride to war on his behalf. He has the aid of his lover Herewiss, first man in centuries to wield the blue Flame of Power; of Segnbora, warrior and Firebearer and human Emissary to Dragonkind; and of the capricious and dangerous fire elemental Sunspark.But will even such tremendous strength be enough? Dark powers fueled by the Shadow’s hatred are massing to meet Freelorn on the battlefield in a great war that will determine whether the Middle Kingdoms survive or fall. And as dangerous as any battle or black magic is the doubt now growing in Lorn’s heart. When he steps into Lionhall to seek hisInitiation, will his half-divine ancestor find him worthy to be King? For though armies may win you a throne, it’s the White Lion and the Goddess who decide if you will keep it…...

“To my way of reckoning, this is an even stronger book than the first… Absorbing, the kind of book one reads in gulps and cannot put down.” — Andre NortonUnable to focus the blue Flame of Power despite years of training, Segnbora lived the life of a wandering swordswoman or common sorceress until the night she saved a man’s life in a back-alley swordfight and discovered he was an outlawed prince with a price on his head. Now on the run with Freelorn of Arlen and his followers, Segnbora—realizing that Lorn’s survival is vital to the Middle Kingdoms in their war against the evil Shadow—has sworn Freelorn her fealty and vowed to see him on the throne that is his birthright.But deadly forces are on the move against them. Freelorn’s friend and lover Herewiss is the first man in centuries to wield the blue Fire, and the Shadow has unleashed its twisted monsters and hordes of invading Reavers to bring about his destruction. As Freelorn and his people hurry to join forces with the Queen of Darthen to re-enact the Kingdoms’ fraying royal magics, Segnbora risks her life to try to claim the Power she’d thought beyond her grasp.Her gamble leaves her struggling desperately for control of a mind unexpectedly invaded by the soul of one of the Kingdoms’ mysterious Dragons. Segnbora must win this fight if she’s to bring the Dragon called Hasai to Freelorn’s aid in the coming battle for the mountain valley of Bluepeak. There Reavers will attack the Middle Kingdoms in force, and Freelorn, Herewiss and Segnbora must make the first moves in the apocalyptic war that will set the true king on the throne… or see their world destroyed....

A sorcerous swordsmith desperate to achieve true power. His stubbornly nonmagical sword. His princely runaway lover. His hungry new fire elemental. Put them all together, and what can possibly go wrong?Herewiss is the only man in centuries to possess the Power of the blue Flame, but he can’t use or control it — not even to help his friend and lover Freelorn, prince of Arlen, exiled from his native land and pursued across the Middle Kingdoms by the usurpers' allies. Invoking perilous sorceries and the even more dangerous assistance of the fire elemental Sunspark, Herewiss manages to rout the armies besieging Freelorn and his little band of followers, and free his loved. Together they flee east to seek temporary refuge in the mysterious lands near the edge of the world they know.But now Herewiss faces a devastating choice. His time to master the blue Fire is running out. Should he abandon his fruitless search and join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or should he seek out the ancient keep in the Waste where doors lead into other worlds—perhaps even the door whose use will teach him to control the Power that he must master or die?...The Door Into Fire, first novel set in Diane Duane's award-winning Middle Kingdoms universe, opens a fantastic saga of power, magic and friendship that has become a cult classic for its uniquely inclusive take on epic fantasy and its unforgettable characters. ...