Games Wizards Play
The tenth Young Wizards novel.
The long-form blurb for the novel (copied below) was published in the Young Wizards forums in June 2011.
Once every eleven years, Earth’s most senior wizards stage an event called “The Invitational” – a gathering of hot young wizardly talent from all over the world at which the Seniors judge which of their younger colleagues will be in the forefront of the next generation’s battle against every wizard’s ancient enemy, the Lone Power. Part science fair (except that as part of their projects contestants can change the laws of science), part talent competition (the talents including shapechange, matter transmutation, and blasting things to atoms), part networking event and social occasion, the Invitational is an unmissable chance for the planet’s most gifted new wizardly talent to meet new people, start new friendships (or rivalries), scope each other out, and prove who’s the best at wizardry… and who just thinks they are.
The Invitational’s coveted first prize is a year-long apprenticeship under Earth’s Planetary Wizard, the powerful Irina Mladen. There are young wizards who’d do nearly anything to score such an incredible opportunity. Kit Rodriguez and Nita Callahan would love a chance at such a prize themselves… except that they can’t compete. Because of their team’s past successes, they’ve been chosen to mentor one of the most promising candidates among the up-and-coming wizardly talent. Trouble is, their cocksure mentoree, Penn Shao-Fang, thinks Nita and Kit are old news – a couple of has-beens past their peak power, with nothing to teach him. Nita’s wizard-sister Dairine has also been assigned mentoring duty. Unfortunately she hates not only her own mentoree candidate, an infuriatingly self-effacing girl called Mehrnaz, but the whole job that takes her away from the search for her missing friend Roshaun just as she’s come across a vital clue that could solve the riddle of his disappearance and bring him home.
Nita’s initially none too thrilled by the situation either. Her growing visionary talent has been subjecting her to repeated warnings that something terrible is about to happen to Kit’s sister Carmela, and possibly also to Kit himself. But she’s increasingly distracted from her concerns as she, Kit and Dairine discover that not all young wizards are as anywhere near as well-adjusted as those they’ve met so far. Though wizards are committed to slowing down entropy, that doesn’t make them perfect… and the Invitational’s present intake of competitors contains a fair number of divas, prima donnas, and characters who just need smacking down.
In this already-charged atmosphere, tensions between Kit and Nita are on the rise as they clash over how to keep the hypercompetitive Penn in line long enough to make it past the Invitational’s semifinal stages, where he intends to prove the worth of a signature spell that’s been making even Senior wizards nervous. And Penn’s loose-cannon behavior isn’t the only thing putting a strain on Nita and Kit, or their relationship, which has already been going through some changes. Neither of them is fully prepared for the complications that can ensue when wizards aren’t cooperating, but competing all out. When the competitive atmosphere infects Dairine and she tries to sort Penn out for Nita, the ensuing monumental blowup between the sisters – in which Kit unwisely tries to interfere – leaves the two wizardly partners at loggerheads.
As the Invitational progresses toward its finals stage on the dark side of the Moon – as the previously overconfident Penn inexplicably starts getting cold feet about the final presentation of his competition wizardry, and without warning Dairine dumps her mentoree and vanishes without a trace -- it starts to seem to the frustrated Kit and Nita that everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. But they soon discover that this too is a potentially fatal misconception. One silent participant in the Invitational has yet to make his presence felt. And even when he does, in this most challenging of the games wizards play, there’s still one move to go…