Duane, Diane (Elizabeth) 1952

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DUANE, Diane (Elizabeth) 1952

PERSONAL: Born May 18, 1952, in New York, NY; daughter of Edward David (an aircraft engineer) and Elizabeth Kathryn (Burke) Duane; married Robert Peter Smyth (a writer under pseudonym Peter Morwood), February 15, 1987. Hobbies and other interests: Collecting recipes and cookbooks, traveling, gardening, astronomy.

ADDRESSES: Home—Ireland; c/o Sloane Club, 52 Lower Sloane St., London SW1W 8BS, England. Agent—Donald Maass Literary Agency, 64 West 84th St., Apt. 3-A, New York, NY 10024; Meg Davis, MBA Agency, 45 Fitzroy St., London W1P 5HR, England.

CAREER: Novelist and television writer. Pilgrim State Hospital, Brentwood, NY, registered nurse, 1974; Payne Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, psychiatric nurse, 1974-76; writer's assistant, 1976-78; freelance writer, 1978—; Filmation Studios, Reseda, CA, staff writer, 1983-84. -

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Books selection, School Library Journal, 1985, and Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Titles for Young Adults selection, Voice ofYouth Advocates, 1986, both for Deep Wizardry; Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Titles for Young Adults selection, Voice of Youth Advocates, 1986, for The Door into Shadow; Books for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1994, for Dark Mirror, and 2003, for A Wizard Alone; special commendation, Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize in Children's Literature, Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, for "Young Wizards" series.

WRITINGS:

"MIDDLE KINGDOM" SERIES

The Door into Fire (also see below), Dell (New York, NY), 1979.

The Door into Shadow (also see below), Bluejay Books (New York, NY), 1984.

The Door into Sunset, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1993.

The Tale of the Five: The Sword and the Dragon (includes The Door into Fire and The Door into Shadow), Meisha Merlin Books (Decatur, GA), 2002.

"YOUNG WIZARDS" SERIES

So You Want to Be a Wizard (also see below), Delacorte (New York, NY), 1983.

Deep Wizardry (also see below), Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

High Wizardry (also see below), Delacorte (New York, NY), 1990.

Support Your Local Wizard (contains So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, and High Wizardry), Guild American (New York, NY), 1990.

A Wizard Abroad, Corgi (London, England), 1993, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.

The Wizard's Dilemma, Harcourt (San Diego, CA) 2002.

A Wizard Alone, Harcourt (San Diego, CA) 2003.

Wizard's Holiday, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2003.

"CAT WIZARDS" SERIES

The Cats of Grand Central, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1997.

The Book of Night with Moon, Warner (New York, NY), 1997.

On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1998, published as To Visit the Queen, Aspect/Warner Books (New York, NY), 1999.

SCIENCE-FICTION NOVELS; BASED ON "STAR TREK" TELEVISION SERIES

The Wounded Sky, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Spock's World, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1988.

Doctor's Orders, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

The Next Generation: Dark Mirror, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1993.

The Next Generation: Intellivore, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

"RIHANNSU" SERIES; BASED ON "STAR TREK" TELEVISION SERIES

My Enemy, My Ally, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1984.

(With Peter Morwood) The Romulan Way, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Swordhunt, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Honor Blade, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

The Empty Chair, Pocket Books (New York, NY), in press.

"SPACE COPS" SERIES; WITH PETER MORWOOD

Mindblast, Avon (New York, NY), 1991.

Kill Station, Avon (New York, NY), 1992.

High Moon, Avon (New York, NY), 1992.

MARVEL COMICS' "SPIDER-MAN" SERIES

The Venom Factor, illustrated by Ron Lim, Byron Preiss Multimedia/Putnam (New York, NY), 1994.

The Lizard Sanction, illustrated by Darick Robertson and Scott Koblish, Byron Preiss Multimedia/Putnam (New York, NY), 1995.

The Octopus Agenda, illustrated by Darick Robertson, Byron Preiss Multimedia/Putnam (New York, NY), 1996.

"STARDRIVE: THE HARBINGER" TRILOGY

Starrise at Corrivale, TSR (Lake Geneva, WI), 1998.

Storm at Eldala, TSR (Renton, WA), 1999.

Nightfall at Algemron, TSR (Renton, WA), 2000.

"TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE" SERIES; BASED ON THE CONCEPT BY TOM CLANCY AND STEVE PIECZENIK

Deathworld, Berkley (New York, NY), 2000.

Safe House, Berkley (New York, NY), 2000.

Runaways, Berkley (New York, NY), 2001.

Death Match, Berkley (New York, NY), 2003.

OTHER

(With Peter Morwood) Keeper of the City (fantasy), Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

(Adapter, with Peter Morwood) SeaQuest DSV: The Novel (based on the Steven Spielberg television program), Ace (New York, NY), 1993.

X-COM UFO Defense (science-fiction novel; based on the computer game), Prima (New York, NY), 1995.

Raetian Tales: A Wind from the South, Badfort Press (Dublin, Ireland), 1995.

Marvel Comics' X-Men: Empire's End, Byron Preiss Multimedia/Putnam (New York, NY), 1997.

Stealing the Elf-King's Roses, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Also coauthor, with Michael Reaves, of "Where No One Has Gone Before," for the early episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Contributor to Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative computer game, Simon & Schuster Interactive (New York, NY), 1985. Also contributor to Wizards at Large. Author, story editor, and consultant for television programs, including work for Fox Children's Television, Walt Disney Productions, Warner Brothers Animation, British Broadcasting Corporation, Electronic Arts, Marvel Productions, and Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Work represented in anthologies, including Flashing Swords! 5, edited by Lin Carter, Dell (New York, NY), 1981; Sixteen: Short Stories by Outstanding Young Adult Writers, edited by Donald R. Gallo, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1984; Dragons and Dreams: A Collection of New Fantasy and Science Fiction Stories, edited by Jane Yolen and others, Harper (New York, NY), 1986; Xanadu Two, edited by Jane Yolen, Tor (New York, NY), 1994; and On Crusade: More Tales of the Knights Templar, edited by Katherine Kurtz, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including Fantasy Book and Amazing.

ADAPTATIONS: Spock's World was released on audio-cassette in 1989. Several titles in the "Wizardry" series have been adapted for audiocassette by Recorded Books. So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, and High Wizardry have been adapted into books for younger readers, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Door into Starlight, Meisha Merlin Books (Decatur, GA), fourth and final volume of "The Middle Kingdom" series; Wizards at War, for Harcourt (San Diego, CA), eighth volume in the "Young Wizards" series.

SIDELIGHTS: Best known for her young-adult science-fiction and fantasy series "Young Wizards," prolific novelist Diane Duane has penned dozens of novels for both adults and children since her 1979 debut. A versatile author, she writes both series and stand-alone titles, creates screenplays, writes as a stable author for established series, and with her husband, writer Peter Morwood, has plans for establishing a publishing imprint. Duane plans each of her books far in advance and dedicates a great deal of time to researching her science-based plots. Called "not only highly talented but highly unpredictable," by Jessica Yates in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, Duane is known for her diverse output characterized by imaginative plots, strong, well-rounded male and female characters, and a firm grounding in such time-honored virtues as beauty, heroism, and loyalty.

Raised in Roosevelt, Long Island, in the suburbs of New York City, Duane experienced a childhood that was "essentially quite boring and sometimes rather unhappy," the author once told CA, "but the unhappiness was tempered with a great love of books and writing in general. I have been writing for almost as long as I've been reading. This started out as an expression of discontent . . . the library simply didn't stock enough of the kinds of books that I wanted to read, so I began to write my own, occasionally illustrating them (usually in crayon). When I left high school, I went on to study astronomy (something else I had loved greatly from a young age), didn't do too well at that, and then on a friend's recommendation went on to study nursing, which I did much better at. But the writing, for my own enjoyment, went on all the time." Duane's nursing career led her to a staff position as a psychiatric nurse at the Payne Whitney Clinic of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. By 1976, however, she finally decided to give writing a serious attempt, and moved to California for a time, where she made her first sale of a novel, The Door into Fire, the initial volume of "The Middle Kingdom" series. She also began writing for the screen while in California, then moved to Pennsylvania for a time, and in 1987, married the Northern Irish writer Peter Morwood and moved with him to County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland.

Duane's first book, The Door into Fire, introduces five characters, some human, some not, whose adventures span several volumes in the "Middle Kingdom" series. These adult fantasies, which include The Door into Shadow and The Door into Sunset, encompass an epic battle between good and evil hinging on the paranormal abilities and growth of each character. In The Door into Shadow, for instance, a young woman named Segnbora vows to support the fugitive Prince Frelorn's Ferrant in his attempt to regain the throne of the kingdom of Arlen against the usurpation of his greedy half-brother, Cillmod, whose rule is guided by the ancient Shadow. In opposition to the Shadow's evil powers stands the Goddess, the creator of life in Duane's mythical world. In The Door into Sunset, still supported by Segnbora, who has focused her magic powers and now rallies dragons to Frelorn's cause, and Queen Eftgan d'Arienn and her troops from the neighboring kingdom of Darthan, the Prince engages in a war of absolutes in a novel that a Publishers Weekly reviewer deemed an "intelligent and exhilarating Swords and Sorcery adventure." The series is scheduled for completion with the title The Door into the Starlight.

Despite the fact that their settings are products of the author's vivid imagination, Duane's fantasy books require extensive background research—"a great deal of reading in myths and legends of all countries, comparative religions, folklore, fairy tales, and (every now and then) other people's fantasy novels," she once explained to CA. "One wants to see what the colleagues are up to! But I find the oldest material the most useful for my purposes. Fraser's Golden Bough and the Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology have been two major helps to my fantasy work: the old themes, the Jungian 'archetypes,' are what makes fantasy work best in any time and place it's set—ancient Greece or modern Manhattan."

With her book So You Want to Be a Wizard, Duane began her popular series of teen novels about the fantastic exploits of two modern teenagers in an alternate Earth. From reading a book in the local library, twelve-year-old Kit Rodriguez and thirteen-year-old Nita Callahan learn to harness the powers of magic as a defense against several neighborhood bullies. However, instead of simplifying their lives, the magic complicates things, as they suddenly find themselves in an alien and alternate New York City inhabited by machines that attack living creatures. They enter this realm through Worldgates in locations such as Rockefeller Center. Given the task of rescuing a magical book from a dragon's lair, the children incur the wrath of the evil Starsnuffer, who follows them back into their own world and snuffs out the light of the Sun. Using their powers and magical incantations from the book to vanquish their foe, the children are also aided by Fred, a "white hole" from the edge of the galaxy. Praising So You Want to Be a Wizard as "outstanding" and "original," Horn Book reviewer Ann A. Flowers added that the novel "stands between the works of Diane Wynne Jones, in its wizardry and spells, and those of Madeleine L'Engle, in its scientific concepts and titanic battles between good and evil." Writing in Five Owls, Judy Rosenbaum noted that "Duane makes brilliant use of the Manhattan setting to give her fantasy real individuality." Rosenbaum further praised the "Young Wizards" series, which this title inaugurated, as "one of the most gripping, exhilarating, and inventive fantasy series for young people."

Further novels in the "Young Wizards" series include Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, and A Wizard Abroad. In Deep Wizardry, Nita and Kit must come to the rescue again, this time to help an injured Whale wizard named S'reee prevent the evil Lone Power from coaxing a dormant volcano beneath Manhattan into unleashing its power and destroying the city. Nita's eleven-year-old sister, Dairine, a budding computer hacker, finds a way to incorporate the ancient laws of wizardry with modern technology in High Wizardry. Programming the family's laptop computer to transport her across the Universe, Dairine is followed by caretakers Nita and Kit as she is initiated into wizardom by confronting the malevolent Lone One. Reviewing the third title in the series, a Publishers Weekly critic called it a "rollicking yarn," and further noted that "Duane is tops in the high adventure business." Margaret A. Chang, writing in School Library Journal, felt that the novel was "audacious in theme," and that it paid "homage to the science fiction of the 1950s, particularly [Robert] Heinlein." A Wizard Abroad finds the teens in Ireland where they rally the country's wizards to help battle the ghostly Fomori, an army of ancient invaders that are the pawns of the Lone One. Booklist's Chris Sherman noted that Duane "weaves the heroes and demons of Irish legends" in this fourth installment, a tale "equally satisfying" as the first three. According to Science Fiction Chronicle's Don D'Ammassa, the book is an "exceptional work of children's fantasy." Of the "Young Wizards" series, Jessica Yates commented in School Librarian that Duane "has succeeded in writing an exciting and moral fantasy which doesn't preach, and her style . . . lives up to the challenge of her cosmic theme."

The series continues with the 2002 The Wizard's Dilemma. Here Nita is putting her feet up after the adventures she had in Ireland, but there is little rest for her. It becomes apparent that Kit is growing away from her, and then her mother develops brain cancer. The only way Nita can save her is to go to the alternate universe to search for a cure. There the Lone One offers her a Faustian bargain: her mother's life for the power she, Nita, possesses. Meanwhile, Kit faces his own inner demons as he must decide whether or not he will retreat within himself or continue to battle evil. Sally Estes, reviewing the title in Booklist, felt this was a novel for "stalwart fans" of the saga. Beth Wright of School Library Journal praised the "wellcrafted plot, occasional dry humor, and appealing main characters," while a critic for Kirkus Reviews also commended this fifth installment, concluding that it was "powerful and satisfying on many levels." Writing for the Green Man Review, Michael M. Jones commented that with The Wizard's Dilemma Nita and Kit's "adventures take on both macro levels, as they explore a panoply of strange new universes, and micro levels, as they discover that we are each our own universe." The same reviewer also felt that it "just goes to remind us that long before Harry Potter made his debut, 'The Young Wizards' series was exploring some of the same ground, and a lot of new territory."

Indeed, with the growing popularity of J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, Duane's series was increasingly hailed as a fine alternative or another source of magic for those who recently discovered the genre. Comparing the two series in January magazine, Monica Stark commented that "Duane's magic is, if anything, more scientifically based than that which Rowling creates." Stark went on to note that "Duane's young wizards are competent and powerful, especially since, in her mythology, wizards enjoy their greatest strength while immature. The wisdom and focus they attain as they grow older makes up for the loss of early power." And writing on the SFF Web site, Victoria Strauss observed, "Long before Harry Potter . . . , Diane Duane's Young Wizards were working to master the ways of magic, and fulfill the wizard's charge of fighting the forces of entropy that threaten to overtake the universe." Strauss further commented, "It's a deservedly popular series, combining page-turning adventure, likeable characters, imaginative world building, and intelligent themes into books that are as thought-provoking as they are entertaining."

Book six in "Young Wizards," A Wizard Alone, finds Nita mourning the death of her mother and closing off herself to her friend Kit. At the same time, Kit is involved in a life-and-death struggle to save a young wizard in training, Darryl, an autistic boy. When Kit and his dog become trapped in Darryl's world, Nita finally comes out of herself in order to save her friend.

Lisa Prolman, reviewing the novel in School Library Journal, felt that "the incorporation of Darryl's autism is seamless and drives the plot forward," while Booklist's GraceAnne A. DeCandido, called the book "a fine fantasy." DeCandido also noted that Duane "expertly weaves" the manner in which Nita and Kit have explained their wizardry to their families and "integrated wizard training into urban teen life."

Though best known for her "Young Wizards" series, Duane has also written several other series and in numerous other genres, from fantasy to horror to science fiction. In 1983, Duane published the first of her "Star Trek" novels. Based on the characters from the original television series, The Wounded Sky would be followed by many more books, including several, such as Dark Mirror, based on the cast of characters familiar to viewers of television's Star Trek: The Next Generation. In My Enemy, My Ally, Captain Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise join a Romulan commander in a brief peace, during which time the two commanders team up to stop Romulan scientists from channeling Vulcan mind powers into weaponry. A political debate on whether the planet Vulcan should secede from the Federation is the subject of Spock's World, while "Bones" McCoy becomes the central character in Doctor's Orders. With Kirk gone on a routine mission to a newly discovered planet, Dr. McCoy is left as acting captain and must confront an aggressive attack by a Klingon spaceship with designs on the unclaimed planet. Praising Duane for staying close to the facts set out in the original series, a School Library Journal reviewer dubbed Doctor's Orders "a fast-paced, well-written adventure."

About writing science fiction, Duane once explained to CA, "I would say that nearly half the time I spend in 'writing' a book is spent in research—especially in the sciences. Science fiction is worthless without a good solid grounding in the sciences that underlie it, though you would be surprised how many people try to write it without studying, and then fail miserably, and don't understand why. These people typically think that writing science fiction should be easy 'because you're making it all up.' Nothing could be further from the truth. I spend at least one day a week rummaging in the local library, or reading New Scientist or Science News to keep up on the latest developments. So many of these have suggested ideas for new projects that it seems unlikely I'll run out of ideas for novels before the middle of the next century or so . . . since any new discovery brings with it the question, 'How will people react to this?' And people are the heart of good science fiction."

While many of her books are suitable for a teen audience, Duane never consciously decided to write with that age group in mind. "I always wrote what pleased me," Duane once admitted to CA, "and was rather shocked when it began to sell (though the shock was very pleasant). Occasionally I find I'm writing a story which younger readers would probably appreciate more thoroughly than older ones, or rather, it would take older readers of taste and discernment to have fun with a story that younger readers would have no problem with at all. I let my publishers label or target the markets for my books, and I myself sit home and get on with the storytelling."

"It took several years of uneven output to get used to the fact that I was going to be able to make my living as a writer," Duane previously noted to CA, ". . . for it's hard to go smoothly from a job where you 'punch the clock' to one where you are the only judge of how much work you do each day. I don't consider writing 'work'—at least not when it's coming easily. When I'm having to write something I don't care for (or don't care for at the moment), the situation sometimes looks different. But this rarely lasts."

In addition to her popular "Wizards" and "Star Trek" books for YA readers, Duane is the author of several novels featuring the Marvel comic book character Spider-Man. These books have been praised for mixing modern-day reality with super hero fantasy in an entertaining and believable fashion. Reviewing her Spider-Man: The Venom Factor in Booklist, Dennis Winters concluded, "Great Literature it ain't, but it's fun, which, after all, is what it's supposed to be." Along with her husband, a writer under the name Peter Morwood, she has also written several books featuring the pair's "Space Cop" heroes.

Duane's "Cat Wizards" series employs concepts and characters from "Young Wizards" in tales that feature magical felines. In The Book of Night with Moon, she "chronicles the adventures of an elite corps of human and animal sorcerers in league against the Lone Power," according to a contributor for Publishers Weekly. Four cats, Rhiow, Saash, Urruah, and Arhu, who guard the gates between worlds at Grand Central station, are forced to enter the world of Lone Power to avoid an invasion by the creatures of Downside. In the course of the telling, Duane also supplies minutiae of the cat civilization she has created, including their language and customs. A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that Duane's story "purrs with charms that even ailurophobes will find irresistible." Similarly, Rita M. Fontinha, writing in Kliatt, thought that "cat lovers who also enjoy fantasy will delight in this well-constructed tale." Likewise, Susan Allen, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, noted, "The reader need only be a cat lover or fantasy reader to delve into the surreal worlds that are described."

In To Visit the Queen, originally published as On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service, the cats are in action again, traveling back in time to Victorian London to stop the assassination of Queen Victoria. Their mission is complicated when the felines of London resent the assistance of ones from the United States. Allen, writing again in Voice of Youth Advocates, felt that "there is something for most readers in this delightful fantasy." A contributor for Publishers Weekly also thought "even those who don't fancy felines should enjoy this purr of a tale." Jackie Cassada, reviewing the second title in the series in Library Journal, called it a "whimsical adventure," and Booklist's Sally Estes thought the book was "fun fare for fantasy and cat lovers."

Despite her continued versatility of subject, Duane retains similar themes in all her books. "But they're subject to change without notice," she once told CA, "and in any case I don't care to spell them out. I prefer to let the reader find them, if he or she cares to. If the themes aren't obvious, so much the better—a book made primarily for entertainment purposes is not the place for a writer to shout. People who are listening hard enough will hear even the whispers, the rest shouldn't be distracted from being entertained, which in itself is a noble thing, in this busy, crazy world. My only and daily hope is that my readers feel they're getting their money's worth."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994, pp. 191-192.

PERIODICALS

Analog, October, 1984, pp. 146-147.

Booklist, August, 1984, pp. 1596-1597; February 15, 1993, p. 10; October 15, 1993, p. 195; October 15, 1994, Dennis Winters, review of Spider-Man: The Venom Factor, p. 405; October 1, 1997, Chris Sherman, review of A Wizard Abroad, p. 319; March 1, 1999, Sally Estes, review of To Visit the Queen, p. 1160; March 15, 1999, Barbara Baskin, review of So You Want to Be a Wizard (audiobook), p. 1349; February 1, 2001, Lolly Epson, review of High Wizardry (audiobook), p. 1063; June 1, 2001, Sally Estes, review of The Wizard's Dilemma, p. 1862; November 15, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of A Wizard Alone, p. 588.

Five Owls, January-February, 2001, Judy Rosenbaum, review of So You Want to Be a Wizard, p. 63.

Horn Book, December, 1983, Ann A. Flowers, review of So You Want to Be a Wizard, p. 716; May-June, 1985, p. 311.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1993, p. 1297; June 1, 2001, review of The Wizard's Dilemma, p. 800.

Kliatt, March, 1998, Rita M. Fontinha, review of The Book of Night with Moon, p. 18.

Library Journal, February 15, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of To Visit the Queen, p. 188.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June, 1998, Charles de Lint, review of The Book of Night with Moon, pp. 37-38; March, 2002, Michelle West, review of The Wizard's Dilemma, pp. 34-39.

New York Times Book Review, November 6, 1988.

Publishers Weekly, March 9, 1984, p. 111; April 13, 1990, review of High Wizardry, p. 67; January 4, 1993, review of The Door into Sunset, p. 62; October 3, 1994, review of Spider-Man: The Venom Factor, p. 54; September 22, 1997, p. 74; November 10, 1997, review of The Book of Night with Moon, pp. 59-60; January 25, 1999, review of To Visit the Queen, p. 77; November 18, 2002, "Out of the Box," p. 63.

School Librarian, August, 1992, Jessica Yates, reviews of So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, and High Wizardry, p. 113; February, 1994.

School Library Journal, March, 1985, p. 176; March, 1990, Margaret A. Chang, review of High Wizardry, pp. 216-217; December, 1990, review of Doctor's Orders, p. 140; December, 1998, Susan McCaffrey, review of So You Want to Be a Wizard (audiobook), p. 65; August, 2001, Beth Wright, review of The Wizard's Dilemma, p. 178; July, 2002, Celeste Steward, review of The Wizard's Dilemma (audiobook), pp. 64-75; February, 2003, Lisa Prolman, review of A Wizard Alone, p. 140.

Science Fiction Chronicle, June, 1998, Don D'Ammassa, review of A Wizard Abroad, pp. 42-43; February, 2003, Lisa Prolman, review of A Wizard Alone, p. 140.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 1984, p. 342; February, 1990, p. 371; December, 1990, p. 296; April, 1992, p. 42; October, 1993, pp. 225-226; October, 1995, pp. 207-208; April, 1998, Susan Allen, review of The Book of Night with Moon, p. 54; August, 1999, Susan Allen, review of To Visit the Queen, p. 190.

Washington Post Book World, May 12, 1985, p. 8.

Xignals, August-September, 1988, pp. 1-3, 16.