A Wizard of Mars facts for kids
Cover art for A Wizard of Mars
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| Author | Diane Duane |
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| Cover artist | Cliff Nielsen |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Young Wizards |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt Trade Publishers |
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Publication date
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April 14, 2010 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 560 |
| ISBN | 978-0-15-204770-2 |
| OCLC | 318875313 |
| LC Class | PZ7.D84915 Wji 2010 |
| Preceded by | Wizards at War |
| Followed by | Games Wizards Play |
A Wizard of Mars is the ninth book in the exciting Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. It was released on April 14, 2010, though some copies were shipped a bit earlier. This book continues the adventures of young wizards Kit and Nita as they face new challenges.
Contents
What Happens in the Story?
Young wizards Kit Rodriguez and Nita Callahan join a special team. Their mission is to investigate a mysterious "message in a bottle" from Mars. This message holds the first clues about the long-lost people who used to live on Mars.
When the "bottle" is opened, strange things begin to happen. Life returns to the Red Planet, bringing its own powerful and confusing magic. The Martians seem friendly at first. But they want to continue an old plan that could change many worlds. They don't mind using Kit and Nita to reach their goals.
Kit loves everything about Mars. This interest gets him caught up in a very old conflict. He becomes both a possible solution and a tool that could threaten all humans. Only Kit can stop this danger. But he suddenly disappears from Mars. His fellow wizards are left wondering if he is still on their side.
Nita is determined to find the truth and find Kit. This leads her into a battle against a strong enemy. To win, she might have to break the most important rules of wizardry. As the threat of war between planets grows, Kit and Nita must work together. They need to understand the ancient connection between them, Mars, and its last people. If they fail, Earth could end up lifeless, just like Mars.
Who Are the Main Characters?
Juanita "Nita" Louise Callahan
Nita is an experienced wizard, about fourteen or fifteen years old. She is good at working with living things. Her powers are also developing towards seeing the future. Nita has faced many difficult times. She gets pulled into the "Martian thing" when her friend Carmela finds an old prophecy. Kit also starts acting strangely and then vanishes. Nita has many important moments in the book. She makes active choices and often takes the lead in battles. She also starts to have feelings for Kit. Nita discovers she has a special connection with water. This helps her later, along with her friendship with the whale wizard S'ree. She uses a powerful water spell called the Gibraltar Passthrough to save her life. She defeats Aurilelde in a duel, breaking an old prophecy.
Christopher "Kit" Rodriguez
Kit is obsessed with Mars and everything Martian throughout the book. He makes some mistakes and gets stuck in an ancient version of Mars. He even finds himself inside the Martian wizard Khretef. Kit faces a very tough choice that will affect the whole solar system. He must decide whether to save Earth or Mars. At home, his sister Helena has arrived. She has wild ideas about him and his wizardry. Later in the book, Kit starts to have feelings for Nita. But these feelings are often overshadowed by a Martian princess. By the end of the book, he realizes his true feelings for Nita.
Mamvish fsh Wimsih fsh Mentaff
Mamvish is a Species Archivist. This means she moves creatures in danger to safer places. She has incredibly strong magical powers. She is also an "Abstainee," which means a powerful being called the Lone Power didn't interfere with her wizard training. Mamvish loves tomatoes and is very sensitive. She knows many insults in the magical language called the Speech. She looks a bit like a dinosaur. When she uses magic, you can see Speech-words moving under her skin.
Irina Mladen
Irina Mladen is the Planetary Wizard for Earth. She is described as a young, slim housewife in her thirties. She has shaggy, highlighted blond hair. She often travels with a parakeet on her head and a baby in a sling. Even though she looks like a regular housekeeper, she is very powerful. You definitely don't want to make her angry!
Carmela Emeda Rodriguez
Carmela is a very important character, even though she isn't a wizard. She goes with Nita and S'ree on the trip to Mars, even though Kit didn't want her to come. She has a special talent for languages. She uses this gift to decode an ancient prophecy. Carmela says she is training to be a "galactic personal shopper." She also likes Ronan, but he doesn't like her back. Carmela loves to annoy her little brother, Kit. She also enjoys teasing Nita by calling her "Juanita LOUISE," because Nita hates her middle name.
Helena Rodriguez
Helena is a new character in this book. She used to think Kit had made a deal with the devil. Now, she has some strange theories of her own, like about mutants! Near the end of the book, she says, "Wouldn't it be great if there really was this interplanetary brotherhood with all kinds of creatures, you know, banding together and using their powers to fight evil..." She doesn't know how right she is!
Ronan Nolan
Ronan travels with Kit and Darryl. He experiences his own strange version of Mars in his imagination. He supports Kit and also provides some funny moments. There isn't much interaction between him and Nita in this book.
Darryl
Darryl also travels with Ronan and Kit. He experiences Mars through his mind, seeing it as a funny remake of a movie he watched as a child. He adds to the humor of the story. There are many mentions of how much he eats. Nita is worried about him being off-planet because he is an "abdal" (a type of wizard who can be very powerful but also unpredictable). But everything turns out fine.
S'reee
S'reee travels with Nita and Carmela to Mars. She is a whale wizard. She helps Nita save her life later in the book. S'reee talks about Nita's special connection with water. She also tells Nita about Angelina Pellegrino, a famous water wizard. Pellegrino created the powerful and dangerous Gibraltar Passthrough spell. S'reee knows about this spell and tells Nita how to use it.
Dairine Callahan
Dairine is not as involved in this story as the other characters. Her power levels seem weaker. But she is still determined to find and save her friend Roshaun. She spends most of her time on Wellakh, learning to control stars. She is confused about Roshaun's status because his physical status is blank, not "deceased." She sees this as a chance to find him. She spends more time with Roshaun's father, Nelaid, who teaches her stellar wizardry. There's a hint that she might be "taransh'laev," meaning she is deeply connected to Wellakh, not just human.
Bobo / The Peridexis / Peridexic Effect
The Peridexic Effect, also called "Bobo," is becoming more important. It shows personality and helps Nita with bigger spells. Bobo doesn't really have a gender, but Nita calls it "he." He manages to show Nita the diagram for the Gibraltar Passthrough spell. Nita has to use her own life-energy to power this spell. Bobo still only speaks to Nita, and no one knows how it can do that.
Tom Swale and Carl Romeo
These two characters don't have very big roles. They "ground" Kit, meaning they restrict his activities, because he was irresponsible on Mars.
Who Are the Martians?
Aurilelde
Aurilelde is a Martian princess. She is not a wizard but a "seer," which is like Nita's gift for seeing the future. She truly wants to save her people. But fear has made her think about destroying Earth and the solar system to get what she wants. She "falls in love" with Kit, thinking he is her old love, Khretef. This is one reason why she and Nita fight. Aurilelde thinks Nita is angry because of Kit. But later, she understands Nita's true reasons. She takes Mars's "kernel" (its core essence) into herself. This almost destroys her and everyone else in her anger. She tries to kill Nita by dumping tons of water on her. But Nita uses the Gibraltar Passthrough and defeats her in a duel.
Khretef
Khretef is a Martian wizard. He is trying very hard to save his people. He tricks Kit into his plan. When Kit tries to explain the problem and that Aurilelde has tricked him, Khretef finally understands. But it's almost too late until Nita comes to help. Khretef is good with machines, just like Kit.
Rorsik
Rorsik is a powerful Martian, working behind the leader, Iskard. He has made everyone else afraid. He convinced Iskard to make Aurilelde try to kill Nita and destroy life on Earth to make space for the Martians. Kit says that Rorsik has either overcome his fear or is stuck in a place where he will be scared forever.
Iskard
Iskard is the Martian leader. He is weak and easily convinced by Rorsik. He is also Aurilelde's father.
Characters Not Physically Present
Ponch
Ponch is not a main character in this book, but he is mentioned as a "great Presence." He speaks through a giant scorpion-like creature, saying, "Earth dogs aren't the only dogs, you know." Kit, Nita, Irina, and Mamvish use Ponch's leash to help save the Martians.
Peach
Peach is mentioned but doesn't appear in person. Peach's old prophecy, "Fear death by water," comes true again for Nita in this book. Nita jokes that prophecies don't have an expiration date, so you never know when they might come true again.
The Prophecy
The old Mars prophecy is found and decoded by Carmela. This happens after Nita, Carmela, and S'reee go to Mars. Carmela studies and figures out what most of the prophecy means. The prophecy is called 'the Red Rede' and is a poem:
The one departed | is the one who returns
From the straitened circle | and the shortened night,
When the blue star rises | and the water burns:
Then the word long-lost | comes again to light
To be spoke by the watcher | who silent yearns
For the lost one found. Yet to wreak aright,
She must slay her rival | and the First World spurn
Lest the one departed | no more return.
See Also
Images for kids
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Cover art for A Wizard of Mars
