Rating: 
Summary: For fantasy fans who are strong readers
Review: (Grades 6-8) During a summer vacation at the beach, thirteen-year-old wizard Nita and her friend Kit are summoned by a friendly dolphin to assist the wounded whale-wizard S'reee. Once healed, S'reee convinces Nita and Kit to help her conquer the evil Lone Power, which resides deep in the ocean. The children transform into whales, then take part in a ritual called the Song of the Twelve, which puts them in great danger, but offers them a chance to save the world from deadly earthquakes. This sequel to So You Want to be a Wizard contains detailed imagery that readers may skim in order to get to the more exciting action. The names are difficult or impossible to pronounce, making this a difficult book to read aloud. A moral dilemma facing Nita resolves itself in a somewhat surprising way, adding suspense to this novel. A worthwhile read for fans of fantasy, particularly stronger readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Story
Review: I have read the first 3 books of the 5. So far this one is the best of them all. Just for people to know, there is a fifth book in the series called The Wizard's Dilemma. Deep Wizardry is about Nita and Kit going on a vacation and turning out facing the Lone Power again. In order to save the entire East Coast, Nita has to do something the bravest person on Earth probably couldn't do. Unfortunatley I can't tell what it is or it would give the whole story away. She and Kit have to transform into whales to do the Song of the Twelve. The story is about bravery, trust and truth as Nita and Kit are faced with having to give their secret of Wizardry to Nita's parents.
Rating:
Summary: Uh-huh. Me likes
Review: I LOVE this book! I read it without reading So You Want To be a Wizard first, so some parts were hard to understand, but as I got further into the book, I understood more. So you don't have to have read the first book to read this one. Personally, I think it was really well written and has a great plot. Of course, some parts were boring, but I gave it 5 stars anyway. I reccomend Deep Wizardry to anyone who likes science-fiction, fantasy, magic type of things. And even people who don't like that stuff.
Rating:
Summary: This is Great!
Review: I've always been into the "magic" kind of theme in reading, and so when I picked up this book a few years ago, it was just another book to me, but when I finally got into it, I was shocked. This really is one of the best fantasies out there. You don't need to have read "So You Want to Be a Wizard" to understand it, but I would highly recomend all the books in the series. In "Deep Wizardry", the book starts out on a Long Island Beach in New York with a girl named Juanita, or Nita as she prefers, just going out for a walk on the beach with her dog. Just a few pages into it, you discover that she and Kit (Christopher) are wizards, and have the ability to do some great stuff. They're only 12-13, but you find out that the two have made some pretty impressive accomplishments already, and now, it's up to them to save the world (sorry for the cliche). With some help from a few friendly and a few not-so friendly sea creatures, you're led deep under the sea, where magic that's older than time itself sings it's ancient song. In the end, there's a great final climax with a twist, and Nita and Kit almost don't make it out alive.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, not quite so intense as the first
Review: In "Deep Wizardry," Diane Duane's two adolescent wizards, Nita and Kit (for Christopher) are caught up in a reenactment of an undersea ritual in order to help defeat death (entropy). To this end they must not only transform themselves into whales, but must also manage to avoid Nita's parents without lying, because a wizard dares not lie. In this second volume of the wizardry series, the wizards' need for freedom in their struggle mirrors most adolescents' need for freedom, but with this difference: Nita and Kit know why they need their freedom and what they're going to do with it, a knowledge that justifies their and, by extension, all adolescents' struggle for freedom. On the simple wizardry front, this book is a great deal easier to follow than "So You Want to Be a Wizard," and it fills out many details that were only adumbrated in that book. From my adult perspective, that ease, combined with the adolescent issues, made it a bit less enthralling than the first book, but I suspect that the flaw is in me and not in the book. I certainly never considered not finishing the book. Wizardry as Duane construes it requires good character, discipline, perseverance, and also not a little scientific ability (as when all the ocean-going participants need to figure out how much air they will need for their trip). The wizards set good examples while doing really cool things, a fantastic combination. My favorite character was the shark. Like Milton's Satan, he really steals the show.
Rating:
Summary: Underwater Fantasy
Review: Over-all I enjoyed the book. I found it a quick read. It seems more modern than a book originally published in 1985. I had to remind myself that the references to Star Wars were to episodes 4, 5, and 6, not the more recent 1 and 2. LOL!I think Duane was very proud of all the work she put into creating the whale wizard culture and writing the poems for the singing but honestly, it was almost over-kill. The practice sessions and preparation chapters could have been condensed with more emphasis put on the final show-down. The book was good enough that I want to now read So You Want to Be a Wizard and High Wizardry.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much description, too little humor...
Review: My wife and I read this book (and the first in the series) aloud to our 7 and 10 year old daughters. By and large, they enjoyed the book. We were struck, however, by two aspects of the book that dramatically decreased our enjoyment of it. First, many parts of the book contain seemingly endlessly detailed descriptions that go on for pages. These often do not serve to clarify the nature of the involved sceens, but instead, more often than not, cloud them (and make readers just say "OK, let's just get on with it"). The detail was also potentially detremental in that it left little to the imagination. The other less than appealing aspect of the book was its generally intense and mostly humorless tone. Whereas the intense situations in the Harry Potter books are made tolerable by the addition of humor infused throughout the book, this book fell short. There is precious little comic relief to be found in Deep Wizardry. We may very well stop our reading of the series with this book, despite the pact that we own the whole series.
Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first! Finest YA fantasy around!
Review: The first book in the "Young Wizards" series, _So You Want to Be a Wizard_, is one of the best of the YA books I've read. This book, the first sequel, doesn't have the the outrageous, clever humor of the first book, but it replaces it with amazing personal drama and a sense of tragedy-no other YA book I've read gets closer to the level of great adult fantasy literature (with the possible exception of Garth Nix's _Sabriel_). Wizards Nita and Kit must save New York from an ocean disaster by participating with whale sorcerers in a ceremony to calm the Lone Power...a ceremony that may require the sacrifice of Nita's life. Duane approaches the level of great science fantasy writers Fritz Leiber and L. Sprague de Camp in this work of modern fantasy, and manages to embarass Harry Potter in the extreme. Thoroughly exceptional, and adults take notice-you'll love this book as much as the younger readers.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty darn good
Review: This is one that deserves a better review than it's been given so far. After their initial ordeal, wizards Juanita (Nita) Callahan and Christopher (Kit) Rodriguez are counting on a little R&R on vacation at the beach with Nita's family. But when a large, unpaid debt comes due and Nita and Kit are assigned to help a group of whale wizards enact an ancient ceremony, only a miracle may be able to save Nita from the ultimate sacrifice. Ed, the age-old shark, and his relationship with Nita are masterful. A stroke of much more than common writing. You can never be truly comfortable with him...as you should never...but the little you can see through his eyes is truly intriguing. The scenes where Nita finally has to come clean about her wizardry to her parents, and her panicked consultation with her local Senior, Carl, are some of the best in the series...as much because of the awful, heart-rending context Nita is trying to function in as anything. In the end, the solution isn't a cop-out--a high price is paid-- though it feels a little like one. (I was a little confused that Kit's role in creating the blank check wizardry behind the dilemma was never explored--he was just as responsible for any of it as Nita ever was.) May I recommend getting your hands on Christina Moore's excellent audio version of this story. Almost had me bawling.
Rating:
Summary: Continued excellence
Review: While the overall theme of redemption is somewhat familiar (at least to anyone with any hint of something resembling a certain mainstream religion in their past [whether they want to admit to it or not]), Miss Duane is able to appropriate it and put it to good use by showing us that the act of redemption, while ultimately for the benefit of all, is not done lightly nor arrived at easily. The ending is unexpected and well-written, second only to that of the original book (IMHO).
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