Games Wizards Play

{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Deep Wizardry|timestamp=20260511201214|year=2026|month=May|day=11|substed=yes|help=off|outcome=merging|target=Young Wizards}}  {{Short description|Novel by Diane Duane}} {{Multiple issues| {{All plot|date=May 2025}} {{Notability|1=Books|date=May 2025}} {{Only primary sources|date=April 2026}} }} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox book |  | name = Games Wizards Play | title_orig = | translator = | image = File:Games Wizards Play cover.jpg | caption = Cover art for ''Games Wizards Play'' | author = [[Diane Duane]] | illustrator = | cover_artist = [[Cliff Nielsen]] | country = United States | language = English | series = [[Young Wizards]] | genre = [[Fantasy novel]] | publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] | release_date = February 2, 2016 | media_type = Print (hardcover) | pages = 640 | isbn = 978-0-54-741806-3 | congress = PZ7.D84915 Gam 2016 | oclc = 898052990 | preceded_by = [[A Wizard of Mars]] | followed_by = }}

'''''Games Wizards Play''''' is the tenth novel in the [[Young Wizards]] series by [[Diane Duane]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Games Wizards Play Official Website|url=http://www.youngwizards.com/gameswizardsplay/|website=Young Wizards|accessdate=20 February 2016}}</ref> and a sequel to ''[[A Wizard of Mars]]''.

==Plot== Every eleven years, the Invitational is held, a three-week event where new wizards demonstrate spells. Wizards Kit Rodriguez, Nita Callahan, and Dairine Callahan mentor two individuals: Penn Shao-Feng, who focuses on managing solar weather, and Mehrnaz Farrahi, who specializes in defusing earthquakes while managed by her family.

Together they’re plunged into a whirlwind of cutthroat competition and ruthless judging: it’s “The Apprentice” with magic. Penn’s egotistical and misogynistic attitude toward Nita complicates matters as Nita and Kit work to negotiate their burgeoning boyfriend/girlfriend issues. Meanwhile, Dairine struggles to stabilize her hero-worshipping, insecure protégée against the interference of powerful wizard-relatives using her to further their own tangled agendas. When it finally comes time for the finals stage on the dark side of the Moon, both the new wizards and their mentors are both flung into a final conflict that could either change the [[Solar System]] for the better or damage Earth beyond even wizardly repair.

==Major characters== '''Juanita Louise Callahan''' Also known as "Nita", she is one of the main protagonists in the series. Nita is one of the mentors for Penn in the Invitational.

'''Christopher Rodriguez''' Also known as "Kit", he is another of the main protagonists. Kit is the other mentor for Penn in the Invitational.

'''Dairine Callahan''' Younger sister of Nita, and another main protagonist, she is the mentor of Mehrnaz.

'''Penn Shao-Feng''' Nita and Kit's candidate for the Invitational. He tends to be arrogant and overconfident in his skills. He patronizes Nita, openly doubting her intelligence and her capability as a wizard.

'''Mehrnaz Farrahi''' Dairine's candidate for the Invitational. Thanks in large part to her emotionally abusive family, she is shy and lacks confidence in her abilities.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.youngwizards.com/Games-Wizards-Play Games Wizards Play] on YoungWizards.com * [http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/searchresults.cfm?adv=y&series=YOUNG%20WIZARDS%20SERIES Young Wizards series] at Harcourt * [https://slate.com/culture/2016/02/games-wizards-play-the-10th-young-wizards-novel-from-diane-duane-reviewed.html Indistinguishable From Magic] on [[Slate.com]] * [https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/reviews/the-young-wizards-by-diane-duane/ The Young Wizards by Diane Duane] at [[Strange Horizons]]

[[Category:2016 fantasy novels]] [[Category:2016 American novels]] [[Category:2016 English-language novels]] [[Category:American fantasy novels]] [[Category:American young adult novels]] [[Category:2016 children's books]] [[Category:Houghton Mifflin books]]