Wizards at War

Title: Wizards at War
Author: Diane Duane

Summary (with spoilers):
Since this is the eighth book in the series, I'm going to assume you've read the other ones, and jump right into the plot summary!

A new threat is causing problems, not just on Earth, but throughout the universe. Tom and Carl gather Nita, Kit, Dairine, and all of the visiting alien wizards (Filif, Sker'ret, and Roshaun) to tell them that space is expanding. This problem will eventually cause wizards to lose their powers and result in violence all over Earth, in addition to problems elsewhere. The older wizards, like Tom and Carl, are already starting to lose their powers, so it's up to Nita, Kit and the other young wizards of the universe to figure out a solution.

Ronan (who carries the One's Champion inside of him) shows up to accompany the gang, telling them that there could be a secret tool (the Instrumentality) to use against the new threat, if only they can find it. He gives Ponch the scent, and they travel to a strange place, with dark masses overhead, called the Pullulus. Ponch stops by the world he created to grab a spell manifested as a squirrel, which everyone follows to the world of Rashah. Rashah is home to the Yaldiv, strange beings that look like giant bugs who can break through Nita's defense spell and otherwise affect wizardry. The Yaldiv are hive mind creatures who are all avatars of the Lone Power. The wizards set up camp in a cave on the planet to do more exploring, while Nita and Sker'ret begin the journey back to Earth, so that Nita can check on her dad. In addition, Nita has been conversing with the peridexic effect, which is the source behind spells and the Speech.

Meanwhile, Dairine and Roshaun travel back to Roshaun's home planet, where he confronts his father, and then to the world that created the mobiles (which you may remember from Dairine's Ordeal). The mobiles decode a message from data that Dairine and Spot were carrying. Dairine and Roshaun meet back up with the rest of the group, revealing that the Instrumentality is a Hesper, which is a "bright" version of the Lone Power.

When Nita and Sker'ret arrive at the Crossings, they realize something is not right. It turns out a group of Tawalf have been paid to take over the Crossings. Nita and Sker hunker down in a control dome while the Tawalf shoot high energy weapons at them. Nita casts a spell which destroys one of the weapons, but it's not enough. Just when it seems that Nita and Sker'ret are doomed, Carmela shows up with her own modified weapon (which looks like a curling iron) to save the day. Then she convinces the Tawalf to surrender by giving them a bar of chocolate. Nita travels back to Earth, where she learns that Tom and Carl have lost their powers. What's worse, they've forgotten that they were ever wizards. At least Nita gets to visit with the prophetic koi.

On Rashah, the wizards take the form of the Yaldiv to do some scouting, and end up in a huge city, which houses the king of the Yaldiv. Despite their disguises, the king recognizes the wizards, but he is so confident of his control of the city that he lets the wizards do as they will. The Yaldiv who is the Hesper (who is later named Memeki) visits the wizards in their base camp. She is willing to help, but the wizards aren't sure exactly what to do next. Some warrior Yaldiv tunnel up through the ground, attacking the group. Nita and Carmela gate in during the battle and help the wizards win.

The wizards and Memeki travel to the Yaldiv city, where they have a confrontation with the king. Unfortunately, wizardry isn't working, and they can't cast spells. Carmela, pretending to be under the control of the king, blasts it with her curling iron. The Lone Power manifests itself, and everything looks grim for the wizards. Then Ronan stabs himself with the Spear to release the Champion, who is able to beat back the Lone Power, which allows Memeki to become the Hesper.

Nita and Kit cast a spell to put Ronan into stasis, and all of the wizards head to the moon to deal with the Pullulus. The group wizardry fails to stop it. Next, Roshaun channels the power of the Sun through his stone, but he is unable to fully stop the Pullulus. Roshaun disappears and his stone becomes clear, without fire. Kit believes the end is near, so he tells Ponch to go back to Earth and bring his family to safety. Ponch instead embodies great power and battles the Pullulus, finally defeating it. In the process, Ponch becomes the dog version of the One, making a new choice for dogs.

Ronan is healed by one of the many wizards on the moon. Dairine delivers the news about Roshaun to his parents and accepts the stone and the responsibilities entailed. She visits Roshaun's Timeheart in a dream. (It's implied that Roshaun is merely missing, not lost forever.) Kit has a last word with Ponch, who is now present in all dogs on Earth.

My Thoughts:
The beauty of this series has always been the description of wizardry. The complex spells (which require a lot of knowledge on the part of the caster), also take an energy toll. Often, the spells are described in a scientific manner, with comments on how the spells move matter around, etc. The magic system feels real. It's so well integrated with the real world.

It's been a while since I read the other books in the series, so it was difficult for me to jump right into this one. I'd forgotten the back stories of most of the side characters, especially the visiting wizards. There were tons of characters in this one, but not enough time for their full development. For example, we're told that Roshaun and Dairine are close, but we don't get to see enough of this closeness. There just isn't enough time to focus on them (even though they do get a whole chapter at the beginning).

I enjoyed the discussion between Ponch and Memeki, where they compared origin stories for their species. Other fun moments include Carmela showing up to save the day and Ponch becoming The One Dog.