The Wizard Derk and his son, Blade, live in a world of magic that has been turned into a real-life fantasy theme park by an off-worlder named Mr. Chesney. In various ways, Mr. Chesney has blackmailed everyone in the world, ensuring that they will host the hundreds of 'Pilgrims' who come through each year expecting a fantasy safari which includes: hazards, battles for the forces of good, and defeating a Dark Lord at the end of the tour, all with the assistance of a wizardly tour guide. This year, the Committee has named Derk the Dark Lord - not only does he have to find an artistic way to die at the end of each Pilgrim Party but he's also in charge of making sure everything else goes smoothly. When a sudden accident rearranges all of his plans, however, things suddenly get even more complicated.
In the sequel, Year of the Griffin, the youngest griffin daughter, Elda, is old enough to start learning magic. Kit and Blade have made names for themselves as some of the most powerful wizards in the world and have gone off to another continent with the other siblings to negotiate treaties. Meanwhile, Derk and Mara have their hands full at home with new children, so Elda ends up going to the University to study. Unfortunately, the older wizards have all retired and the new professors (including one obsessed with getting to the moon) have only learned what they needed to know for the Pilgrim tours. Many of Elda's new friends have people who don't want them to be at the school, so when Derk suggests some new reading material, they all start to learn magic outside of class and use it to protect themselves. The only problem is that they aren't sure how to control it all and the professors have never heard of any of it...
These books are so much fun - it's a unique direction for fantasy and very well done. Even though the first book is relatively long, it read quickly and held my attention. The second was also good, although it didn't seem much like a sequel, particularly since almost all of the main characters are different. I did really like the characters in both books (although I kept getting a couple of the students confused in the second). Overall - I definitely recommend these books to fantasy readers - especially if you're looking for something fun and a little different.
- If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Fablehaven, Howl's Moving Castle, The Magic and the Healing, or Spirit Fox
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