Long before Harry Potter became a household name (about thirteen years or so), one of my favorite authors on the planet started a series about a teenage wizard. It’s a Young Adult series, but written in a manner and with language that won’t turn off adults. The characters may be children, but the author never treats the readers like kids.

Diane Duane is the author of my absolute favorite book, “Spocks World”. I know I use the words favorite and love a lot when talking about books and authors, but when people ask “If you were stranded on a desert island…” this is the book I would never get tired of reading. I read it in high school and while looking for other books to read, I found another by the same author, “So You Want To Be A Wizard?” and loved it.

When I read the first book in the series, I was around the same age as the main character and unlike some other books I had read, the people who populated these pages felt real. What I mean by that is they behaved and reacted to things in the way you would expect real people to. That’s not always the case in books, and unfortunately even rarer in YA fiction.

One of the best things about the series is the epic scope of some of the stories. Also, as the novels progress, it gets more fantastical (wizard cats and wizard whales!), but thanks to Diane Duanes skill at telling a tale, stays believable. Suspension of disbelief is super easy when the author is this good.

There are currently nine novels in the series, and I’m writing this article not just because the books are great, and anyone who is a fan of fantasy literature should read them (they should) but because right now, the author has a sale going on where you can buy the e-book versions for $19.99 US for ALL NINE BOOKS! Not $19.99 each, the entire collection for twenty bucks.

You can purchase them here. You won’t regret it.