Banks, Kate. The Magician’s Apprentice.

Banks, Kate.        The Magician’s Apprentice.           Macmillan/Farrar Strauss            213p $16.99        978-0-374-34716-1         2012      secondary            VG-BN                      Fantasy                                   

Baz takes on many roles when he is apprenticed, first to a weaver and then to a magician.  He learns both crafts, but truly experiences his best apprenticeship when he learns what is important in life.  “Poetry in prose” is the apt description of this thought-provoking and insightful story.  Kate Banks has taken her own point of view about what is important in life and put it to words through her characters, Baz and a magician and a plethora of lesser characters they meet on their journey together.   They all influence Baz’s journey to self-realization.  Baz first begins his journey by leaving home to become apprenticed to a master rug weaver.  His two brothers have already left home to meet their own destinies, and Baz knows he must go.  Along his journey, he meets cruelty and compassion, confusion and clarity, and finally, peace and harmony.  After he is sold to a magician for the price of a sword, he travels dessert and mountain, meets people who help him learn life’s most important lessons and eventually works his way back home to his family, which he never spiritually left.  The author seems to be saying that all elements of life are interconnected, all chance meetings are deliberate in the whole scheme of things, and peace and knowledge can be attained just by opening our eyes to our life journey, to nature and to trials and tribulations along the way.  Banks has created a masterpiece for readers who can think, readers who are open to change, and readers who seek a certain peace to carry with them upon completing this book.  Her writing style can easily be compared to that of any author who has tried to show humankind the interconnected quality of life.  However, her characters are believable, her plot is creative, and her multiple life lessons are sure to soothe the souls of all who venture inside her pages.  Younger children will not profit as much from their reading as teenagers who have pondered their role in life, but messages abound for both teenagers and adults.  Once immersed in the book, the reader participates with Baz as he makes his journey.

Philosophy–Fiction, Fantasy                                                                                                            --Martha Squaresky