The Magician of Hoad
by Margaret Mahy
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A young farm boy who possesses mysterious powers is chosen by the king to be the court's royal magician.Tags
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The Magician of Hoad is the story of a boy, Heriot, a boy that is discontent with his place in the world, has always seemed to not fit in. Then one day he finds out that he is actually so much more than he expected. He is a magician, but not just any magician. He is to become the official Magician of Hoad.
But the boy, realizes quickly that he does not want his destiny to be determined by his new title. He wants to be the man he decides he wants to be. He realizes that his powers can be a dangerous thing and that some people would stop at nothing to control them, and if they can't, they would destroy them.
Ultimately this seems to be a coming of age story. Heriot spends his life trying to find out who he really is and what he is really show more supposed to do. He realizes that neither of these have answers that anyone can give him but himself.
3/5 show less
But the boy, realizes quickly that he does not want his destiny to be determined by his new title. He wants to be the man he decides he wants to be. He realizes that his powers can be a dangerous thing and that some people would stop at nothing to control them, and if they can't, they would destroy them.
Ultimately this seems to be a coming of age story. Heriot spends his life trying to find out who he really is and what he is really show more supposed to do. He realizes that neither of these have answers that anyone can give him but himself.
3/5 show less
Just entering this as a "tried to read." Fantasy of this style is not my thing and I did not feel engaged as a reader. Also saw it as a coming of age teens book which is out of my reading needs. Did skim the plot however and found the writing style beguiling. But slow... I was into holiday reads and who dunnits at the time.
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ThingScore 75
Justly described as the queen of children's fiction, Margaret Mahy – now 73 – is still the most arresting guide to the upside-down world awaiting any child starting their journey towards becoming a teenager.
Rather than describing this process realistically, she uses fantasy to get across what adolescence is really about, transcending the limitations of the here and now into something show more timeless and without national boundaries... show less
Rather than describing this process realistically, she uses fantasy to get across what adolescence is really about, transcending the limitations of the here and now into something show more timeless and without national boundaries... show less
added by avatiakh
Author Information

286+ Works 13,501 Members
Margaret Mahy was born on March 21, 1936 in Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She received a B.A. degree from the University of New Zealand. She worked as a nurse, an assistant librarian, and a children's librarian in England and New Zealand. Her first book, A Lion in the Meadow, was published in 1969. She became a full-time author in 1980. show more During her lifetime, she wrote more than 120 children's books including The Haunting, The Changeover, Memory, The Seven Chinese Brothers, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate and A Summery Saturday Morning. She won the Esther Glen Award five times, the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association three times, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Hans Christian Andersen Award, and in 1999, she won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Award in two categories, Picture Book and Supreme Award. She died after a brief illness on July 23, 2012 at the age of 76. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Magician of Hoad
- Original publication date
- 2008
- People/Characters
- Heriot Tarbas; Dysart (Prince); Cayley; Linnet; Carlyon; Betony Hoad (Prince)
- Important places
- Hoad (fictional country); Diamond (fictional city)
- First words
- One fine day, as the sun rose, tranquil but implacable, five remarkably different lives began working their way towards one another.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)A story has to end somewhere. This story ends here.
- Disambiguation notice
- "The magician of Hoad" is published as "Heriot" in the UK.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .M2773 .M — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 142
- Popularity
- 229,719
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.73)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 1



























































