Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin (by Dugald A. Steer)

There are two types of books in the Ologies series: those, such as Egyptology and Piratology, that have a basis in fact, and those, such as this one and Dragonology, that are pure fantasy. The first type is of interest both to series fans and to those with an interest in the subject. WIZARDOLOGY, though, may interest only wizard fanatics; everyone else probably will find it dry and dull.

The book is attractively crowded with text in various fonts and illustrations, though the movable features are rather wan and fragile. There are numerous references to wizards and witches in literature, including Shakespeare, but unfortunately their origins aren't clearly explained, so only readers already familiar with them will recognize them. For the right child, this could be a treasure. For everyone else it probably will become an attractive dust collector.