The Way of Wizards

If you love fantasy and wizardry, this is a MUST HAVE for your collection. Every time I read this book I feel as if I've been swept to another realm filled with magic, whimsy, and beauty. One of the reasons that I love this book is because not only is it very intersting to read, but it has just as much....if not more, illustrations-artwork, as it does literature. The artwork in the book has so much detail that I notice something new everytime I read it. This book breaks down every aspect of a "wizard". Anything that you every wondered about, or wanted to know about a wizard is in this book! The book it's self is a piece of artwork, and I highly recommend it.

This beautifully illustrated, poetically imaginative book will delight your mind and your eyes. Tom Cross uses his great skills as an illustrator and his deep imagination to create a work that is fun and enjoyable. With staff in hand and tongue in cheek the author takes the reader on a journey of beauty, reverence for nature, history, fantasy, and every other place you'd like to go with a genuine, down-to-earth, honest-to-goodness wizard as guide. One of the best books I've read, pure delight.

I have actually met the artist and viewed his original works at a gallery in Germanton, NC. Although the book cannot possibly convey the beauty and artistry of his magical vision that is captured on canvas, it is still a feast for the eyes. And, since his original pieces cost a good bit more than my average monthly salary, this is one great way to enjoy his imaginitive pieces without having to fork out a lot of cash. I also reccommend his other books, especially the Fairy Garden.Although this book is worth owning just for the beautiful pictures, I have enjoyed the writing as well. As a student of magick, myself, I can appreciate the story of the Wizard's training and details about the elemental magic he practices. Good for young and old alike, it will inspire you to seek out all the bits of magic in your own life.

BookPage Review: The enchanted world of wizardsWizards are typically portrayed as mysterious and secretive beings, but readers now have a chance to enter their enchanted world. With Tom Cross' The Way of Wizards, the curious can embark on a magical journey led by the author's alter ego, an apprentice mage named Penelo.Lavishly illustrated, The Way of Wizards is a full-color, large-format book that uses more than 200 illustrations to depict the fantastical world of wizards. Penelo, as narrator, describes everything from a wizard's garb to elemental sources of power to the enchanted places that are a wizard's realm. At times, the book resembles a tome from a wizard's library. Wizards is a project Cross began nearly 20 years ago, at a time when books on otherworldly creatures like gnomes and fairies were wildly popular. "We had pursued the idea of doing a wizards book, and then as things go, they said the market 'went soft,'" he explains. Cross, a noted ecologist and artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries from Florida to Japan, continued to produce magically themed art until wizardry caught the public's imagination again, in part due to the phenomenal popularity of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.Cross believes that other factors also led to the resurgence of interest in magic. "Fantasy seems to be an outlet during good times and a safe harbor during poor times," he says, noting that Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien wrote much of his Middle Earth saga during the 1930s and '40s - times of worldwide turbulence.As he researched wizards and mages for his book, Cross noted a recurring theme of harmony with nature that resonated with his background as a coastal ecologist. "A lot of what's in this book is researched folklore," he explains, "and every culture has its take on nature's phenomenon that couldn't be explained, and they almost always point their finger at a gnome or a fairy or a shaman or a witch doctor or a medicine man. If you think about it, every culture has wizards, whatever they call them. It's usually been the guy or the woman who was most in tune with nature."In striving to synthesize magical legends from many cultures, Cross accessed material through the Internet, which jibed with his vision of the magical tome. "I had a very wild hair about the book basically being the material version of the real thing, a two-dimensional version of what's real," he said. What would a real wizard's book consist of? "It'd be hypertext, interactive, click here, click there, every word takes you somewhere, every image takes you somewhere. The Web is probably the best manifestation we have of what wizardly communication really would be."Just as a wizard combines elements for a spell or potion, Cross blended ancient technique and modern technology to produce the images in his book. "The book is a very interesting evolution of technique," he explains. "The early stuff and particularly the things that are on the old book pages are handwri

Just to get the buzz about this book off on the right foot, or with the proper enchanted staff as the case may be, I just would like to say that this is indeed a lavishly illustrated book about wizards suited for all ages. I've been chipping away at this project for some 15 years and am thrilled that this year's popularity of things wondrous and wizardly (namely anything to do with Harry Potter and Tolkien) has helped to bring this book to press. Containing over 200 color images, it is meant to be both informative and fun and is not a venture into the darkness of wizardly magic but conversely an enlightening foray into wizards (both male and female) and their age old association with the ancient-and current-magic of the natural world. So enjoy one and all.And much like the politician being the first one into the voting booth, of course I am obliged to rate it 5 stars!Many thanks to all those who have enjoyed my work.