The Width Of The World

Magical Fighting Spirit

The intriguingly titled David Baldacci book for young readers—The Width Of The World—is the third in the Vega Jane series. In the first two books, Vega Jane fought all kinds of creatures in a scary place called the Quag, that divides her town of Wormwood from the rest if the world. She escaped into a world she had never heard of, to a future she could not have imagined.

In book three, she and her pals Delph and Petra along with the one-eared dog Harry Two land up in a place that looks very strange to them; there are trams and trains that Wugworts, as the people from Wormwood are called, have never seen. They speak a different language—not all that distinct from English, but Vega has to memorize an encyclopedia to get by.

The enemy is a set of evil magicians called Maladons, who look like London bankers in pin-striped suits and bowler hats, but wield mean wands and spells.

Vega Jane has discovered her terrific magic powers, Petra is quite adept too; the ‘unmagical’ Delph is there to provide the good looks and create some romantic tension between the two girls.

What is surprising is that best-selling author Baldacci has written a book for young readers, in the chirpy voice of a sixteen-year-old girl. The series, is obviously inspired by the Harry Potter books, but has turned into a bestseller anyway, perhaps because young readers like non-stop action. The books have been snapped up for a movie series, to tap the teen or young adult demographic that turned page-to-screen franchises like the Twilight and Hunger Games into big money-spinners.

In this book, Vega Jane and gang, running away from Maladons, accidentally finds themselves in her in her ancestral home, where they could have lived safely for the rest of their lives, since the enemy cannot see it. But they discover that the Maladons capture innocent people looking for a better life in the city, and enslave them.

Vega Jane has to find a way to free them, turn them into warriors and lead an army all at the age of sixteen. Since kids today are practically unshockable, the violence is graphic and plentiful, but there are also magical creatures in the hidden mansion that serve as the house help, including a suit of arms that is a butler and a broom that is a chef.

It’s all quite crazy and delightful, but no match for Harry Potter; still a popular series has a young female leader in Vega Jane, who should serve as a kind of role model for girls. Book Three ends with a ghastly tragedy that no young person should be exposed to, and a definite promise for a Book Four.

The Width Of The World

By David Baldacci

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 480