An entertaining YA-ish novel. Its central concern (like much of science fiction) is the relationship between a pair of teenage nerds, one a magician and the other a technological genius. Once again even those most gifted may not be able to find true love (until the end). There are talking animals and a magic school. The novel is saddening to the extent that it uses a fictional conflict between magic and technology (one of which, I'll remind you, does not exist in the real world) to highlight the destruction of our planet, which continues apace.