For Year of the Griffin, Jones creates a magical universe with a university at the center of action. Action does not often take place off campus. Instead, the university functions as a sort of proving ground. Here, representatives of far-flung regions and diverse forms of government converge.

In some ways, Wizards' University follows a realistic tradition. Its campus boasts the typical kinds of buildings—a lecture hall, a lab, an observatory tower. The refectory provides the usual tasteless food. Attendance requires new students to break with childhood ties and locales, forge new friendships, and embark upon journeys of selfimprovement. For these reasons, the university is an ideal setting in which to explore the novel's themes.

At this university, the themes unfold in magical terms. The six first-year students take classes on such topics as basic magic, the laws of magic, basic alchemy, and elementary astrology. The Spellman...