The reviewers judged the realistic aspects more successful than the magical. editions were published in 1987, 1989, and 1991 by Dutton Books (an imprint of Viking Penguin from 1986). Kirkus Reviews covered all three books when their first U.S.

In the conclusion he strives to heal a soldier veteran of the Belfast Troubles, rather than anyone in his family. In the sequel Gwyn again uses magical power to handle an outside threat to his family, and to resolve conflict within it. They help him to unravel the mystery of his sister Bethan, who disappeared on his birthday four years ago. On his ninth birthday grandmother Nain Griffiths gives him five odd gifts that take him on a quest to discover whether he is a magician like his Celtic ancestors.

The stories are set in twentieth-century Wales and revolve around a boy named Gwyn Giffiths, who is descended from magicians, although neither parent believes that family lore. Egmont UK's 2003 edition (ISBN 1-4052-1051-6) is paginated separately with counts that match Methuen's first editions and also some reissues in separate volumes (144, 158, and 168 pages). Mammoth paginated 468- and 435-page editions consecutively in 1991 and retained the Carey illustrations. Omnibus editions entitled The Snow Spider Trilogy have been published in Britain. ISFDB does not report any interior artwork. There the novels were published a year or two after their first editions by Dutton Children's Books (an imprint recently acquired by Penguin).

In the U.S., Emlyn's Moon was originally titled Orchard of the Crescent Moon (1989, 1990). The novels were first published in hardcover editions by Methuen, the first two with illustrations by Joanna Carey, which were retained at least in early British paperbacks. ISFDB catalogues the series as The Magician Trilogy.

The magician trilogy jenny nimmo