In the eleventh chapter of Deep Secret, Maree and Rupert finally interact at PhantasmaCon, and it’s over something I never would have expected. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Deep Secret.
Chapter Eleven
- AHHHHH THIS IS SO GREAT! Switching perspectives in the chapter! More mysteries! Nick’s unbelievable waking routine! This book is downright charming, y’all.
- Andrew. WHO IS THIS MAN. Look, I really feel like Rupert should be a lot more concerned about him! He could sense that Stan was in the car! Isn’t that kind of a big deal?
- I really would like Magid powers if that meant I could use said powers to allow my friends to park wherever they want. Well, and for other things, too, but let’s just start there.
- So, like I said in an earlier review this week, I love it when I get to see the same event from two different points of view, and that’s still the case here. Now I know why Maree looked up at the mirrors in the lobby and felt so strange: there were invisible figures in robes and cowls walking through the space at that exact time. They’re definitely the same people that Nick and Maree walked in on later that night. Why do they feel so wrong? Who are they?
- “Rupert the Mage” is about 100 times funnier to me than it should be.
- I’m also glad that Rupert finally figures out that his hatred-filled obsession with Maree Mallory is mostly likely what subconsciously linked his fatelines with hers. She’s not out to get you, dude!
- As you’ll see in the first video, I postulated that it was fascinating to see two newcomers to a SFF convention have such polar opposite reactions, but that ended up being proved wrong. In Rupert’s words: “By the time we all got to the bar, where I met Rick Corrie and, through him, Maxim Hough, I was actively enjoying myself.” It’s spawns a realization about the forced loneliness and anti-social behavior that he’s been exhibiting for years. Sure, he’s needed secrecy regarding his Magid identity, but it’s at this convention that he remembers how great it is to be friendly with people.
- YES. I LOVE YOU, CHARACTER GROWTH.
- Oh my god, difficult con guests: Join your place on my totally arbitrary, not-actually-written down list titled, “The Worst.” Because you are definitely The Worst. It’s one thing to expect to be treated with respect and care; it’s another thing to complain relentlessly, to purposely try and embarrass the people who have put time and money into running a convention, and to do all of this in a way that costs the convention itself more money.
- I see that I was right about Zinka, though I was shocked when Rupert revealed he used to date her at one point. That was unexpected. But you know, I totally can see how a Magid might use a SFF con for a vacation. That idea is so appealing to me that I’m going to start assuming the coolest people at a con I’m at are actually Magids on holiday.
- How exactly is Zinka going to sort out Mervin???
- Y’all, Mallory is still a possibility in terms of becoming the Magid that Rupert changes. JUST ACCEPT IT, DUDE. SHE’S THE ONE.
- Of course, this could be complicated by Rupert’s discovery of all the bad magic within the Hotel Babylon. What doesn’t Rupert know about this place or that specific weekend?
- The book switches over to Maree’s point of view, and… my god. Nick Mallory. You must be studied. You must. I mean, I’ve known plenty of people who don’t wake up easily. It’s all a very foreign concept to me because I’ve never needed tons of sleep, and I’m generally a light sleeper. I think I’ve only slept over nine hours a handful of times in my life, so this is unreal to me. But it’s also super fucking funny. A TON OF WAITERS COME TO OBSERVE HIM LIKE HE’S AN EXHIBIT IN THE ZOO. IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL.
- But my favorite part? The fact that Rupert actually has a conversation with Maree. And it’s civil! Oh, Rupert, I can’t wait for you to realize you’ve got it all wrong about Mallory. She’s not who you think she is.
- BUT WHO THE HELL IS THE CROATIAN MAN? What was a humorous scene is made instantly not funny when Rupert goes chasing off after the man who thought Ted was Sir Thomas Malory. Honestly, I thought this scene was a way for DWJ to poke fun at being mistakenly recognized as someone else, but then Rupert “was looking utterly fed up and disappointed, as if the Croatian had somehow let him down badly.”
- WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???
- I NEED TO KNOW.
The original text contains use of the word “mad.”
Part 1
Part 2
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