In the second chapter of Deep Secret, Rupert does his best to track down the Magid candidates to replace Stan, and utterly fails to do so. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Deep Secret.
Chapter Two
- Oh, there are some intriguing things here, and it’s also clear that I’m not meant to fully understand this fictional world just yet. I WANT TO KNOW MORE.
- First off, I love the scope of the story because even when the action is on planet Earth, it’s on the whole planet. Granted, it doesn’t actually work in Rupert’s favor. Truthfully, until Stan shows up (!!!!!!), nothing seems to go in his favor, so there’s that, too.
- So, since Stan had a list of candidates, does that mean Magids can sense potential in other humans? Or did they monitor certain people?
- Fair warning: When I start a new work of fiction, I obsessively want to know every single bit of logistics about how that world starts. I mean, Rupert accesses “Magid records” at one point when he discovers one of the candidates is at some sort of retreat. So the Magids keep track of every world? Are they trying to determine what’s real magic and what’s an imitation?
- Magic aside, I loved how real this felt, at least while Rupert was using only his own human ability to track down these people. He had to travel all over the world, deal with setbacks, cope with the unpredictability of human behavior, and contend with Mrs. Nuttall. WHICH WAS GREAT. Seriously, even though she initially thought Rupert was her daughter’s slimy ex, wouldn’t you be highly suspicious of someone like Rupert coming into your store and asking about someone that they claim they’ve never met before?
- Rupert is an interesting choice as the narrator, and I liked that Jones poked fun at him by having Stan show up to remind him that HE HAS MAGICAL POWERS. WHAT IS HE DOING SEARCHING FOR PEOPLE THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY?
- Y’all, Stan really came back. Not only that, but we learn about the “Lords of Karma,” who Stan had to argue with in order to be granted one more year on earth. As a disembodied voice stuck in Rupert’s house, for the record. That’s…. kind of a shitty afterlife.
- So what exactly is Rupert doing when he’s sitting in his house? He provides updates to us about what he’s discovered, but how? Can he hear thoughts? Project himself to these places???
- “It’s the penalty of being odd when most people are normal.” BLESS.
- Holy shit, THE SCENE WITH MAREE’S FATHER. Like…. what the hell??? That’s what Magids can do? WHAT THE
- “I gave that cancer a sharp flip and told it to go away.” And the man feels it.Â
- Oh god, that line about Maree’s father holding on to the cancer too much hit close to home. So, Magids can see more than the naked eye can, and they can infiltrate people’s minds to… subtly influence them? Given what he does to this man here and what he says at the end of the chapter, I’m assuming that’s the case.
- Seriously, why aren’t Magids paid? How can you expect them to have to work a full job and do… whatever it is that Magids do?
- WHOA PLOT TWIST, EMPEROR TIMOS IX WAS ASSASSINATED.
- Honestly, I just felt bad for Rupert. He hadn’t made much progress in tracking down Maree, and now the Iforians want him to come help them pick a new Emperor??? First of all, why? Why is a Magid the only one who can help them, and why Rupert specifically? Second, the dude already has a ton on his plate.
- But y’all.
- Y’ALL.
- “I thought as I went that Lewis Carroll got it right in Alice Through the Looking Glass. No one had ever told me, but I have always suspected that Carroll was a Magid. It is a very influential thing to do, to write books like the Alice books; and influence is what being a Magid is all about. Subtle influence.”
- HOLYH SL;ADSFLK;ADJSLF
- KJSDJF;LASDJKFLKJSDAF
- SO WAIT
- I HAVE ~IDEAS~ ABOUT THIS
- So, Carroll’s work is canon within this universe.
- And Carroll wrote about a parallel universe
- So Magids influence people to believe in parallel worlds????
- OH MY GOD I NEED MORE OF THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW.
The original text contains uses of the word “maddening.”
Part 1
Part 2
Mark Links Stuff
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