In the eleventh chapter of Magic Steps, I am continually astounding at how messed up this book is. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Circle Opens.
Trigger Warning: For mention of blood.
Good god. This book is TOO MUCH.
Justification
I’m fascinated by what Pierce does here with Sandry because it feels like a meta acknowledgment of the realism of the story. I admit that I have a personal weakness for stories where young characters have to step into roles that are normally reserved for adults. That’s in large part because I had to more or less do the same thing myself, and I don’t mind confessing that this is a personal taste issue. It’s why I’m writing a book that’s YA. Since that’s part of my life now, I’m more aware of one of the stranger parts of writing something for this age group. How exactly does the text validate or justify characters participating in the action? Is it because they’re forced into it? Is it because it is their destiny? Is it believable?
Perhaps this is my own bias at work here, but a bulk of this section felt like the text of Magic Steps was working out this very issue. Now, it makes sense anyway that Duke Vedris and Erdogun would complain quite loudly about Sandry’s involvement in such a dangerous venture, so it’s not like this feels out of character for the story. No, it’s quite natural to me. Vedris has always been protective of his great-niece. At the same time, it was always inevitable that Sandry would have to be involved in the main confrontation with Alzena and Nurhar because of the nature of the Emelan books. That’s how they’ve functioned, so we’re not surprised when Sandry is the focus of that journey.
But that doesn’t mean that this specific aspect of the story can’t be addressed, and I found it rewarding to have Erdogun, Vedris, Sandry, and Lark speak so openly about the reasons for Sandry’s involvement in the final trap. It’s a risky proposition, first of all, and discussing why that is the case heightens the tension. Duke Vedris has always been a reasonable, understanding character, and therefore it’s meaningful when he objects so strongly to the plan to trap the mage and the assassins. I think that’s the case for Erdogun, too, whose no-nonsense characterization is still here, too:
“We won’t send a fourteen-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy naked to do battle with a blighted mage.â€
“Strange,†remarked Erdogun. He sat just behind the duke’s chair. “That’s what it sounds like to me.â€
What Lark does, though, is SO IMPORTANT. It’s not enough for her to say that Sandry’s participation is important; she goes out of her way to justify why Sandry specifically is needed to combat the unmagic. That scene where Sandry played with a bit of an unmagic smudge is fully explained when she details her plan to spin a web out of the stuff and have Pasco do his dance to draw the mage and the killers to them. Who else can do that? Who else has the power to use this unmagic against the people weaving it? It is the uniqueness of her power and of Pasco’s that will allow them an advantage of sorts, and it’s precisely what they need.
That doesn’t make this less scary, though, LORD.
Motivation
I didn’t want to stick this under the same heading as my analysis of Sandry because I don’t believe Pierce was trying to justify what Alzena has done in this book. Hell, I can tell she has no interest in it. At the same time, I was reminded of one of my favorite lines from Brooklyn Nine-Nine while reading this section:
Cool motive. Still murder.
Alzena’s POV scene here provides us with context to understand what it is that Alzena has been trying to do and how that affects the story. Her behavior – along with that of Nurhar and the unnamed mage – has been monstrous. Does this part make it less so? Not at all, thankfully.
She cared about so little except that one goal, the end of these Rokats. The family had invested so much to send them here, the expense greater than that spent on the teams in any of the other Pebbled Sea countries. Jamar and Qasam had been the brothers of the Rokat who had killed Palaq Dihanur and displayed his head in dishonor; many of those now in the inner keep were the grandchildren of Jamar and Qasam Rokat. Their deaths came first; they had to. Only when the last Emelan Rokat was dead could Alzena tell this duke what she thought of his interference.
That information is frightening for a number of reasons. It helps us understand Alzena’s singular determination. She has little interest in anything but wiping an entire family out of this world, and thus, she views Vedris with disdain. He’s just another roadblock in her plan, which makes him disposable to her. The same goes for every one of the guards she fights with here. She clearly has little regard for humanity in general, maybe not even her own. She has to know that the unmagic is eating her away. Even if she doesn’t, she’s still actively murdering people who don’t even have a tangential importance to her quest. She doesn’t care. My gods, she gets furious at a Vedris for protecting his inner keep:
How dare they add one more obstacle, even one as stupid as a wooden fence?
At the same time, she’s vulnerable here, more so than before, and her sloppy attack during the recon mission shows us that she’s not doing her best. She trips, the sound of her stumble alerting the guards, and everything becomes a disaster rather quickly. I’m hoping the cut on her side will give Pasco and Sandry enough to be able to track her. Somewhat, of course. They’ve still got a million other issues, and taking the mage down first is the big priority here. I love the idea of the unmagic net, but I’m nervous about whether or not it’ll work. I’M SCARED.
The original text contains use of the word “stupid.â€
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFVjuUCdk8
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