In the sixth chapter of The Wizard’s Dilemma, Kit explores the dark world with Ponch. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.Â
Oh, the dread that this chapter gives me, y’all. IT’S UNFAIR. It’s also kind of amazing because this sequence inspires awe in me while also unnerving me. That’s a difficult thing to pull off. But Duane’s built the fear into this chapter by exploiting a fundamental rule of her own universe. We learned a few books ago that all wizardry has a cost and often, that cost is physical. There’s no way around it. You cannot create from nothing, you can not act without some sort of reaction.
So the world that Ponch found and that Kit explores in chapter six is impossible. Yet here it is, and I don’t know how to explain it. Perhaps the creepiest part of it is the instantaneous nature of it. When Kit thinks of something, that thing appears – in complete detail – immediately. It does not slowly construct itself. It’s just there.
It’s a spectacle, though, and I admit to getting lost in Duane’s beautiful prose as Kit created a new world with each step. WORLDS! HE CREATED WORLDS, Y’ALL! They’re so full and rich and vibrant, and you know, I could see myself getting addicted to the experience, too. It’s an impossibility come true, and not just in the sense that Kit’s mind is able to spring to life:
But he seemed to be in some kind of peculiar rapport with this space that let him sense things he ordinarily wouldn’t, and the tearing basso wind-roar of superheated ions blasting upward past him was strangely satisfying.
How can he have a rapport with a place like this? I can’t deny that this seems to be happening, but what does it mean? It’s a weird situation because Kit can feel something like this, yet he can’t seem to interact with these worlds in other ways. The acid rain on the stony planet doesn’t kill him, but later on, he’s able to have a conversation with an elephant he created. An elephant that looks like “the original illustration from [an] old children’s book,†I should add. How? How does he have the power to create these things???
And then, once he’s able to eliminate the blackness between worlds, this chapter becomes something else. It was transfixing. Beautiful. Haunting! What happens to those worlds when he leaves them? Did they only exist for the length of time it took Kit to make a step? I ask that question because there has to be a price paid for this. It cannot be this simple and this innocent!
Yet it seems like that’s the case. It’s perplexing. We get confirmation that time passes differently in some of these worlds, but we also learn that Kit can remove something he created in that place and it keeps its mass. HOW??? Do the other worlds still have mass after he leaves them, too? I’M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT ALL OF THIS. But not as concerned as I am for the next chapter because OH GOD.
And he ran down the stairs, exhilarated, to feed Ponch and have his own dinner. Just wait till she sees! Whatever’s been going on with her, this is gonna take her mind off it.
NO. NO IT IS NOT. HELP ME.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fgLDCI-QYE
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.
– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.  Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
