In the first half of the second chapter of Games Wizards Play, Nita works out some problems with an old friend of hers. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.Â
WHOOPS I HAD TO DO IT AGAIN. While I am certainly feeling better, I still have a cough and my voice is not on the best terms. I am hoping that I will not have to do a last-minute split like this again, y’all, but MY POOR THROAT.
Anyway: NITA! Oh, it was just so lovely to get back to her and her POV. I feel like it’s been quite some time! So it was like returning to an old friend, sort of like GETTING TO SEE S’REEE AGAIN, TOO. We’re dropped into a comfortable scenario, which is rife with references to Deep Wizardry. The contrast between what Nita’s up to with Kit’s day is a little funny to me. Though now I’m going to entertain the notion that Nita isn’t involved in the games because she’s too cunning and it would instantly make any game unfair for her opposing team. THIS IS A GREAT THEORY.
Like I said about the first chapter, I love that this book is opening with a tiny glimpse at the every day lives of the two main characters. For the past year, Nita’s been involved in a project to help the cetacean community with WHALESARKS. Y’all, she is just so pure!!!!! I love that she is so willing to help non-humans to slow down entropy in whatever tiny way she can, and troubleshooting whalesarks is certainly something she’s uniquely qualified for. But it’s Nita’s intereactions with the three whales that I found most interesting, partially because it seems that Kit and Nita are on similar wavelengths in regards to their relationship. It doesn’t help that Nita has witnessed the courtship of S’reee and Hwiii’sh for a while now, and that this odd pairing has made her think about what she’s going through. That kind of stuff can be distracting, you know?
Though there’s a key difference here, of course: Kit and Nita are both wizards. Hwiii’sh is not. (I still can’t get over the fact that he’s a food critic. SO GREAT.) So they share an experience and a life that allows them to skip over the awkwardness and uncertainty that S’reee is feeling, since she’s not used to the idea that someone finds her intriguing because she is a wizard and they are not. But just because Kit and Nita share this whole experience doesn’t mean it solves everything! And I’m glad Duane is having them think about this, however briefly, because this stuff is important, and not just for romantic relationships. What do you want out of another person? What do you need? How do you change the way you talk to someone if your relationship with them has changed as well? And that’s sort of where these two are. Theyboth recognize an attraction to one another, as well as a desire for something more romantic. They are also both incredibly inexperienced with all of this, and so there’s a natural and understandable trepidation at work here.
I am just interested in seeing how it plays out.
https://youtu.be/CAFkABLVzoQ
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