Mark Reads ‘The Book of Night With Moon’: Chapter 6, Part I

In the first part of the sixth chapter of The Book of Night With Moon, Rhiow heads to the Met to fulfill part of her day’s duties. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Feline Wizards. 

This is gonna be a LONG book, isn’t it? It’s a tad slow at this point, but I’m going through that thing where I don’t know what parts of this are vital for storytelling later or whether it’s just a very, very detailed examination of this world. 

Case in point: I get all of the stuff between Mike and Sue. It helps build up Rhiow’s life at her home, and plus, it’s just plain fun. I love seeing how humans are pretty much useless and impossible to communicate with. But there’s also a contrast, a texture, providing by the opening scene. Rhiow’s home is comfort; it is familiarity. The stakes are lower, the stresses are relatively inconsequential. But once Rhiow leaves this safe place, she’s on a mission that is dangerous, uncertain, and terrifying. That change makes the errantry all the more nerve-wracking. 

Which is why I’m a little confused about the singing part in Central Park. I get that we see Urruah’s interests outside of wizardry, and we learn what human music might sound like to a cat. Those things are interesting, but it’s such an odd choice otherwise to focus so much space within the chapter on this… is it a plot? Worldbuilding? Oh god, am I embarrassing myself because I don’t know where this is going? PROBABLY. I know it’s also because I don’t personally have much interest in this kind of music, so I’m dealing with a similar feeling to the whole Three Tenors reference earlier in the book. It’s cool but… it’s just there? So I’m struggling with any sort of commentary on that whole sequence because I can only see two explanations for it. It’s part of another subplot, or it’s just detail for the world as a whole. Annnnnnddddd I am now dreading the fact that this may turn out to be a third option I never even considered, but OH WELL, THAT’S THE PRICE I PAY FOR DOING THIS. 

Anyway, I am fully expecting that the next few chapters are basically going to destroy me? Look, this book might have a slower opening than I’m used to, but a lot has been set up that’s about to be knocked over. The info in the Met is next, and then the Old Downsides with Arhu’s first visit to that place??? Y’all, I am scared. I know I should be, and I know I’m being manipulated by this book, and I AM HAPPILY RUNNING FORWARDS INTO THIS NIGHTMARE.

https://youtu.be/4I41eYykVnQ

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