In the seventh chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Magic Steps<\/i>, everything is so messed up. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0The Circle Opens<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For talk of death, violence.<\/b><\/p>\n
I am keenly aware of how unprepared I am for this book. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s moving so quickly! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING NOW.<\/p>\n
The Aftermath<\/b><\/p>\n
Pierce is setting the pieces in place for the group to find a method of\u00c2\u00a0seeing<\/i> unmagic in use, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s making me nervous. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m now fully expecting some sort of awful confrontation between the Dihanurs and the people of Emelan. And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Sandry to thank for being the only person to even\u00c2\u00a0notice<\/i> that Alzena and Nurhar left behind an essence of themselves on the two Guardsmen who survived the attack. That mark or smear is the only clue that eventually leads Wulfric Snaptrap (WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME) to the truth about what happened to Qasam.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scary, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a mess. One Guard \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Guryil \u00e2\u20ac\u201c broke his leg after his mount had\u00c2\u00a0their<\/i> legs slashed. If it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s observational skills? Look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what would have happened to Guryil. The unmagic stain on him was sapping the healer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s magic away, making it impossible to work. Would he have had to heal naturally, or would he have actually gotten\u00c2\u00a0worse<\/i>? If unmagic really is the opposite of life, as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen in the mage utilizing it for Alzena and Nurhar, does that mean Guryil would have eventually wasted away?<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unnerving thought. (This is an unnerving book, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be real.) But Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weaving magic saves the day, since she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to send threads of her magic into Guryil, weaving them around and through the shadow, and then SHE CLOSES IT ALL UP IN A MAGICAL CLOTH. Like, how is that not the coolest shit ever??? It just is, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Of course, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to come up with something a lot more efficient than having Sandry do it all by herself. But more on the unmagic in a bit!<\/p>\n
Teaching<\/b><\/p>\n
Again, I appreciate that Pierce doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make Sandry a perfect teacher. She knows that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got shortcomings as a tutor for Pasco, but that also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awful. I think she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty talented myself, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room to grow. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that at times, Pasco is a lot more literal than she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s used to. For example:<\/p>\n
Sandry tried to remember how Nike had explained it to them. Briar had chosen a carved wooden rose, Sandry a drop spindle, Daja a smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hammer. Tris had never said what she had imagined. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, it could be one of the rocks here\u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why ever would I want to fit into a rock?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bless you, Pasco. Perhaps the bribe method that Lark suggested will work better for him, as well as the change of scenery. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that Sandry was able to realize that Pasco was not comfortable studying in the palace because it was too uncomfortable. Perhaps The Crooked Crow will serve him better!<\/p>\n
Yazm\u00c3\u00adn<\/b><\/p>\n
I was actually prepared to start shipping Yazm\u00c3\u00adn and Lark because\u00c2\u00a0why not<\/i>, but the idea of Duke Vedris and Yazm\u00c3\u00adn dating is really, really adorable. Her arrival here is a blessing in two sense. A lot of Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current stress is due to how overwhelming her life is. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tasked with taking care of both Duke Vedris and Pasco, and her own studies are most likely taking a backseat to these pressing matters. Yazm\u00c3\u00adn, if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interested, could actually alleviate some of that work, you know? I also think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crucial that when it comes to dancing, Pasco\u00c2\u00a0has<\/i> to learn from another dancer. For the introductory stuff, Sandry is just fine as a teacher, but she knows she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll reach a point where she cannot guide Pasco at all.<\/p>\n
Unmagic<\/b><\/p>\n
The more I think about unmagic, the more it messes me up. Can unmagic get out of control? Like, what happens to all the unmagic left behind, like it was on Guryil and Lebua? Is it only active when being used by a mage? Oh god, WHAT ABOUT THIS:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People also use it to collapse distances and walk between places, if they can bear it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lark added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One man who jumped from Lightsbridge to Nidra through unmagic lay in a fever for a year, raving. Later he wrote that his senses all went dead; he was trapped inside his own mind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME THINK OF THESE THINGS. good god.<\/p>\n
Fariji Rokat<\/b><\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what to say. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beyond what could be described as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153messed up.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Alzena is so ruthless here, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that her superiors truly wanted her to destroy everyone in this family. She kills a\u00c2\u00a0baby<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. A baby, a young girl, Fariji, and then the possibly pregnant mother. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no remorse or hesitation. In fact, all she feels is a mild irritation that\u00c2\u00a0this wasn<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as fun as it could have been<\/i>.<\/p>\n
There ought to be fun in this victory over the hated Rokats. Even the prospect of her family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pleasure in what she did seemed unimportant now. Before coming to the house she had worried about killing the children, but when her work got to that, she had been cold. What was the point to any of this, if she felt nothing?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I honestly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to say. WHAT THE HELL.<\/p>\n
The original text contains use of the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mad\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crazy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VJ3daQLZoGk<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running,\u00c2\u00a0I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the\u00c2\u00a0MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the seventh chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Magic Steps, everything is so messed up. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0The Circle Opens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[477,491,490],"tags":[482,250],"class_list":["post-3308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emelan","category-magic-steps","category-the-circle-opens","tag-mark-reads-emelan","tag-tamora-pierce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}