In the eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Magic Steps<\/i>, Sandry helps at yet another crime scene. Inrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0The Circle Opens<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For blood, death.<\/b><\/p>\n
You know, Sandry is basically getting to live out a teenage fantasy of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, a lot of us. This chapter is, more or less, a chance for Sandry to use her skills as a TEENAGE DETECTIVE. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Nancy Drew-ing it all over this part of the story. (I hated the Hardy Boys so much. THEY WERE SO UNINTERESTING. Nancy Drew was way better.) I enjoyed viewing this through that lens, as if it was a way for others to insert themselves in this kind of fantasy. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so rewarding!<\/p>\n
At the same time, I think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interesting angle to Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work here. She uses her status as a noble \u00e2\u20ac\u201c particularly as the duke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great-niece \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to help others. Sure, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an aspect of her characterization here that involves assuaging her curiosity, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only to a certain point. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s curious about the nature of the smears of unmagic, but mostly out of concern. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if they can rub off on others\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> cause them harm, and that alarms her. Plus, once she explains to the Guards on site what she wants to do, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking out for the best interest of everyone else:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to cover it, to protect it, till your harrier-mages can see it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n The Guard raised his eyebrows. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right sensible of your ladyship,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, his manner more respectful than it had been earlier. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go ahead, do it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find it selfish of her to use her own underclothing to protect others. To me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very<\/i> much like Sandry, to use her status and her literal possessions for someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s benefit. How many other nobles would use silk underclothes they were actually wearing as crime scene markers??? None, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d venture, and yet Sandry does this with no hesitation whatsoever. And like I said, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a curious person, but she knows that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got limits to that curiosity.<\/p>\n Sandry hesitated. Did she really want to go in that place? Hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it been bad enough, seeing Jamar Rokat in pieces?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the only thing she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reticent about, and understandably so. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not pleasing to her to be amidst such violent depravity, and if she could have gotten out of it without guilt, she probably would have. However:<\/p>\n But there was the matter of the unmagic smears. Every fiber of her being protested leaving them where they were.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Her instinct tells her how horrible those smears are, and she knows she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just leave this all behind.<\/p>\n There are a few hints towards what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to come in this book, or at least I\u00c2\u00a0hope<\/i> that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M TRYING.) Obviously, Alzena\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s injury and bloodloss is a huge deal, given that Wulfric\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s famed power is to be able to track down people based on hair, blood, or fibers that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve left behind. With as much blood that she left behind, it\u00c2\u00a0seems<\/i> hopeful that Wulfric will be able to track down Alzena and Nurhar. EXCEPT I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SURE SOMETHING AWFUL WILL HAPPEN TO STOP THAT.<\/p>\n I also got thinking about Pasco\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powers when Sandry made reference to them:<\/p>\n The image of Pasco dancing to call up fish rose in her mind. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there something else you could do?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d inquired Sandry, her note forgotten. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Call him to you, if you have some piece of him?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now, while this is a reference to Wulfric\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tracking powers, I think it\u00c2\u00a0could<\/i> be a sign of what sort of magic Pasco might be capable. It seems that his intention plays a huge part in the application of his magic, so\u00c2\u00a0could<\/i> he call people to him with his dance-magic??? THE POSSIBILITIES WOULD BE ENDLESS.<\/p>\n Anyway, after Sandry assists Wulfric and the other Guards inside the Rokat house, exhaustion gets the best of her. (I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel the need to talk about the gory, bloody details of the nursery in this space because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit too much. SO UPSETTING.) At first, I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey, Pierce is showing that Sandry isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t some invincible super mage! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cool! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad to see realism like this in the text.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n haha.<\/p>\n ha<\/p>\n She was tired. Only when she felt herself reaching for her friends did she realize they had fallen into the habit of borrowing strength from each other. No matter how hardworked any of them might be, at least one of the others would be rested and strong. Now she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that, and she missed it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Thanks for that punch right in my heart, Tamora Pierce. THANKS.<\/p>\n So what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next for these characters? Well, with the surviving Rokat clan housed in the inner keep of the Duke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Citadel, I am IMMEDIATELY TERRIFIED that this means that Alzena and Nurhar are going to try to break in to kill pretty much everyone. Are they going to care whether the Duke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Guards get in the way? Most likely not, and with plenty of other characters wrapped up in this case, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to start freaking out NOW about the big confrontation between these two groups. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even doubt that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll happen at this point.<\/p>\n And because it needs to be said AGAIN: this book is so messed up.<\/p>\n The original text contains use of the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mad.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2KMq2TTnAPo<\/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> In the eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Magic Steps, Sandry helps at yet another crime scene. Inrigued? 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-3310","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\/3310","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=3310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\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!
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