In the second half of the fifth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Wizardry<\/i>, Kit and Nita meet their first blue whale. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
AHHHH THIS BOOK CONTINUES TO BE SUPER COOL. I LOVE IT.<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so much care taken to represent this experience in a way that educates the reader about whales but also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 these are humans! Kit and Nita are experience whale bodies but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve still got whale minds. How do you combine that in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not confusing but also gives us a sense of wonder for the whole thing.<\/p>\n
YOU DO THIS. Like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never sat down and thought about how\u00c2\u00a0loud<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the ocean must be for creatures who live near major ports. But the ocean must be\u00c2\u00a0unbearable<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0for them, right? How do they cope with it? Is that why you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see whale very close to highly-populated shores??? SOUND? Oh gods, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this is so cool because now I want to go seek out a billion whale documentaries on Netlfix and binge watch them all. This book is making me want to learn\u00c2\u00a0more<\/i>.<\/p>\n
For example: Are dolphins largely considered giant jerks of the ocean? How do other creatures feel about them? Is Hotshot a caricature or what most dolphins are like? I love that this book is making me think of these questions, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine another context that would have inspired them. But within this rich tapestry of both characterization and science, Duane leads our main characters closer to their goal. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eerie at times since the fear of the unknown permeates the novel. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it going to be like in the deep ocean? What if Nita or Kita aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to hold their whale form down there? How will they be able to see??? AT WHICH POINT WILL I START YELLING AND SHRIEKING ABOUT TERRIFYING CREATURES IN THE OCEAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DEPTH?<\/p>\n
I worry about that because even within the second half of this chapter, Kit has an odd moment. He snaps at Hotshot for making fun of him, but he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it because he is personally offended by it. The act felt more like it was an instinctual reaction, something Kit just understood because of the Sea. What\u00c2\u00a0else<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0will manifest in him or Nita? What other things will they understand? And what if they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t control their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153natural\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reaction? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scary, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, especially since Kit doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to become a bully because of this. But what if he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that?<\/p>\n
Okay, now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve unnerved myself more than I wanted to. THANKS, BRAIN.<\/p>\n
Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also talk about how cool it is when we meet the blue whale. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SUPER COOL. I greatly enjoyed how easy it was to imagine the deepness in the Blue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice, especially in this section:<\/p>\n
But that voice, that stately, leisurely, sober, sorrowful voice that sounded like a storm in mourning,\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>mattered to her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I LOVE THIS A LOT, EVERYONE.<\/p>\n
So, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to expect from the Song. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good thing, by the way. Blue warns Nita that her participation in the Song will most likely attract the Lone Power since she and Kit kind of screwed him over.\u00c2\u00a0Just a little bit<\/i>. Combine that with the news that parts of the Shelf are still changing because of the Lone Power, and it feels like a showdown is inevitable. But Duane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crafted a conflict with so many variables aside from the main antagonist that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what I should focus on. The kids retaining their human form? The diminishing amount of time left? The possibility that the whales Called by Blue\u00c2\u00a0reject<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0them?<\/p>\n
Or how about a more logistical issue? THEY CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T JUST HANG OUT IN THE OCEAN FOR DAYS. Right as Duane pulls us further into this world, she grounds her story by reminding us that Kit and Nita are teenagers on vacation who can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spend all their time away from home. Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried about that, too. How are they going to reach the deep ocean and get back in time without arousing the Callahans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 suspicion?<\/p>\n
I HAVE NO IDEA.<\/p>\n
Diane Duane is still offering a massive discount on the first 9 books in the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series just to this community, so please take advantage of this deal while you still can:<\/b><\/p>\n
http:\/\/bit.ly\/markreadsYW<\/a><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RmHMAstwYWs<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>.
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! 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 Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. 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!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the second half of the fifth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Wizardry, Kit and Nita meet their first blue whale. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[515,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-3825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-wizardry","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825","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=3825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}