In the first half of the twelfth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Wizardy<\/i>, Nita and Kit begin the long and terrifying descent to the location where the Song will be sung. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
EVERYTHING HURTS.<\/p>\n
The Beginning<\/b><\/p>\n
I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t escape the feeling that this is just as much a science fiction book as it is a fantasy novel, and that is THE COOLEST SHIT EVER. I felt like I was learning about the deep ocean while also being immersed into a fully imagined fantastical world. On top of that? I felt guilt. A lot of it. Humans, as a whole, have been pretty damn wasteful and careless with this planet, and Diane Duane does not even remotely care about how uncomfortable this might make the reader. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary information within this story! Wizards are trying to slow the entropic death of the universe, and things like pollution contribute to that. IS THERE A WIZARD RECYCLING COMMUNITY? What about wizards employed for oil spills? Forest fires? CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS???<\/p>\n
Okay, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting ahead of myself. I found the long, descriptive introduction in this chapter to be utterly necessary to the story. Not only does it help build this world further, but it sets the stage. Duane creates a pervasive and unsettling dread in these pages before the first attack, and I felt pretty anxious while reading this. The sheer size of all of this was truly unfathomable to me. How do you even conceive of a space so big? So crushing? So dark? So oppressive to one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soul? And if the terrors of the deep weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough, Duane makes sure to remind us that air will be in limited supply. She makes sure to let us know that the Lone One isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to let these creatures make it to their destination without a fight, either. Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Kit, who rapidly begins\u00c2\u00a0becoming<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a sperm whale, and all of this is happening AT ONCE. Like, honestly, who do you think I am? What do you think I can stand?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Anything else?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d S\u00e2\u20ac\u2122reee said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Any questions?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is there time for a fast bite?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Roots said, sounding wistful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n TRULY ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n Seaquake<\/b><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not long before Duane begins her relentless reign of horror upon these characters. If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not one thing, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s FOUR THOUSAND OTHER THINGS. Literally.\u00c2\u00a0I counted them<\/i>. But the seaquake is such a\u00c2\u00a0huge<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0first thing for them all to deal with, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I never thought how weird it would feel to creatures who use sound and sonar to see. A quake would be devastating to them, as it was for Nita. BUT THEN PART OF THE CLIFF-SHELF BREAKS OFF AND PLUNGES DOWN AND HEADS STRAIGHT FOR AREINNYE. And my first fear was that Areinnye would die. I honestly was afraid this was going to be the case and the Song would be ruined. Then, I thought that Kit would have to take Areinnye\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s place, and then\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0thought was replaced by another fear:<\/p>\n The next thing Nita felt was the shock of a spell being broken by forces too great for it to handle, as the rock-shelf came crushing down on it, smashing it flat against something both soft and hard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I thought it was Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body. Gods, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, it was such a scary moment, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad it was only a few sentences later that I learned that both Kit and Areinnye survived, though not exactly unscathed. And was there any time to recover from this? NO. NOT AT ALL.<\/p>\n Release the Krakens AGAIN<\/b><\/p>\n Because THEN THIS HAPPENS:<\/p>\n Thick black sucker-tipped arms whipped up from the disturbed ooze on the bottom, grasping, flailing in the light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n ARE YOU KIDDING ME. SERIOUSLY. I expected a round of attacks. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that the Lone Power sent them to distract and hurt those traveling to complete the Song. But the sheer relentless and chaotic nature of the sequence here was a complete shock to me. It goes on for what feels like an eternity, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend for that to be a criticism of the text. As S\u00e2\u20ac\u2122reee explains to Areinnye:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The krakens are here for the same reason the quake was \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because the Lone Power wants them here. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to use up our air fighting them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is why this section needs to be lengthy and taxing. It had to be frightening, and I needed to feel like it should have ended right when it kept on going. Duane takes us far past any point of comfortability with this sequence before she eases out of the assault. I was tired, point blank, and the Song hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even started. Kit was turning into a sperm whale, so completely that I now wonder if\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0might be the horrible twist waiting for me in this chapter. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m only halfway through this, and we barely get a couple verses before the split. I was\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0stoked on all the awesome creatures, though. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been waiting for that THIS WHOLE TIME, I KNEW THEY WOULD SHOW UP. Sometimes, when I want to feel like I am insignificant and ignorant, I go watch YouTube videos of deep-sea creatures. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great exercise, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n Oh, right. One more thing.<\/p>\n The Twelfth Singer<\/b><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c If this is the Song of the Twelve, how come there are only eleven of us singing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n WHY DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T I THINK TO COUNT ALL THE CELEBRANTS? OH MY GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS BOOK. THE LONE POWER IS BOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA AND THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE THE TWELFTH SINGER AND THIS IS THE WORST. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LIKE THIS, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TURN BACK AND LET THE WORLD DISINTEGRATE<\/p>\n Okay, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m kidding. I JEST, FRIENDS. I love that the Sea\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tooth is located at a place where lava spills into the ocean. Symbolically, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfect, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where change happens every second of every day. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where creatures adapt to an environment no others can live in. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where the Lone Power is bound, and where the world might be saved\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 or ended.<\/p>\n MY BODY IS READY. Just kidding, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not.<\/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=-RXwNFNMa4A<\/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>. In the first half of the twelfth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Wizardy, Nita and Kit begin the long and terrifying descent to the location where the Song will be sung. 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-3843","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\/3843","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=3843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3843\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\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":"