{"id":3902,"date":"2016-08-05T05:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=3902"},"modified":"2016-07-31T18:32:25","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T01:32:25","slug":"mark-reads-a-wizard-abroad-chapter-1-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2016\/08\/mark-reads-a-wizard-abroad-chapter-1-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘A Wizard Abroad’: Chapter 1, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first half of the first chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad<\/i>, I was wrong, and this is going to be glorious. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oh, I have so much to talk about.<\/p>\n

First, WOW. WOW, I WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO GETTING THE PREMISE OF THIS BOOK RIGHT. The shock of Kit and Nita being separated still hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone away. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a weird concept because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both an integral part of the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0experience. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine it any other way! In that sense, I recognize the storytelling trope that Duane uses here, one that feels very familiar to my teen self because I read so many books about parents forcing their teenage children to go on unwanted vacations. The context is different, though, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing wrong with using this trope anyway! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an easy way for me to feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m on recognizable ground.<\/p>\n

But I had so many\u00c2\u00a0feelings<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0about this text. I get why Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents want their daughter to take a break from Kit. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not out of cruelty but genuine concern. Hell, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definitely some fear there, too! Their daughter is a\u00c2\u00a0wizard<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on countless missions that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make much sense and seem preposterously dangerous. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent ages with Kit, and while their friendship is healthy and mature, I can see how the Callahans want their daughter to do something else \u00e2\u20ac\u201c anything else, really \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that will give her a chance to see the world as one that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to do with wizardry.<\/p>\n

The conflict here, though, is complicated. The whole world\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0wizardry, and Nita deftly argues that sending her to Ireland for six weeks isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to make wizardry disappear. She took the Oath, so wizardry is now inescapable. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t truly understand because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not wizards. I wonder, then, if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be disappointed by sending Nita away. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole lot of speculation, so I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll save that for later. The point being: this is not going to be the trip the Callahans think it will be. We know this! This is a\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0book. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna take very little time for things to get wacky.<\/p>\n

This first half of the chapter brought out other thoughts that Duane might not have intended. There was a part of me that felt almost\u00c2\u00a0jealous<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of Nita. At fourteen, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been to a handful of states, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d flown to Hawaii a few times to visit my father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side of the family. But travel in any significant sense \u00e2\u20ac\u201c across the country or\u00c2\u00a0out\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>of the country – was literally inconceivable to me. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything but fantasize about it, to read entries about other places in encyclopedias or in science fiction books or in Jane Austen novels\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you get the idea. If I had been offered the chance to travel\u00c2\u00a0without my parents<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to a foreign country, I would have wept with utter joy.<\/p>\n

But we all approach this shit from different places. I completely understood Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s irritation, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want this piece to invalidate that at all. She deserves to feel like her summer has been derailed and that her parents don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really trust her to make decisions for herself. I see that, and I recognize. Plus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like the Callahans are rich by any means. Yeah, a transatlantic flight is a huge deal in this day and age, but I think that nuance matters when discussing this. If we examine Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction as one of privilege, we can see how she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to consider how lucky she is that at fourteen, she even\u00c2\u00a0gets<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to make a trip like this. Who else gets to? Hell, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t travel to Ireland until I was over twice Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s age! (AND IT WAS SO LOVELY, I NEED TO GO BACK FOR A LONGER TRIP.)<\/p>\n

Yet for Nita, travel like this seems so\u00c2\u00a0small<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to her. I had to remind myself (and the text helped me!) that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d traveled to ANOTHER GALAXY in the last book, that she takes frequent trips to the moon, and that the concept of distance is completely skewed for her. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean the same thing as it does for me. These factors inform her reaction to her summer plans. The frustration overpowers any possible enjoyment, despite that I expect she actually\u00c2\u00a0will<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0have a great time once she gets there.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a challenge, however. Especially without Kit. God, how is that going to\u00c2\u00a0feel<\/i>? Again, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a huge part of the fabric of\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to change my expectations for how this book will unfold. Kit challenges Nita, and as a pair, they are better wizards. Will she need to find another wizard to achieve this again? What will this experience be like without Tom and Carl to go to? What cultural differences are there between American wizards and Irish ones? HOW DO CULTURAL MYTHS IN IRELAND RELATE TO WIZARDRY???<\/p>\n

If anything, this introductory chapter excites me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scary, too, to know how far Nita will be from home without her parents, her sister, or her best friend. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve traveled to the UK\/Europe twice now, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0familiar with the culture shock that comes from traveling to places that are so wholly different than your own. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m looking forward to experiencing through this book, and I am already aching to tell you TONS OF STORIES.<\/p>\n

Be prepared, cousins.<\/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=ed9UEiu4E9s<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\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 have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark 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":"