In the second half of the sixth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad<\/i>, Nita learns of the scope of her problem, and then gets a tiny revenge. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0A Young Wizards<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I\u00c2\u00a0am<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0interested to see how this will differ from the climactic battle in\u00c2\u00a0Deep Wizardry<\/i>, though I acknowledge that the setting is an obvious difference. But I see a similarity in the idea of a ritual conducted that replicates something that happened long ago. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the worldbuilding, though; ritual repetitions like this are incredibly powerful within the world of wizardry, so I get\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0repeating it is the way to stop it. In that sense, this is a sign of consistency from Duane in the story.<\/p>\n
At the same time, these books have all felt so wonderfully different. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not expecting\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to be the exception, but I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny this exists. So\u00c2\u00a0the conflict at this point is purely logistical: they need a way to replicate the four Treasures, each of which are bound to four of the five elements of Earth, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a slim chance that the sword and the chalice can be used as envelopes for power again. What could they possibly use in place of them or the other objects? How exactly do you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pick\u00e2\u20ac\u009d an envelope, you know? That still hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been discussed.<\/p>\n
And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the actual people involved. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that pretty much every person introduced in chapter six \u00e2\u20ac\u201c plus Doris, Annie, and Ronan \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will\u00c2\u00a0have<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to partake in the recreation, right? How many people will it require? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably no surprise that at least until it happens, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll all be busy with the sideways nightmares popping up all over Ireland. But Nita\u00c2\u00a0has<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to be involved somehow. How will that manifest? OH GOD, SOMEONE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GONNA DIE AREN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T THEY. I better not like any of these characters, because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who always ends up dying. This is a good plan, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll stick to it.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop this, then the barriers between present and past will break down everywhere, and the physical world will be progressively overrun by the nonphysical: all the myths, and truths that become myth, all the dreams and nightmares, all the more central and peripheral realities, will superimpose themselves on this one\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 inextricably.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For how long?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said a small voice out of the hush.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If that level of imposition ever takes hold fully,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Johnny said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see how the process could ever be reversed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n NO PRESSURE, THEN. I actually enjoyed that this was stated outright in the chapter because I needed to know the stakes. What were they risking? What would happen if the barriers kept breaking down?<\/p>\n And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ronan. Duane writes this character with a fascinating sense purpose. As I mentioned in the video, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neat that he and Nita don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t instantly get along with one another, though there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attraction and chemistry between them. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a competitive edge to them, but Ronan also refuses to see Nita on the same level as him. Again, he\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0have a legit reason to dislike outsiders or colonizers, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Nita had much of a choice in the matter. She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t barge in on this problem and demand that every do things her way. If anything, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been patient and respectful this entire time! She defers to all the people who know this land and this conflict better than she does.<\/p>\n Granted, they certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0hate<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0one another. I loved that conversation they had about Ronan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ordeal, \u00c2\u00a0though I should note that Nita was the one to bait him by trying to claim that he might have actually changed history by saving those Romans thousands upon thousands of years prior. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 why would the Powers send him on an Ordeal to ruin the timeline? So both of them pick at one another, especially after they share nice moments, as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to sabotage any kind of friendship from developing naturally. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entertaining, too, especially as they each escalate the conversation to that drink-spilling, alcohol-laden disaster at the end of the chapter. These two have some kinks to work out as friends, and I wonder if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be addressed in future chapters.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=27nYUR7a8Bc<\/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> In the second half of the sixth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad, Nita learns of the scope of her problem, and then gets a tiny revenge. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0A Young Wizards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[518,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-3925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-wizard-abroad","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925","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=3925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3925"}],"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 have been announced here.<\/a>
\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":"