In the first half of the eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad<\/i>, Nita and Kit ask for help. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
AHHHHHH I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SOMETHING. LIKE, COMPLETELY RIGHT. Granted, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly the biggest mystery, and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel as if Duane intended this to be a big shocker. BUT ALLOW ME A MOMENTARY CELEBRATION.<\/p>\n
Okay, moment over. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk.<\/p>\n
Parity<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like this is the sole time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve noticed this thing, but it was very obvious here: the adult wizards treat the younger ones as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just as worthy of the same attention and respect as those that are the same age as them. That kind of parity is extremely rare in fiction\u00c2\u00a0period<\/i>, and then once get further into genres \u00e2\u20ac\u201c fantasy and then YA and so forth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the less you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see it. It struck me that the opening scene in this chapter takes place between wizards who are two and three times the age as Nita, Kit, and Ronan, and it deals with issues that are huge and scary and require a ton of maturity and self-discipline.<\/p>\n
Yet not one adult \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not Annie, Doris, or Johnny \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ever condescends down at one of these characters. Hell, at different points across the first half of this chapter, the adults\u00c2\u00a0defer<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to the kids, asking them about their time in Sugarhill and their meeting with the Queen. The kids are a source of information! They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re consulted! And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so goddamn cool, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Duane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s built a world where this makes sense, too, and I appreciate that. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t question why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arranged like this. Plus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Nita and Kit who take initiative and seek out the Power nearby.<\/p>\n
More on that in a bit.<\/p>\n
Ronan<\/b><\/p>\n
What memory was he struggling with? I suppose I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m assuming that Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reading of the situation was correct, but perhaps it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s related to his Ordeal again. He acted a bit strange when Nita asked him about it, though I understand that is probably common among wizards anyway. But why does the Cup cause this moment to happen? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s special about it?<\/p>\n
The Moon<\/b><\/p>\n
Ask me when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get sick of Nita and Kit going to the moon. TRICK QUESTION BECAUSE I NEVER WILL. It is just so terribly amusing to me that these characters are so flippant and casual about\u00c2\u00a0the moon<\/i>. THE ACTUAL MOON.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very interested to see where Kit and Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship will end up after this book. Ronan is a clear sign of friction between them, enough that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bickering more than usual. I bet Nita wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even concerned about Kit hearing her think about Ronan, but once Kit opens that door, it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be closed. She knows that is one of her fears, and she still doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how to deal with all the confusing things that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feeling. Once again, the two of them get close to discussing what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on, but circumstances pull them apart. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot easier for them to focus on their main problem, too, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure they leapt at the opportunity to go confront Biddy.<\/p>\n
The Hidden Power<\/b><\/p>\n
I enjoyed the execution of this entire scene because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so\u00c2\u00a0real<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no moment where Biddy\u00c2\u00a0acts<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0like a fantastical god or demigod or anything. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a person who happens to be the physical manifestation of one of the Powers that Be. Her humanity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t an illusion, and she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 convert into something else before Nita and Kit. Or show off her powers. Or speak in terms they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand. She\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Biddy \u00c3\u201c D\u00c3\u00a1laigh! She might have access to things and knowledge that normal humans don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, but it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really change who she is as a character.<\/p>\n
Thus, I found her conversation with Nita and Kit to be illuminating and surprising. Like the other adults, she respects them for being wizards; she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t treat them cruelly, even when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being honest about her limitations as a humanoid being.\u00c2\u00a0That<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0bit shocked me, but it made a lot of sense once I thought about it. How could that much raw power live on in a human body? Yet this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t discourage Kit or Nita, and I adore that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones to remind this Power of the ramifications of inaction:<\/p>\n “Then make yourself useful,” Kit said, sounding grim. “Otherwise ‘this place you love’ is going to be nothing but a big pile of cinders, after Balor gets through with it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Biddy is too close to all of this in the end; she loves Ireland so much that she can’t see the forest for the trees. Without trying, she may lose the thing that’s kept her in this body for the entire history of this island. And now, it’s up to Kit and Nita to help show that to her.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rzvb024p348<\/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 first half of the eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad, Nita and Kit ask for help. 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":[518,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-3930","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\/3930","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=3930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3930"}],"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":"