In the second half of the eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad<\/i>, plans are made for the upcoming battle. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do love problem-solving scenes. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re actually a lot of fun to write, and there are a number of them in my book. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something really rewarding about putting characters through a scenario that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated and challenging because scenes like this can be so natural. How would people deal with a conflict like this? How do distinct characters react differently to a problem? And even cooler, Duane manages to inject this whole situation with a powerful dynamic by having all of the younger characters act as the most powerful agents. I know I just referenced that, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even more obvious here.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about that specific thing a bit later. The first big scene in this part of the book involves Tualha, the bard that Nita met early in the book. I love that Tualha operates much like a traditional bard would, except they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a cat who demands their tuna and cream before they ever speak a word of story of the Spear. Hey, if I was a cat-bard, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d do the same thing, okay? I WOULD. Some of this story felt a bit repetitious, but it was also a good refresher from some of the elements of Balor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fight; I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to need to know that as I go into the final fight. I wonder if, like the Song, each of these wizards would have to pick a role from each of the Powers. Like, would Biddy be Luchtar? Would Dairine be the All-Skilled? Would Ronan be Brigit? THESE ARE THE THINGS I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M THINKING OF. Well, and cats crouching in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153meat-loaf mode,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to be able to unsee ever again.<\/p>\n
It seems that Diarine would play the most powerful part, since she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the most powerful wizard in the bunch. (Maybe<\/i>. Biddy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demonstration of power was pretty impressive.) I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN I WAS RIGHT ABOUT KIT BRINGING HER INTO THE ACTION. It makes sense, too. Once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stated that\u00c2\u00a0ur<\/i>-matter from the Beginning is needed to forge the Spear, I knew there was only one wizard who had the ambition and the power to actually find a way to get it. AND LORD, DOES SHE EVER COME UP WITH A RIDICULOUS IDEA:<\/p>\n Dairine shook her head. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be meteoric,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That early in the physical universe, there weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any planetary bodies to shatter and turn into meteors, yet; not even in the oldest galaxies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She looked at Nita for confirmation: Nita nodded. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to get\u00c2\u00a0real<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0starsteel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n The older wizards looked at her.\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/i>From the nucelus of a star?<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Johnny said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n HAHAHAHAHAHA, DAIRINE IS THE BEST. But again, the idea is absurd and seems impossible, and my mind immediately went to Dairine as the only person who could pull it off. On that note, I\u00c2\u00a0do<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0find it impressive that Duane allows other characters to be so important to the story. Kit got to hold Fragarach, Dairine will help in farming starsteel, and I assume Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role will be revealed soon. Everyone matters to this story, and I love a book that can juggle characterization this well.<\/p>\n I also appreciated the update about the Callahans, who are mostly regretting the fact that they forced their daughter to travel abroad. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL ASKED FOR THIS. I get why they miss her, and Duane reveals that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re most likely ready to compromise about her wizardry. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually quite excited to see if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get another scene between Nita and her parents; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fascinated by them. Will she tell them that Annie is a wizard, too???<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5T9qFTG-0Oo<\/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 eighth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0A Wizard Abroad, plans are made for the upcoming battle. 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-3933","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\/3933","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=3933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3933"}],"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":"