{"id":4019,"date":"2016-11-21T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4019"},"modified":"2016-11-20T10:47:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T18:47:16","slug":"mark-reads-the-wizards-dilemma-chapter-16-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2016\/11\/mark-reads-the-wizards-dilemma-chapter-16-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Wizard’s Dilemma’: Chapter 16, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the sixteenth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0The Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dilemma<\/i>, I WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T READY. I TRIED TO BE, AND IT DID NOT WORK. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of death, grief, and cancer.<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, the dilemma has arrived, and I am\u00c2\u00a0messed up<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I keep trying to think back to Pralaya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s introduction, to the scenes that preceded this one, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find a single clue. They might very well be there, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just my own memory that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failing me here. Part of me also thinks that this is the point: we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0supposed<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to suspect the Lone One\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role here because we took it for granted. The truth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the very thing Nita is trying to get at \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is that the Lone Power was\u00c2\u00a0always<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0here, and Their work was always at the center of what was happening to Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother.<\/p>\n

Yet Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confrontation with the Lone Power is still creepy, still surprising, and still absolutely sobering. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prior to this moment! Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first test-run in a practice universe more like her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body ended up in failure. Really\u00c2\u00a0bad<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0failure. Despite locating the world kernel, Nita has to cope with the fact that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disease\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the practice universe is utterly opposed to what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to do. I loved the visual metaphor of sand because it helped convey just how impossible this task was. How can Nita eradicate every grain of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sand\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body through brute force? She simply doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough power to do that, first of all. Secondly, trying to convince a life force to stop existing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly an easy idea, so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the second wall she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up against.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m super creeped out by how insidious the appearance of the Lone One is. I can see now how Pralaya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suggestion is evidence that the Lone One was present in Pralaya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body. LIKE OKAY HOLY SHIT THE LONE ONE JUST SNUCK UP ON US ALL. But again, I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of a greater intent on Duane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part. Why did It reveal Itself\u00c2\u00a0now<\/i>? Why after this specific test? I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evidence of Its manipulative power. Once Nita gets a taste of the difficulty of her task, It appears. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fascinating to me how much of this feels like the traditional temptation of, say, the Devil in religious literature or the same trope in fantasy novels.<\/p>\n

Yet casting the Lone One in terms like this feels like a disservice. Yeah, this\u00c2\u00a0technically<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0fits that trope, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more than a temptation. The word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dilemma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d truly is the better descriptor because of the ways in which Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reality has been split. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated! Even the choice It presents her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c give up her wizardry and It will stop her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cancer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0already<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has numerous complications. How will Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice affect Kit? Dairine? The universe itself?<\/p>\n

Nita thinks of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d here, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nebulous concept some times, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even more muddled in the presence of the Lone One. For the record, I do believe the Lone One would fulfill their offer; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no reason for them not to. Plus, why leave a frustrated and angry wizard around, one who would\u00c2\u00a0absolutely<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0try to get revenge against you? Yet I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that makes this dilemma any easier to solve. What the Lone One is offering is downright scary to me! Take Pralaya for example; the Lone One gained access to them by exploiting their curiosity and their culture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acceptance of death. So, it only stands to reason that the Lone one is trying to exploit Nita, too.<\/p>\n

So, what is that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that all wizards seek? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncomfortable, but the specific one that Nita keeps dancing around (yet Pralaya and his people accept it) is that her mother is probably going to die despite what she attempts. If Nita accepts this, then what is she left with? She can turn to the Lone One to save her mother (and lose her wizardry), or she can accept this loss as part of the world she lives in. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a painful choice to be presented with, you know? So you save someone you love or do you accept their loss? Most people would want to save someone they loved at any cost!<\/p>\n

Yet this is wizardry. It is not magic, and I have never been more aware of the difference between those two realities than right now. No one is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153magically\u00e2\u20ac\u009d saved. It is all part of a transaction, and that means that Nita will pay regardless of the choice. She can pay with her wizardry, or she can pay with her mother. \u00c2\u00a0And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even taking into account that if she still tries to save her mom with Pralaya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s help, SHE MIGHT DIE, TOO.<\/p>\n

My gods, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. WHAT DID THIS BOOK JUST BECOME. Pain. Endless pain.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7bdNemjqius<\/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. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 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":"