{"id":4099,"date":"2017-02-07T05:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4099"},"modified":"2017-02-05T22:37:25","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T06:37:25","slug":"mark-reads-wizards-holiday-chapter-3-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2017\/02\/mark-reads-wizards-holiday-chapter-3-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Wizard’s Holiday’: Chapter 3, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first half of the third chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday<\/i>, Kit deals with the weirdness of his home. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards.<\/i><\/p>\n

So what\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0going on at Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house? The first half of this chapter is more set-up than anything else; I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say much\u00c2\u00a0happens<\/i>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay, though, because now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m intrigued. Kit has had unintended consequences on his own home, and this all details that. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ponch, obviously, though his development as some sort of wizardry conduit isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprising. The dogs in the neighborhood\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit more concerning. Clearly, Ponch is much more than a conduit, but why are the dogs so\u00c2\u00a0obsessed<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0with him? Do they want wizardry, too? Are they drawn to Ponch out of some desire to be more like him? IS PONCH ABOUT TO BECOME A CULT LEADER????<\/p>\n

Okay, now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just being ridiculous, but\u00c2\u00a0y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all<\/i>. The best part of this whole chapter is Carmela. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a delight as a character, and you can tell that Duane is having a lot of fun exploiting the brother\/sister dynamic here. But Carmela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brilliance is what intrigues me the most. My understanding of the Speech is that it is something wizards learn over time through usage of it in wizardries. They aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t granted an automatic knowledge of it, though I suspect being a wizard gives them an advantage and understanding of it that non-wizards don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have.<\/p>\n

And then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Carmela, who is\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a wizard, who has no manual to teach her how to conjugate verbs or string sentences together in the Speech, who is learning the language BY USING CHAT ROOMS ON HER TELEVISION. Look, I can barely comprehend the level of intellect required to pull this off because\u00c2\u00a0I\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>barely understand the Speech. While the Rodriguez family speaks English the vast majority of the time, I wonder if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bilingual! Is Spanish ever spoken regularly?\u00c2\u00a0Was<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0it ever spoken? Because that makes me wonder if Carmela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knack for the Speech comes from\u00c2\u00a0being<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0bilingual already.<\/p>\n

But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that this is immaterial. That means that Carmela is learning things like verb conjugation, syntax, and translation of the Speech into English\u00c2\u00a0entirely on her own<\/i>, WITH PRACTICALLY NO AID WHATSOEVER. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0older people become wizards? I want to grant her wizardry as a fucking\u00c2\u00a0award<\/i>, okay???<\/p>\n

Anyway, I still feel like most of this chapter is a set-up for what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to come. My guess is that Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents will be perfectly fine with Kit going to Alaalu with Nita, and\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0adventure is going to be weird as hell. I, too, was shocked by the reveal that a planet of a billion and a half individuals has just\u00c2\u00a0one<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0wizard in its entire population. So, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s different about Alaalu? How have the managed to hold up entropy to the kind of level that means they only need\u00c2\u00a0one<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0wizard? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m most excited for in\u00c2\u00a0Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday<\/i>. The cultural differences between Alaalu and Earth are going to be so much fun to explore, and I CANNOT WAIT.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mk7duYt2XEM<\/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":"