In the second half of the tenth chapter of Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday<\/i>, Dairine plans to save Earth alongside her new friends. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards<\/i>. <\/p>\n
Well, this was very humbling for Dairine, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been relatively easy to focus on what a jerk Roshaun is because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so obvious. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge part of his characterization! Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a value in looking at Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization, too, specifically to recognize how she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behaved since her power leveled off. To say she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been resentful of it is an understatement. Granted, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had a lot on her plate in the last year! Not only did she assist Nita and Kit in Ireland, but she watched her mother deal with cancer and then lose her life over it. Now, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s facing the imminent destruction of Earth while realizing that she hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t treated Roshaun fairly or respectfully.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a mutual thing, though, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore that<\/i> either. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a neat moment here that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping will lead to an honest conversation between Roshaun and Dairine at a later point:<\/p>\n He looked at her with an expression she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never seen on his face before: just the faintest glimmer of respect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So why now<\/i>? What changed? Well, as these four wizards work together, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re challenged by how much time they have left to complete their task. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re aware of how bad they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got it, which means that they do everything they can to expedite matters, which includes not<\/i> arguing over little things. In this specific instance, I imagine that Roshaun admires that Diarine is willing to get her hands dirty, so to speak. She wants to work and contribute as best she can, even if this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> her area of specialty.<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another moment like this after Roshaun vocalizes the sneaking suspicion she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had that they simply did not have enough power to pull off the spell they were constructing. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an upsetting grimness to everything in the moment immediately after that, but Duane doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t focus on that. She gives Dairine a chance to wallow, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s short. Rather, Dairine thinks outside the box, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that this<\/i> gains her some respect from Roshaun as well. Actually, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit embarrassed about how she exposes his experiments on the custom worldgates, but he gets over it real<\/i> quick.<\/p>\n But Roshaun looked up at Dairine first, and the expression was hard to read. Forgiving? <\/i>she thought. Possibly apologetic? Maybe even a little more mellow than usual?<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hey, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a start, but Duane saves any possible reconciliation for later. The second is devoted to problem-solving as the group determines a method of \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more or less \u00e2\u20ac\u201c leaking part of the sun out of itself and using a custom worldgate to deposit it somewhere safe. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some gorgeous prose here, particularly the long section in which Duane describes how each of the wizards assembles their part of the wizardry. (I liked Filif\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part the most.) Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a moment where Dairine takes a break and Diane Duane utterly eviscerates<\/i> me because she can.<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that moment in the first half of this chapter where Filif panics after learning about wildfires on Earth. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a heartbreaking moment, BUT IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOT THE COMPLETE SCENE. Because the rest<\/i> of it takes place in the Callahan backyard, where Harry comforts Filif over his fears. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re rooted not just in a very understandable fear of fire, but in the Choice that Filif\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s people made, which is to remain susceptible to fire forever as a rejection of the Lone One\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer. (Which was to experience a very minimal burning all the time<\/i> rather than risk dying.) Through this, Duane reminds us all that Betty Callahan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death is still a raw spot in these characters, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that can provide insight and empathy. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how Filif and Harry connect as well as they do here. They understand that their world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s respective Choices may cause them pain, but they are still allowed a kind of joy that the Lone One can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take from them.<\/p>\n EVERYTHING HURTS.<\/p>\n I am thrilled to confirm that I will be a Guest at CrossingsCon 2017! Badges are now available, so COME HANG OUT WITH ME THIS SUMMER<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/youtu.be\/wc3yWM1Dafc?a<\/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> In the second half of the tenth chapter of Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Holiday, Dairine plans to save Earth alongside her new friends. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read 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":[525,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-4132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wizards-holiday","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4132","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=4132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year. 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. My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>– Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a> I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"