{"id":4634,"date":"2018-08-02T05:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4634"},"modified":"2018-07-29T07:30:28","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T14:30:28","slug":"mark-reads-a-hat-full-of-sky-chapter-3-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/08\/mark-reads-a-hat-full-of-sky-chapter-3-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘A Hat Full of Sky’: Chapter 3, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the third chapter of A Hat Full of Sky<\/i>, Tiffany learns more about Miss Level\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s home; we learn what hivers are (NO THANKS); Jeannie and Rob Anybody make an important decision. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh no, OH NO.<\/p>\n

Routines<\/b><\/p>\n

The rest of this chapter is fascinating because it jumps between plots so as best to nudge the reader toward the inevitability of certain things happening, particularly when it comes to the hiver and Rob Anybody. But I also love that we get a glimpse at what life is like for Miss Level all the way out in… well, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live in a town or a village, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so isolated from other people that even Twoshirts is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bigger\u00e2\u20ac\u009d place than hers. I wonder if that sense of isolation is going to play a part in the story, especially since it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Tiffany can just easily go home once things start to ramp up.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But for now, Tiffany is settling into life with Miss Level rather well, partially because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the fastest learners I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen. She manages to figure out the goats real quick, which is important because goats are terrifyingly<\/i> smart. I had not spent any significant time around a goat until about 14 or 15 years ago, when I visited a friend in Michigan who had quite a few of them. I enjoyed them a lot, but man, those things are cunning<\/i>. So, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Tiffany has to stay one step ahead of them at all times, which comes incredibly naturally to her. Seriously, even as Miss Level is teaching her about the ritual of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153telling the bees,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d her mind is already thinking of the ramifications:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And who do the bees tell?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked Tiffany.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Both of Miss Level smiled at her.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Other bees, I suppose,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So… if you knew how to listen<\/i> to the bees, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d know everything that was going on, yes?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tiffany persisted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How… how does her mind work<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all??? I would never have gotten to that point so quickly! But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tiffany for you, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important moment to further build on the point that Rob Anybody will make toward the end of the chapter. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s special in a million different ways, even if she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think she is. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that in her own way, Miss Level is, too. This is my first experience with a research witch in the Discworld<\/i> series, and I love that we get to see what that means. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about trying to discover knew things about the world that can make life better for all people, and that includes her research into herbs and plants. Which tell Miss Level, quite literally, what they are to be used for:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everyone thinks it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another toothache cure, but just look at the cut root by stored moonlight, using my blue magnifying glass…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Tiffany tried it, and read: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153GoOD F4r Colds May cors drowsniss Do nOt oprate heavE mashinry.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
L I T E R A L L Y. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe I walked right into this joke, except I do it every time.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Hivers<\/b><\/p>\n
So, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got absolute confirmation of what hivers are. Actually, maybe \u00e2\u20ac\u0153absolute\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is too strong of a word. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a type of demon, according to One Hundred and One Things a Wizard Can Do<\/i>, and the further information we get from Professor Bustle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research on the subject gives a greater idea how these ancient forces work. And they are<\/i> ancient, at least by the means they were studied and theorized by Discworld academics, and they lack most of what we understand to belong to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153living\u00e2\u20ac\u009d creatures\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
They are not alive but they have, as it were, the <\/i>shape of life. They have no body, brain, or thoughts of their own, and a naked hiver is a sliggish thing indeed, tumbling gently through the endless night between the worlds.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That is, right up until they sense a powerful mind or body, explaining why this specific hiver has been tracking Tiffany and trying to inhabit her. Because oh my god, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what they do, and I certainly did not expect to discover this through a first-person account of someone who WILLINGLY LET A HIVER INTO THEIR MIND! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the eeriest things that Pratchett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever written because you can see how the hiver slowly changes Professor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bustle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind over the course of the excerpt of his book. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a masterful thing to pull off, a talent of craft and tension and detail, and Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL, IT ATE HIS MIND AND ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF HIS BODY FIT INTO A JAR.<\/p>\n
What the FUCK<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Rob Anybody<\/b><\/p>\n
Oh, I have a lot of feelings about Rob\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dedication to Tiffany, even though he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have<\/i> to stick up to her. I know that he recognizes her connection to the land of the Chalk, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to think that his guilt and existential dread is in part because he knows that Tiffany is special to him<\/i>. She stood up against the Queen, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, MULTIPLE TIMES. At nine years old! She did something most full-grown adults wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dream of doing. So yes, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to the Chalk, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to Rob<\/i>, too.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
At the same time, Pratchett does a fine job of giving us a reason why Jeannie is opposed to Rob going to help. They haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been together very long, and she knows that hivers can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be killed. Going after one to protect Tiffany is going to be a horribly risky proposition, and in the end, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to lose her husband. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a valid reaction, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and this really isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about her being spiteful or jealous of Tiffany. She just wants her husband to be alive to see his children. OH, RIGHT, SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GOING TO HAVE EIGHT CHILDREN, SEVEN SONS AND ONE DAUGHTER. A;ldkfja;ldjfalkds oh my god HELP.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Yet even knowing that, as the kelda, she still orders Rob to go protect Tiffany. She knows her duty, she knows Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s importance, and she makes a sacrifice here, too, one that should be admired.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/5SNDaWN9FQo<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the second half of the third chapter of A Hat Full of Sky, Tiffany learns more about Miss Level\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s home; we learn what hivers are (NO THANKS); Jeannie and Rob Anybody make an important decision. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[551,463,248],"class_list":["post-4634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-a-hat-full-of-sky","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634","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=4634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}