{"id":4882,"date":"2019-02-13T05:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4882"},"modified":"2019-02-10T17:16:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T01:16:06","slug":"mark-reads-wintersmith-chapter-13-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2019\/02\/mark-reads-wintersmith-chapter-13-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Wintersmith&#8217;: Chapter 13, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the first half of the thirteenth chapter of <i>Wintersmith<\/i>, Tiffany faces the Wintersmith; Roland faces the Underworld. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Discworld<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Oh god, it took me like a whole page to realize what Pratchett had done here. Despite that the first chapter end with some toying on his part, this chapter opens <i>after<\/i> the events of the first chapter. You could honestly plug the first chapter after the twelfth, and it would still flow, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it??? THIS IS EVIL, WHY WAS HE LIKE THIS. But the first line is basically telling me this is the case, right?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>That was then. This is now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And the now involves no summary of what the Wintersmith did. We <i>know<\/i>. Snow dumped down on the Chalk; many lamb die; Wentworth nearly died himself. Tiffany found her strength and her power, too, melting the snow beneath her, though now I understand that to be part of her being the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lady.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And this picks up <i>after<\/i> that, and IT IS STILL NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk.<\/p>\n<p><b>Roland<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy Roland is a part of this, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that this is not just a good story. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>funny<\/i>. Because here, Pratchett has a lot of fun taking certain fantasy tropes to task when it comes to the concept of an underworld and the archetypes of a hero. In spirit, Roland <i>does<\/i> fit this! I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that. But in every other way? Well, he has very little training, and what little he got wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to make him a threatening fighter. Which is hilarious to me because how often have all of us either seen training montages that speed up learning these skills? Pratchett does no such thing, and so Roland marches into the Underworld with a sword that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too heavy, a shield that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too heavy, and chainmail that is loose and ill-fitting. And what does he find?<\/p>\n<p>THE FUCKING WORST THING EVER. So, little bit of my thought process as I was reading this. We find out the Underworld is just kinda gloomy, a place in-between for those who are lost, and everyone that Roland sees is just&#8230; a lost person. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it. No monsters! I was expecting things to be faced! Monsters to be slain! Traps to avoid! Instead, Pratchett gives me <i>bogles<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>At first he thought: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a skeleton. When it flashed again, it looked like a bird, a tall bird like a heron. Then it was a stick figure, like a kid would draw. Over and over again it scribbled itself against the darkness in thin, burning lines.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It scribbled itself a mouth and leaned forward for a moment, showing hundreds of needle teeth. Then it vanished.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hi, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the receipt anymore, but can I get my money back for this? CAN I RETURN THIS BECAUSE I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WANT THIS. This is so much worse! A creature that <i>eats memories<\/i>? That sees memories, hopes, and dreams as real, edible things, and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chipping away at your identity, but consumes nonetheless? HI WHAT THE FUCK!!! Yet I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m equally as fascinated (but not nearly as horrified) by what Roland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction is to this. He immediately wants to know how to kill them, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s told not to bother. But after crossing the river and paying the Ferryman, the topic comes up again. (I should note that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also cool that Roland is so straightforward about this. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no deceit here; he just pays what he owes.) And Roland relates the bogles to the pets that the Queen had that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fed you dreams until you died of hunger.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Whew, this bit is SO POWERFUL:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hate things that try to take away what you are. I want to kill those things, Mr. Anybody. I want to kill all of them. When you take away memories, you take away the person. Everything they are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, <i>there<\/i> is our hero. Because he sees other people suffering in the Underworld, and his response isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I have a job to do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d No, he wants to LIBERATE THE ENTIRE UNDERWORLD FROM THE BOGLES. I just&#8230; love him a lot?<\/p>\n<p>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a job to do, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it. WHY DOES THE SUMMER LADY LOOK LIKE TIFFANY?<\/p>\n<p><b>Tiffany<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I love the dual struggle here, as both Tiffany and Roland are on journeys that challenge their beliefs and their identities. <i>Is<\/i> Roland the Hero? Is Tiffany the Goddess? Who are these characters <i>outside<\/i> of this conflict? Within it? Tiffany finally enters the Wintersmith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terrible world, to face him down and bring this to an end, but Pratchett hid some HORRIBLE surprises in this plot, too.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, lemme begin with how <i>visceral<\/i> Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discovery of her self is early in this chapter. In the Wintersmith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world of white and snow, she has to find her color, and she does so by remembering that she is the Land Under Wave, that she is a whole person, and that the Chalk is just as white as the snow. And so her color returns, and she uses her anger to move her through a palace. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, there are so many details here that reveal exactly what this place is before Pratchett spells it out. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s playing with the notion of a place or a person being \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cold\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or feeling detached from humanity. Because this palace was built for a human by someone WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HUMANS ACTUALLY WANT. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all approximations. Large, splendid rooms, but without furniture. The furniture that <i>is<\/i> there is most likely uncomfortable. Lots of urns. Lots of statues. A fire that runs COLD.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And an ice crown.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But even then, I figured that this gift to Tiffany, this grand but horribly misguided gesture, was all so that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be impressed. He wanted to Dance with her, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d reject it, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fight&#8230; or something? Because there was no way she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d do this. I just hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t considered the lengths the Wintersmith would go to get what he wanted:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You are safe here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What from?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Tiffany, and then, because too much time around Miss Tick does something to your conversation, even in times of stress, she changed this to: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153From what?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Death,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the Wintersmith. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Here you will never die.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As if that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough, Tiffany tries to clarify that if winter continues on the Disc, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll swallow everyone it touches, killing them:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Millions of people will die!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But only once, you see. That is what makes it wonderful. And after that, no more death!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I hate how much I understand this logic? But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right in line with what I said: the Wintersmith doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it. He <i>can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i>. He think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing something wonderful, he thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done all the work needed, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to kill millions of people because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153become\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a human.<\/p>\n<p>HELP.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/kpsmlIipGH8<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markoshiro.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/19\/the-anger-is-a-gift-paperback-edition-is-out-may-7-2019\">The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now up for pre-order!<\/a> It comes out on May 7, 2019.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><strong>If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the first half of the thirteenth chapter of Wintersmith, Tiffany faces the Wintersmith; Roland faces the Underworld. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.\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":[451],"tags":[463,248,556],"class_list":["post-4882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-wintersmith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4882","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=4882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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