{"id":4535,"date":"2018-05-01T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4535"},"modified":"2018-04-29T16:26:15","modified_gmt":"2018-04-29T23:26:15","slug":"mark-reads-on-ordeal-mamvish-chapter-1-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-reads-on-ordeal-mamvish-chapter-1-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8220;On Ordeal: Mamvish&#8221; &#8211; Chapter 1, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the first part of the first chapter of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153On Ordeal: Mamvish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this&#8230; does not begin as I thought it would. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Young Wizards<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reserving some of my judgment until I can better understand what is going on here, so&#8230; wow. The sheer scope of the beginning of this story took me by surprise. Granted, Roshaun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ordeal story also began with a much bigger look at the universe than I expected. The grand mythos of Wellakhit helped me to place Roshaun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey within the context of his home planet. So, I imagine that Duane is doing the same thing here, which is important because we know relatively nothing about Wimst. To be honest, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I could have told you a single thing about the planet prior to this story or about Mamvish\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s species aside from what they looked like. Because of that, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an element of shock to the first chapter, simply because I did not imagine someone so bubbly, funny, and <i>alive<\/i> coming from a star system so bleak, dark, and full of tragedy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Yet, as far as I can tell, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly where Mamvish is from. Duane takes us far back, long before her birth, before the Tauwff Choice, before there was much of <i>anything<\/i> in this part of the galaxy. And as the Tauwff grow, they are&#8230; well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of hard to determine how much the Powers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 prophecy of them\u00e2\u20ac\u201dif it can even be considered that\u00e2\u20ac\u201daffected their development. But, in short, they end up being just as kind and as intelligent as was prophesied. (Planned?) Which, if this <i>was<\/i> planned, seems like their fate is particularly cruel. Their intelligence and kindness is a huge reason why they so easily reject the Lone One when It comes to tempt them and offer them Power. Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d also say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partially due to the Lone One being REALLY GODDAMN OBVIOUS. Seriously! Its big speech to the Tauwff is so drenched in imperialism that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way most species wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recognize it as a call to empire. Seriously, the Lone Power says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And as for all who are not like you, you may either force them to become so, or else blot them from the universe as if they were a mere stain or spill of error. Thus you will make the worlds safe for yourselves and your hatchlings, and spread the wisdom and order of Wimst\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s people far and wide\u00e2\u20ac\u201dan ornament to the galaxy that clutched it, and a people fit to teach unruly younger races the right way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great fascist clarion call. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. So, the Lone Power is summarily rejected, and so, out of spite:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;It dropped a small gravitic anomaly that did no more than dislodge a few of those small distant bodies from their orbits.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And this one act, lifetimes in the future, is responsible for a collision with Wimst, which practically decimates the planet. Only five percent survive. And how do they survive?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>They swore that those who were best able should surrender their lives and their bodies as food for those who were younger and might be able to keep their species alive&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>WHAT<\/p>\n<p>THE<\/p>\n<p><i>FUCK<\/i><\/p>\n<p>HOW IS THIS SO DARK SO EARLY INTO THE STORY. So you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re telling me that Mamvish\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s people survived the Lone One\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pettiness by turning to <i>voluntary cannibalism<\/i>? I just&#8230; what the hell??? And it is just after we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given this context that I <i>think<\/i> we are introduced to Mamvish, though there are no names used. I am guessing this nameless child, who we experience right up to their <i>hatching<\/i>, is the titular character. It is a bizarre sequence, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I meant earlier about how surprising the scope was for this. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Duane really<i> does<\/i> take us right to the beginning. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m surprised we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the conception scene JUST KIDDING, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T ACTUALLY WANT THAT AT ALL.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, what is the intention of this extended sequence? Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly a lot longer than I expected once I realized what I was reading. Mamvish struggles with her first emotions, with the comforting affection she receives from whomever is tending her egg, and then is shocked when she breaks through the shell. AND THEN REALIZED THAT HER FELLOW HATCHEE WAS PROBABLY EATEN BEFORE THEY HATCHED, which&#8230; lord, this is <i>bleak<\/i> for the start of her story. But&#8230; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotta be important! How does this influence her and her journey? WHO NAMES HER???<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/qMWUFoPsEjk<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>My YA contemporary debut, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markoshiro.com\/blog\/2017\/9\/22\/i-am-proud-to-announce-my-ya-contemporary-debut-anger-is-a-gift\">ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\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 part of the first chapter of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153On Ordeal: Mamvish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this&#8230; does not begin as I thought it would. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.\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":[542,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-4535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interim-errantry-2","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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