Mark Reads

July 21st, 2017, 12:00 pm

In the second half of the fifth chapter of A Wizard of Mars, Kit deals with the consequences of his trip to Mars, but then assembles a group of friends to discover more of what happened. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizard.

I don’t think Kit is off the hook, not by a longshot. It was mature of him to immediately call Mamvish, and I’m glad Duane didn’t do that thing that’s so prevalent in YA where the main character keeps a secret from the adults for an absurdly long length of time. I understood Kit being afraid to face the consequences, but there’s an added layer here: wizardry does not really allow for lying, at least not if you want to avoid serving the Lone One. So even when Kit leaves a message for Mamvish, he has to be truthful as he can. It’s a brilliant dynamic from a writing perspective because Duane cuts through the usual pattern of miscommunication fueling dramatic tension. Lord, this situation doesn’t need any more tension anyway! We still have no idea what those signals will do or if there are other supereggs or if Kit just screwed everything up. That’s more interesting than whether or not Kit will tell the truth, you know?

Plus, there’s now a waiting game at work in the text. Because Mamvish was unavailable means that we don’t know how she or Irina will react to the morning’s events. And because it’s so early, Kit has to wait himself for the other team members around the world to wake up. Even then? It’s not like they can just go to Mars and they’ll have all the answers in a second. There’s still a lot of work to do, and at the very least, there should be wizards placed at the other sites where the signal traveled to.

So I also appreciate that this time is used to build up these characters a bit more. Darryl already appears to have a more sizable stake within A Wizard of Mars rather than a couple cameo appearances like he got in the last book. Ronan is also integral to this story, too, and we get that great scene where he talks about why he hasn’t opened up about being a wizard. AND THEN THERE’S CARMELA, MY ETERNAL QUEEN, THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE. She’s got an arresting presence within this series, and I’m interested to see how she’ll behave once Helena is around. She sounds more forgiving of and open to her than Kit does, but how does Helena feel about Carmela’s adjacency to this “evil” part of Kit’s life? Does Helena even know? Because I imagine that’ll cause some friction as well, especially if Helena still believes that there’s something wrong with her younger brother. How will that affect her? The focus of her arrival will probably be on Kit more than Carmela, but I AM STILL INTERESTED TO KNOW. Carmela is so carefree, and the impression I’ve gotten of Helena is… well, a lot more intense?

There are a lot of interpersonal variables within this story, y’all, and it gives it a wonderful depth. There’s Carmela’s outgoing personality and her open attraction to Ronan, which I enjoy because Duane makes Carmela unapologetic about it without glamorizing the age difference. Plus, she’s a welcome presence within the group of wizards, almost as if she’s a foil to them, or perhaps more of a reminder of the dual worlds that they inhabit. She doesn’t have wizardry, but she sure knows a lot about it, you know?

Anyway: THEY’RE GOING TO MARS. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

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.

Mark Links Stuff

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July 20th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘Thief of Time’: Part 4

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-thief-of-time-part-4/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4266

In the fourth part of Thief of Time, Lu-Tze begins to realize how special Lobsang Ludd is, and Susan relents. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.

I feel like this is more of a set-up for things to come than any sort of escalation of the plot. That’s okay, for the record, and Pratchett needs to do this if we’re going to be dealing with the complications of time. For example: I’m not quite sure why we need the scenes between Wen and Clodpole, but I suspect they’re part of the worldbuilding. If the mentor relationship between Lu-Tze and Ludd is going to comprise a large part of Thief of Time, then I’m guessing that we need to know why it’s set in this specific monastery. At the very least, Pratchett helps us understand the importance of this location and the method used to observe the currents of time. And that matters because of Ludd’s reaction to the currents in the last section, which I didn’t really comment on at all within the previous review.

Then there’s Lu-Tze’s conversation with the abbot, which pushed forward the notion that there’s something really special about Lobsang Ludd. I enjoyed the rapport that the abbot and Lu-Tze had, first of all, since they respect one another so highly. They speak plainly about Ludd’s complications: that he is as quick as he is, that he can recognize patterns in the Mandala, that he saw more than he realized, THAT THE CURRENTS REACTED TO HIM… this kid truly doesn’t know how powerful he might be. From his perspective, the world mostly bores him or scares him, and it explains the way he behaves.

But what does this mean for the larger story? Ludd is most likely going to be the link between the Monks of History and Jeremy’s construction of the Glass Clock. If that object really is as awful as I’m guessing it is, then it’ll have repercussions that will appear in the currents of time. Yet what of Ludd’s apparent ability to anticipate things before they happen? Is that something that can be developed, or is it so rare that the monks don’t know what to do with him? I don’t actually know!

My hope here is that Ludd finds the kind of guidance he’s so desperately needed in Lu-Tze. The two seem to like one another well enough, so that’s a good start, and hopefully, Ludd abandons the terror and reverence he feels towards Lu-Tze. That feels like the only impediment at this point. From there… I don’t know, y’all. I’m still in the dark. IT’S VERY EXCITING.

It’s the same case with Susan. I have a basis for understanding her in the context of fighting against the Auditors, but I’m ultimately in the dark, too. She gets a long sequence here where the woman who runs the school she’s employed at is confused by her tactics, which are both in contradiction of the school’s mantra (to learn only while having fun) and drawing more students in than ever before. And what a place to feel stuck within! Madam Frout knows she can’t fire Susan, as Susan will most likely start up her own school and steal all of Frout’s students. At the same time, Frout is bothered by the seemingly impossible things that keep happening around Susan! IT’S VERY ENTERTAINING. Well, it’s also meaningful to me because I really enjoy teachers who make a concerted effort to be interesting when they’re teaching others. I had this professor in college – Dr. Roberts, actually. He was one of the heads of the Political Science department, if I recall correctly. I had three or four courses with him before I dropped out, and I lived for those lessons. He did this thing during lectures where he performed belief systems and political ideologies, which helped us to udnerstand all of these complicated forces at work throughout history. I cannot remember ever being bored by him, and I loved that.

I cannot imagine feeling bored by a lesson from Susan. So… what are her students going to do? She relents to the Death of Rats after much pestering, so she’s about to be wrapped up in another adventure. But how is she gonna deal with leaving her students behind? I FEEL VERY DEEPLY FOR THEM HAVING TO DEAL WITH A TEACHER THAT ISN’T SUSAN STO HELIT.

Mark Links Stuff

July 19th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘A Wizard of Mars’: Chapter 5, Part I

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-a-wizard-of-mars-chapter-5-part-i/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4263

In the first half of the fifth chapter of A Wizard of Mars, ALIENS. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT IS ANYTHING.

Y’all. Kit is gonna be in so much trouble. I know it, he knows it, and I’m sure the second half of this chapter is gonna address the ramifications of his actions. It has to, right? There’s no way the manuals of all the Wizards working on this project won’t tell them what just happened. Actually, I’d really like it if I knew what happened, too.

Now, I’m savvy enough to recognize that coincidences don’t happen in the Young Wizards Universe. On top of that, wizards don’t experience random visions – like the one Kit has of Irina – for absolutely no reason at all. This is all part of something, and what that something is forms the central mystery of the Martian superegg. There HAS to be a reason that Kit was drawn to Mars, that he couldn’t sleep, that he went there at precisely the right time, that he felt like the land was watching him. Mars knew. Right???

I know in saying that, however, that there is an immediate complication: Mars has no kernel, and the land is not eager to give up any details about the previous inhabitants. So… is it possible that the mere chance of the awakening of the superegg woke up Mars? Perhaps. As I went back through this chapter, I appreciated all the physical and emotional signs that something huge was about to occur. Obviously, that helped to build tension. From the dust devil to the eerie silence, as if Mars itself was anticipating Kit’s next action, this was some incredible storytelling. I needed to know! Why had this superegg drawn Kit to it?

We don’t know yet. (Well, I don’t, that is.) This thing NEEDED Kit, I’m guessing. Why had it not responded to him before, though? He had touched it, if I recall correctly, so what was different then from now?

Oh. He wasn’t alone before.

OH.

It’s a possibility. The egg only reacts once Kit is alone and once he touches it. And then… we’ll, there’s a lot here, and Diane goes for the weird and the bewildering and IT IS SO OVERWHELMING. I believe – and I’m theorizing here – that this thing reacted to Kit in more ways than he was aware of. All of the weird shapes it morphs into might have just been an exploration of sorts, but what are the odds that it would turn into one of the things Kit fears the most? It was aware of Kit! I can’t have been imagining that!

As for that “signal” thing at the end… lord. What if there are MORE EGGS under the surface of Mars??? What if this thing activated them??? THIS CANNOT BE A COINCIDENCE, I’M TRYING TO PREPARE MYSELF.

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.

Mark Links Stuff

July 18th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘Thief of Time’: Part 3

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-thief-of-time-part-3/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4262

In the third part of Thief of Time, Lu-Tze meets his new student and Jeremy has an odd interaction with Igor. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.

Oh, this is all so STRANGE. I’m here for it. LET’S DISCUSS.

Lu-Tze and Ludd

There are already so many characters in this novel that I hope it doesn’t feel too crowded, but I’ll be real with y’all: I’m glad that Lu-Tze is getting his own story instead of being a background character. Which… that’s sort of the point of him? He’s a background character within the Discworld universe because that’s what he’s supposed to do! Quietly exist in the background and lead the Monks of History in making sure the fabric of time/history doesn’t come unraveled.

Which makes it SUPER EXCITING that there is now a chance for me to get to learn more about these monks through Lobsang Ludd, the eerily talented kid who Marcos Soto found in Ankh-Morpork. Pratchett has a lot of fun playing with the tropes you’d normally see attached to this kind of story. (The whole monk/student interaction.) There’s that great sequence where one of the training monks (not a History Monk, I should say) insults Lu-Tze as the sweeper before promptly wetting himself when he finds out who he’s really talking to. (Hey, he was warned! The first Rule!) Appearances aren’t what they seem, but it’s not that simply. I do love the idea that Lu-Tze’s very existence is a challenge to the classist and hierarchal ideas present in most societies. Even Ludd can’t wrap his mind around him:

And he was just a sweeper! One of the people who swept the floors and washed the clothes and cleaned the privies! No one had ever mentioned it! Novices heard about Lu-Tze from their very first day – how he’d gone into some of the most tangled knots of time and unraveled them, how he’d constantly dodged the traffic on the crossroads of history, how he could divert time with a word and used this to develop the most subtle arts of battle…

Obviously, Lu-Tze’s physical appearance plays a part in the subversion of his identity, but he’s also a glorified janitor. A janitor who is more revered and respected than anyone else in the entire monastery! I LOVE THIS, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE THIS. But I also enjoy that someone as rebellious and different as Ludd is paired with Lu-Tze. He didn’t fit in where he was in the Guild, and so I can imagine a BEAUTIFUL partnership between these two. So… that fulfills one of my predictions, right? They don’t despise one another at all!

Jeremy

I AM GONNA GO AHEAD AND SAY THAT WHEN YOU RECEIVE COMPLETE PLANS FOR A MYTHICAL DEVICE ONLY FOUND IN CHILDREN’S TALES THROUGH DREAMS AND YOU WRITE DOWN THOSE PLANS ON YOUR BEDSHEETS WHILE YOU ARE ASLEEP, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY NOT CONSTRUCT THAT DEVICE.

Oh, Jeremy. I understand the allure it holds for him. The perfect timekeeper! He’s have the ability to claim he built the perfect clock! Yet this is like watching a horror film full of foolish protagonists. Every other line, I felt like screaming NO DON’T DO THAT THIS IS A BAD IDEA EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU IS WARNING YOU NOT TO DO THIS.

That includes Igor! Igor nearly faints when he sees the design for the Glass Clock that Jeremy wants to build. Y’all, it’s Properly Capitalized. That means it is evil! That’s how that works!!! AND THIS CERTAINLY DOESN’T MAKE ME FEEL GOOD.

“Are you telling me it really existed?”

Igor seemed embarrassed about this.

“Yeth,” he said, “and then again, no.”

“Things either exist or they don’t,” said Jeremy. “I am very clear about that. I have medicine.”

“It exithited,” said Igor, “and then, after it did, it never had.”

So… it stops time? What does that mean? Oh god, Jeremy, I want you not to do this, but I also need you to just so I can see the end result, which surely won’t be good. We don’t even know what the Auditors are up to yet, y’all!!!

Mark Links Stuff

July 17th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘A Wizard of Mars’: Chapter 4, Part II

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-a-wizard-of-mars-chapter-4-part-ii/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4261

In the second half of the fourth chapter of A Wizard of Mars, EMOTIONS. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.

Can I just state that I really adore Nita? She has grown so much from the first book in this series, and what happens in this chapter is a great reminder of that. The way she goes about reasoning with Dairine while also satisfying her father’s concerns is mature as hell, and I can’t claim to have EVER been that mature at her age. Maybe mature in different ways, but that’s a story for another time.

What I want to focus on is the challenging thing that Duane has set up for us. While the “main” plot of this book is probably going to cover what the wizards have found on Mars, this is still a significant subplot. Duane crafts Dairine’s characterization in this chapter with grief in mind. I can see some similarity to how she reacted to her mother’s death earlier in the series, but it’s not an exact comparison. Here, Dairine is far more rude. She deliberately tries to get a rise out of Nita when Nita interrupts her during her training session with Nelaid. (We now have confirmation that she is pursuing a new form of wizardry and perhaps replacing Roshaun/Nelaid or assisting Nelaid.)

It’s classic Dairine, yes. She’s always been rebellious and spiteful to an extent. But it almost felt over-the-top, at least if you didn’t consider the context of why she was behaving as she did. That’s why it was so jarring AND BRILLIANT that Nita didn’t take the bait and instead disarmed Dairine with this:

“If you’d let him know what you were going to do first, you might have been in less trouble than you are now. Now you’ve got a mess to clean up. The least you can do,” Nita said as Dairine opened her mouth to say something angry, “is let me help you get out of it so you can get on with business.”

Seriously, SHE’S SO CUNNING HERE. But I don’t mean that word to imply that this is shady or that she’s being underhanded. Nita simply adapts her strategy in a way that acknowledges their situation – both of them have wizardly pursuits that they prefer to be dealing with – while also setting up a system by which their father can feel like he still knows what’s going on. Dairine continues to resist, but that’s Dairine for you. She thrives off independence, so the idea that she’ll have to be held accountable for her location and her actions feels tantamount to a personal betrayal.

But what other solution could there be? She’s thirteen. Should she be allowed to run about the galaxy and shirk all her Earthly responsibilities, too? That’s why Nita is brilliant for also threatening to tell Tom, who has the power to ACTUALLY GROUND DAIRINE. Nice move!

So while some of this is a mild power play, it’s also ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIONAL SCENES BETWEEN THESE TWO. I honestly didn’t expect Nita to bring up the uncomfortable subject of Roshaun, and certainly not in his palace. BUT THEN DAIRINE WENT AHEAD AND DID IT. Oh my god, y’all:

But suddenly her sister was hugging her hard, her face buried in Nita’s vest. “Oh, wow,” Dairine was saying, “oh, wow, I was so scared, I thought that he– and then I thought I was crazy; it didn’t make any sense. But if you saw it, too, then it’s true, he’s not, not dead, he’s not–“

Nita was bemused, but for the moment the safest course seemed to be to just hang on to Dairine while her sister got herself under control. “It’s okay,” she said, “it’s okay!” –while very much hoping it actually was.

I’M NOT OKAY, IF THAT MATTERS AT ALL. NOT AT ALL.

And then there’s Nita’s scene with her father! Because why not put me on an emotional rollercoaster in half of a chapter! I respect so much that even the adult in this scenario is struggling with the complications of the events from the previous book. Harry is trying his best to manage running a household and raising his daughters and keeping a successful business going. That means he’s going to mess up, so I’m glad he apologizes for his abruptness towards Nita. LOOK, I’M A BIG FAN OF HEALTHY, CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS IN YA, IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.

I am overwhelmed, y’all.

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.

Mark Links Stuff

July 14th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘Thief of Time’: Part 2

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-thief-of-time-part-2/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4256

In the second part of Thief of Time, THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT, I CAN ALREADY TELL. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.

Miss Susan

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS EXCEPT I CAN TOTALLY BELIEVE IT BECAUSE IT’S SO PERFECT. Susan Sto Helit is a teacher. OF COURSE SHE IS. It’s a natural progression from her being a governess!

And look at her classroom! And her lessons! She gets away with a non-traditional form of teaching by giving others a Look, and it’s so perfectly in-character for her that I just can’t deal with it. Can we have a YA tie-in series of just this? I’m pretty sure I asked for one last time Susan was a protagonist, but look, I am but a simple man, and this is all I want. (On top of about 100 other things, no big deal.) Just give me four hundred books about Susan teaching generation after generation about the sensible way in which to interpret the universe. Is that so much to ask?

Oh, she’s gonna be so pissed that her father has gotten her involved in this newest adventure, but I’m selfish, and I can’t wait to see what she’ll do.

Lu-Tze

I think I’m wrong about Lu-Tze’s last appearance. Wasn’t it in Small Gods? Maybe??? All I am certain of is that he appears when time needs to be corrected… er, perhaps I should say that history needs to be put in its proper place, so… OH GOD, WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.

Ludd

Okay, WHO IS THIS NEW CHARACTER. Seriously, there’s so much going on at the start of this book!!! So, there’s a child who is living with the History Monks, was discovered in Ankh-Morpork, and who annoys everyone because of his apparent ability to move faster than anyone can see. Oh, and he’s smart. He’s way more clever than any of the monks in the monastery, so of course that infuriates everyone even more. So… what if it’s not a speed thing, but a time thing? What if he’s stopping time? I’M TRYING TO THINK OF THEMATIC THEORIES HERE, OKAY. I love the idea that he’ll be paired with Lu-Tze because there are really only two outcomes here: they’ll become fast friends or they’ll despise one another.

Jeremy

You know, it’s kind of hard to not think of the negative repercussions of Jeremy’s newest project. A rich woman Jeremy has never heard of showed up in his shop, promised him wealth and prestige, and asked him to build something impossible. That’s… that’s like the start of a horror film or, at the very least, a tragedy. WHEN DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS EVER END WELL.

Now, though, Lady LeJean has sent Jeremy his own Igor. Which is great for job creation, sure, but… I’m worried. That weird dream about the glass clock is also a surefire sign that this is heading for disaster. Why was that thing so creepy, you know?

I DON’T TRUST LADY LEJEAN.

Mark Links Stuff

July 13th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘A Wizard of Mars’: Chapter 4, Part I

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-a-wizard-of-mars-chapter-4-part-i/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4255

In the first half of the fourth chapter of A Wizard of Mars, Nita is given an ultimatum from her father. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.

Oh, Dairine. It’s easy to understand why she’s behaving as she is, but the first half of this chapter forces the reader to think about what recent events have meant to someone else: Mr. Callahan. It’s an interesting move on Duane’s part, and it’s one I respect. Young adult fiction doesn’t often successfully pull off the whole, “But what about the parents?” thing, but it feels compelling here. Why?

Well, it’s a means to an end. After Nita’s father reveals how much Dairine has been skipping school and disobeying very basic rules, he requests more responsibility of his eldest daughter. It does seem unfair, especially since Dairine is the one misbehaving, not Nita. Yet there’s a major reason why all of this is happening: death. Grief. Absence. Nita’s mother’s death still hangs over everyone, and this sequence is no exception. Harry has had to deal with the loss of his wife, but he also lost a means to be a parent to Nita and especially Dairine. He was always closer to Nita, and given what’s happened with her, he has even less of a chance of reaching her than before. In another context, it might be strange to ask your own daughter to do what he asks for her. That’s not to say that Nita shouldn’t feel like this is unfair, because it is. But I understood the general idea behind it. Harry is tired. He needs a break! And he knows that Nita is responsible and can be depended on, so for the time being, it’s the only way he can find some peace.

So yeah, it’s unfair. I don’t argue that. I did love that Nita thought about this new predicament in a creative way, though:

So treat it like a challenge from the Powers… because maybe it is. Figure out what to do, and maybe the rest of the summer won’t turn into a horror story. Nita let out a breath. Think of Dairine as just another intervention, one more problem to be solved.

As far as we know, this is exactly why this is happening! At the same time, it’s an interesting way to look at the problem because it allows Nita to detach from it a bit. That’s probably going to be necessary because of how emotionally volatile this situation is for Dairine. I’m guessing that Dairine finally looked up the Wellakhit directory and discovered the same thing Nita did in this chapter: that Roshaun’s entry shows no physical status for him. No death, no life, no anything. It is both the worst and best answer for Dairine. Terrible because it is shrouded in the unknown. The blank space implies a vacancy and an absence, and in the end, Roshaun is still missing.

But that blank space also means he isn’t dead yet. The unknown might be anxiety-inducing, and I’m sure we’re going to see just how upset Dairine is in the second half of this chapter. However, it’s a huge key to her behavior. Why would she focus on such trivial things as school or chores when she could be focusing on finding Roshaun?

I think that’s what Nita is going to find. As for the whole sun thing… maybe Dairine is learning to use the “new” powers she has??? I DON’T KNOW.

Mark Links Stuff

July 12th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘Thief of Time’: Part 1

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-thief-of-time-part-1/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4254

In the first part of Thief of Time, I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.

Well, I’m confused.

Wen the Eternally Surprised

I feel like that should be my name. It’s literally what I do for a living, y’all. ETERNALLY SURPRISED FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT.

Anyway, oh lord, am I lost. I cannot avoid saying this, but I can’t figure out what time this first scene takes place within. Modern time? Is it a flashback? Initially, I was ready to write it off as relatively unimportant. It felt like Pratchett just set up a joke at the beginning about the nature of time, but then there’s this:

Clodpool hesitated. There was something about his master. There was a glow in his eyes and, when he moved, there were strange silvery-blue lights in the air, like reflections from liquid mirrors.

Okay, what is that? And who is the “she” that Wen refers to? Does he really possess some sort of power, or am I right in thinking this is just the set-up for a punchline? I DON’T KNOW.

Death

Is this a Death book? A Witches book? Do they just make appearances? Is this all about a new character, Jeremy Clockson? I DON’T KNOW? I also don’t understand the buttered toast thing, since the only reference I’m aware is that whole thing about buttered toast landing upside-down if you drop it. (So we should put them on the back of cats to test TRUE PHYSICS.)

Pratchett makes a big deal at the start of this about knowing the whole story, and it’s how Death makes his entrance into the book. Even if you set the toast bit aside (it’s really hard for me to visualize physical descriptions), the only real thing we get a confirmation of is the those damn Auditors are back. Something has gained their attention, and we all know from the last time that that’s not a good thing. Yet it’s upon that reveal that Death asks to see one of his memories (which he stores away, since he has so very many of them), and I’M BACK TO BEING CONFUSED AGAIN. At the end of the scene, I wondered if Death himself had visited Nanny Ogg to ask for her services as a midwife, but the hooded character doesn’t speak in all-caps. There’s this, too:

Then she took something out of her bag, which was now a good deal emptier and, brandy glass in her hand, sat down to look at it.

“Well,” she said at last, “that was… very unusual…”

Does this have anything to do the whole Five Horsemen thing? IS THIS A GOOD OMENS CROSSOVER. Okay, probably not, as I’m sure I would have heard something back when I read that book. Oh god… is the teddy bear mug reference meant to hint that SUSAN will be in this book?

I have nothing but questions.

Jeremy

Honestly, we’re given a lot of information at the start of Thief of Time, so that’s mostly what this review is. I’m used to Pratchett being deliberately vague about the intent or aim of his books in the beginning of them, but this felt like a whole new level of confusing. At least I understand the very basic mechanics of watch-making, and at least Jeremy’s job has a direct relevance to the title. (I’M SMART.) But then there’s Lady Myria LeJean, for who money is no object. All she wants is the world’s most accurate watch, and she wants Jeremy to build it. There’s a lot of back-and-forth between them about what is and isn’t possible, but it’s clear that Lady LeJean knew that if she spoke Jeremy’s language, she could convince him to work on the impossible.

Because what she describes is impossible, right? Timing a clock to the universe’s tiniest mode of passing time? The “tick of the universe” as it’s described in the text. (Which Pratchett appears to be including in the book, too.) But the big question is left unaddressed: WHY? Why does Lady LaJean need this?

I know absolutely nothing, y’all.

Mark Links Stuff

July 11th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘A Wizard of Mars’: Chapter 3

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-a-wizard-of-mars-chapter-3/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4253

In the third chapter of A Wizard of Mars, the treasure is found. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.

Okay, so technically this is not a treasure hunt, BUT IT’S GOT ALL THE TROPE-Y GOODNESS OF A TREASURE HUNT. This is where I let y’all know that I really love treasure hunt stories. I don’t think I’ve gotten to read much of the genre for Mark Reads (though Deathly Hallows and Half-Blood Prince got real close to it for me), so I don’t often get to talk about it. (Heists or cons on the other hand…. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY PASSIONS.) It was only at the conclusion of this chapter that I realized this wasn’t just a mystery but the end result of a treasure hunt. And I didn’t have to spend an entire book agonizing over whether or not the characters would find the treasure!

Instead, Duane drops us in just as Earth’s wizards, after MANY years of searching, have finally located the “superegg” that was hidden on Mars’s surface over half a million years prior. Was it hidden there by Martian wizards? We can only guess! Chapter three is devoted to the act of discovery, and my gods, it was so satisfying. I credit that to the fact that Duane provides worldbuilding prior to this so that we know why it’s so significant that this superegg was found on Mars. Part of that is serialization: much of the importance of this finding relies on us knowing what wizardry is, knowing why Mamvish and Irina are a big deal, knowing why it’s tense that Darryl is around… you get the picture.

But in the first fifth of A Wizard of Mars, there is new information for us, too! We’ve learned that wizards had been practicing on Earth for way longer than I expected, but that they hadn’t traveled to Mars at the point in history when the superegg was hidden. There’s a chance that the Lone One is behind this, but those chances are relatively slim (especially given that Irina and Mamvish are present). Mamvish has had experience with supereggs before, so we get an idea on how they’re opened… sort of. Duane is ambiguous about this in some respects because I’m guessing she wants to surprise us with the ultimate method used.

But it is the revelations – tiny as they are – about Kit that most intrigue me. Obviously, I want to know what’s inside the superegg. DON’T BE SILLY. However, I am taking all the cues present and hypothesizing that Kit is the key to this thing, both literally and figuratively. He’s the wizard who had a hunch about where the “bottle” was located. He was able to pull it out of the rock without much resistance. And then there’s that tingling… it can’t be a coincidence, you know? The same goes for that dust devil. SOMETHING knows what is happening on Mars.

Above all, Duane has avoided weirdness for the sake of it when it comes to wizardry. In this case, Kit’s interest in Mars is most likely due to a reason: either a changed specialty OR a draw to the wizardry in that superegg. That leaves another huge mystery to be solved: why Kit??? AND Y’ALL KNOW I WILL NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT ANOTHER MYSTERY BEING ADDED. I welcome it!

I just hope Nita is okay. My guess: Dairine. She’s the cause of their dad’s anger.

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.

vid

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July 10th, 2017, 12:00 pm

Mark Reads ‘The Truth’: Part 20

http://markreads.net/reviews/2017/07/mark-reads-the-truth-part-20/

http://markreads.net/reviews/?p=4252

In the twentieth and final part of The Truth, William accepts his new role in society. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.

In the end, the news is what we make it.

In many senses, William is challenging power. The scene that opens this section is all about that! At the Palace, William gets a chance to confront many of the very men who (most likely) were behind the coup that got Vetinari thrown in prison. He avoids any direct charges or accusations, though, and he instead reminds these men that there’s a new force in town:

The Ankh-Morpork Times.

As I said on video, I would laugh more about Lord Downey if I didn’t live in a country where our leaders really don’t think freedom of the press is a valid thing. But that’s the power that William has discovered. He can ask questions of those who run the city. He can print what they say and what they don’t say. He can print anything he wants, and while that’s terrifying, it’s also invigorating. I’d say that this could usher in a new era of politics in the city, but I’m not sure yet. Perhaps the leader will adapt to William and his work. That’s not for this book, though, and the point still felt relevant. William changed the city!

Yet the most prescient point in the finale of The Truth came from the mouth of Lord Vetinari. Even if William unnerved Vetinari just a bit, I found Vetinari’s presence in The Times’s shack to be a different kind of reminder. A freedom of the press means that these organizations truly are free to print whatever they want. That’s what we saw in The Inquirer, who flat-out lied, misled, and misdirected their readers solely for profit. Their audience ate those stories up, and they let that paper exploit their own confirmation biases. Indeed, it was much harder to find the “truth” because The Inquirer yelled a lie so efficiently.

But does that mean that William is on the right side of history? Does it mean that by virtue of publishing the news, he has nothing to worry about? It’s not that easy:

“It amazes me how the news you have so neatly fits the space available,” Lord Vetinari went on, staring down at the page Boddony was working on. “No little gaps anywhere. And every day something happens that is important enough to be at the top of the first page, too. How strange–”

News organizations are still run by people, and those people choose what to focus on. They choose what gets top billing, they choose what ends up on page 20, they choose what never gets covered at all. That is the freedom of the press, too, and it’s something that I believe William misses during this scene. Right after Vetinari tells him this, there’s that moment where he dismisses reporting on the Alchemists’ Guild blowing up. Right then, he made a choice: that is not newsworthy. Do we understand it? Sure! I got the joke. That guild blows up all the time! It’s still news, though, because it happened.

Even the most well-intentioned papers and broadcast organizations are still guilty of this. It’s something you have to continually work on. Are you supporting the status quo by not reporting certain news? Are you creating stereotypes? What happens when you humanize certain people while reducing others to monsters? Bias always exists unless there is a conscious effort to avoid it.

That’s a truth. If anything, this book serves to remind us that there probably isn’t A Truth, a singular narrative that describes or categorizes anything perfectly. It changes based on who is telling the story or who is no longer able to tell the story. Perspective matters a whole bunch in this book, y’all. It’s why the reincarnation bits at the end of The Truth are important. If Tulip was given a new life, it meant he finally was able to face what he had done to other people, to see their lives cut short brutally. Mr. Pin, however, got to see life from a new point of view, too: HE’S THE UGLIEST POTATO KNOWN TO HUMANITY.

I liked that Pratchett looked out at our world at the end of all of this. William, Sacharissa, Goodmountain, and Otto have found their calling, and it’s clear from the ending that they were all meant to do this. Let’s just hope they do so responsibly, however. Because the freedom of the press is as much a power to wield as it is a right.

WHEW, I LOVED THIS BOOK A LOT. Onwards we go into Thief of Time!!!

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