Yes, we have all felt that terror of what we thought was the main conflict resolved but realized we have many pages still to go, which means there is something even bigger waiting to pounce. Wizards at War does this to great effect so we know Duane is perfectly capable of being nasty to us after a big win.
This whole opening part of Roshaun's story here puts me in mind of this famous scene of a teenager angsting about feeling confined:
"I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got whoosits and whatsits galore. You want thingamabobs? I got twenty. But who cares? No big deal. I want mooooooore..."
Roshaun's worries are of course more substantial than Ariel's since he's actually got, y'know, responsibilities he will one day shoulder, but the underlying sentiments about being lonely in a life of privilege and about stuff being a poor substitute for the real thing are similar.
Also I can totally picture him with that long hair standing on his balcony singing this. If this were a Broadway musical or a Disney movie, this would be the moment when he'd belt his "I Want" song to the desolate view.
And thus was Mark Oshiro undone forever.
I remember being so gobsmacked at the reveal that Ponch was always becoming the dogs' version of the One, from way back in A Wizard Alone where he started creating his own universes. And yet, the trail was there all along. Since we'd already learned this kind of transformation/mortal-avatar-choosing-full-incarnation thing was a possibility from Memeki's journey, this"twist" felt like a natural outgrowth of this book as well. So masterfully done. I love it.
I love this episode, but I also found the ending abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying. (shameless plug) I wrote a fanfic years ago that kept Junior on Voyager as a human:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9184651/1/Q-Continue.... It was kind of fun to keep the basic core character of Junior--his endless teenage snark was inspiring to me as a writer; like a lot of bored kids who act out I extrapolated that he's actually pretty smart and just doesn't have something to challenge and inspire him since up to the events in this episode he can literally snap his fingers and do anything--while growing him more naturally into a better person. This episode as it stands felt like "uh oh we need to end the episode so bamf, resolution!"
I think this section is one of the most gorgeously written in all of the Young Wizards books, and Diane Duane has written some truly beautiful passages. It's hard to give a piece of writing, without visual aids of any kind, a sense of the sheer epicness of a single moment, yet this is what happens here. It feels grand, triumphal. Gives me goosebumps every time. I love it.
Nyfb Znex, ab, Cbapu vfa'g n jvmneq. Guvax ovttre.
Carmela ftw! I always have a huge grin on my face when I reread this sequence. There are many ways to be a badass.
V jvyy fnl gung Jvmneqf ng Jne vf zl frpbaq snibevgr obbx va gur frevrf nsgre Qrrc Jvmneqel. Vg'f fb rcvp! Fbzr bs Znex'f cerqvpgvbaf unir znqr zr yby ng ubj rgreanyyl hacercnerq ur nyjnlf vf, ohg V guvax ur'f tbvat gb rawbl guvf obbx vzzrafryl.
Cafeteria food: I grew up in Maryland. I only bought lunch sporadically; my mom being a stay-at-home mom always bought food at the store and fixed us lunch to take unless we requested otherwise, and even then we were only allowed to do it but so often. In elementary school, they had a rotating monthly menu. There were definitely some that were better than others. French bread pizza day was a favorite, as was breakfast-for-lunch day where we'd get McDonalds-quality pancakes and sausage. Meatloaf day, on the other hand, was terrible. In middle school and high school the quality of the food went downhill. I think I bought lunch maybe five times during that entire period, for reasons that now escape me but they weren't because I wanted the food. Most people in high school who brought money for lunch just bought fries because apparently the fries were decent, and everyone's teenage metabolism was still in overdrive so no one got fat from them.
Spring Break was always one week. In college the term was kind of a joke because instead of scheduling it around Easter/Passover, as public schools usually do, it was always in late February or early March when it was definitely not spring in Pennsylvania.
It's been awhile since I've read this book. Looking forward to Mark's reactions.
Having only read the older version of this book, I was dreading Mark getting to it because of all the ableism and misconceptions about autism. I'm so glad the New Millennium edition had such extensive updates so that Mark got such joy out of it instead. It takes a strong author to admit they were so wrong; a lot of authors would have just left it and said "oh well, it's what I knew at the time. what's done is done." I'm so glad Diane Duane put in the effort.
On to the next book!
Bu, V'z abg qralvat gur jbegu bs guvf obbx ng nyy, naq vg'f na vzcbegnag bar gb ernq ng yrnfg bapr orpnhfr fb zhpu bs gur erfg bs gur frevrf uvatrf ba jung unccraf (hayvxr, sbe rknzcyr, Jvmneq Noebnq, juvpu V srry pna or fxvccrq jvgubhg zvffvat gbb zhpu. Va gur tenaq fpurzr bs gur frevrf, vgf vzcbegnapr nzbhagf gb: jr zrrg Ebana, na vzcbegnag erpheevat fhccbegvat punenpgre).
Vg jnf irel oenir bs Qhnar gb gnxr ba guvf fhowrpg znggre, ubj rira va n jbeyq jurer lbh pna zbir cynargf jvgu jvmneqel gurer ner fbzr guvatf gung pna'g whfg or svkrq, bayl qrnyg jvgu. Vg qbrfa'g zrna V jnag gb erivfvg guvf obbx be jvyy rawbl jngpuvat gur cnva vg jvyy varivgnoyl pnhfr Znex naq rirelbar ryfr ernqvat vg sbe gur svefg gvzr urer.
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