Review: A Wizard Abroad.

[starlady]

Yup, another reread, this time of the much-maligned fourth volume in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, partially in honor of the fact that the ninth, A Wizard of Mars, is due out some time this year.

Well, I say much-maligned because I think there is a general consensus that AWA is the slightest of the eight books in the series, but I have to say that even Duane's slighter books, such as this one, still manage to pack a decent amount of thinky thoughts in. On rereading, I can see that this book is Duane processing her having relocated from New York to Ireland after her marriage, and having been to Ireland, I think she gets a lot of the country right. Compared with the other books in the series, though, the narrative simply lacks punch; it's no where near as evocative or as urgent as any of the others before or since, and I'm not sure I could say why, unless it's the insistence that what's threatening Ireland is the past coming alive again (not that this might not be an issue in Ireland in reality, har har). Replaying old roles just inherently lacks pizazz, for all that Duane gives Irish legends her own spin with customary flair, and the ending is positively anti-climactic. There's interesting hints, though, of what is becoming more of an issue in the later books--Nita's fraught relationship with the Lone Power. Since in this book the Lone One is a hill with a malevolent eyeball that has perhaps one line of dialogue, as opposed to Its other sexy and/or wittier incarnations in the other books, that's a drag too. Worth a read as part of the series, and I'm glad I finally have my matched copy, but no great shakes. Though I will say, I do like how Duane has managed to write a nine-volume series that has stretched from 1983 to 2009 in which only about two years has gone by internally, while having each book be both of its time and yet perennial.

Comments

[spacevlad.livejournal.com]

Jesus, just how much are you reading lately!?

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not going to go turn in an application at Starbucks sounding like Typhoid Mary, so...quite a lot. :-)

[fiveforsilver]

Hi, I'm from the YW comm :)

I've never understood why people dislike that book so much. While it's not my favorite - but it is hard for anything after the first three to be a favorite for me (and that the other oft-maligned A Wizard Alone) - I've always liked it, and after all the running hell-bent in the first three books I think it's good to have a calmer one.

The pace of it makes a lot of sense to me, too; for one, it's not just one or two beginner wizards rushing around trying to save the world, there's a veritable army of wizards and it takes time to figure out how to gather and use an army and to get them where they need to go. It also says right there in the text, talking about the energetic American branch of wizardry vs the Irish branch, which is more about planning and less about jumping head-first into the fray.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I really, really like A Wizard Alone. And I agree that both Alone and Abroad make sense after the sturm-und-drang of the books immediately preceding them.

Hah, that's a good point about the style of American vs. Irish wizardry, one I'd already forgotten, and I agree it definitely shows in the pacing of the book. It's also interesting comparing the "going to war" motifs in here with Wizards at War, though I don't think I have any terribly brilliant remarks to make about it. I do think Ronan comes off much better in Wizards at War, and I know that part of my displeasure at the ending of Abroad involves his role in it.

[fiveforsilver]

I wrote up a whole reply and then realized that it wasn't actually a reply to what you'd said, but to what I thought you'd said. What about Ronan's role in the end of Abroad bothered you?

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I may have said this a bit below, but I feel like Ronan is more a means to an end, really, than the actual character he is in book 8. I mean, even when Nita kisses him, half of her attention is on realizing that he's got the Defender inside (like Intel, but better). And then at the end he's rather infuriatingly--I don't want to say passive, maybe apathetic?--until almost too late, and then the book ends.

I understood this time, on reading, that what happens at the end is the answer to the Sidhe-queen's question, but that definitely went over my head in my first reading years ago, which has probably colored my impressions of the book, too.

[fiveforsilver]

he's got the Defender inside (like Intel, but better)

HAH that actually made me laugh out loud.

Again, I think many things you've mentioned have explanations - but that doesn't mean you have to like it. I mean, if I kissed someone and there was a sort of telepathic connection, I bet a good part of my attention would be on that, not just on the kiss (unless he was a REALLY good kisser, I suppose, and most guys I've kissed aren't that good, especially the first time). I always saw Ronan's anger and twitchiness throughout Abroad as a combination of him fighting with the Defender and the Defender fighting to come out and, well, fight something. The passivity during the battle at the end was another aspect of that battle - he knew that if he fought, the Defender would become truly part of him, instead of just an extra bit waiting to emerge, and he had no idea what that would do, what he would become, if he would still be him on the other side. Doing nothing was a way to put off the inevitable time when he would be changed, one way or another. And yes, that's selfish when the whole world is at stake, but he's a teenager, for one, and for two...when it's your life, it can feel more important than the whole world.

I do agree that it wraps up quickly, though, and the resolution could be more thorough.

[eavanmoore.livejournal.com]

(like Intel, but better)

made me laugh out loud too. :-)

[deutscheami.livejournal.com]

I really like A Wizard Abroad-- it's certainly not perfect, but as something bordering on a Ronan fan-girl, I'm fond of the book for its introduction and initial development of his character.

I also love the Easter Egg of Aunt Anne being a fictional portrait of Anne McCaffrey.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

See, I didn't know at all that Aunt Annie is Anne McCaffrey. That definitely enhances my appreciation for the book.

I don't know, I like Ronan a lot too, but I feel like he has less actual personality on display in this book than he does in #8. Partly I'd think that's because the length of Abroad is so short, compared with the longer lengths that have become okay in YA recently. But, yeah, he dresses all in black, and gives Nita some sarcasm, and then he freaks about the Defender, then recovers, and then the book ends. It's very brief.

[deutscheami.livejournal.com]

I don't think Duane has confirmed that at all-- it's just an extremely educated guess given the parallels between the personal histories of both women-- both are divorced American women operating a horse farm in Ireland. Too, page 37 of Abroad specifically mentions that Aunt Annie has two sons named Alec and Todd, which squares exactly with the names of McCaffrey's sons.

I love Duane's Easter Eggs. I let out the most undignified shriek ever when I realized she'd managed to hide the Doctor in High Wizardry.

And I see your point-- Ronan's a very flat character in Abroad. I suppose for me, Ronan's actions at the turning point of War have-- something of an additional layer of resonance in light of his initial reluctance in Abroad?

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Wait what, THE DOCTOR!?

Well, I'm going to re-read High Wizardry now. Right now.

I don't know anything about Anne McCaffrey (aside from what fandom_wank has taught me about her views vis-a-vis blue and green dragonriders), but the details certainly seem to be suspiciously similar. And don't the Wizards books say somewhere that there's no such thing as coincidence? XD

I definitely agree that Ronan's actions in War are more poignant in light of his feelings in Abroad, which I guess is one of the virtues of writing a nine-books-and-counting sequence. :-) I just wish Abroad were longer, though.

[eavanmoore.livejournal.com]

I feel like his reluctance in Abroad is simply erased by the time War starts -- in the last eight months or so, he has somehow managed to come to terms with the Defender so that he can communicate fairly comfortably with Him.

There is a great deal of Ronan's everyday missing, sadly.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Yes. I would love to read a standalone book about Ronan--from the hints that have been dropped, it sounds like his Ordeal was quite something, just for starters.

[eavanmoore.livejournal.com]

It's funny, it sounded like very little actually happened on his Ordeal, other than that he performed one very difficult wizardry. I've wondered if it was a test of his capacity to accommodate very large entities and not go insane.

[triad-serpent.livejournal.com]

I personally love A Wizard Abroad, but I've always considered myself to be somewhat multi-cultural, and as the majority of my heritage is Irish, it was particularly enjoyable for me.

...of course, Ronan was a definite plus. Who on this planet can resist the yumminess of a bad-boy with an Irish accent...? ^______^

That said, I tend to view AWAb as a transition book. It is the calm before the storm, so to speak. After the adventure that is HW, Nita needs something of a break before diving into the heartbreak that is AWD. Wizard's Holiday was the same. A deep breath, before plunging again. (I'm also slightly bias towards that one, because I've been through an exchange program of my own!)

...that's my two cents. ^___^

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'd definitely agree that Abroad is a transitional book, and I appreciated Duane's taking the time to describe Ireland, even more so after I spent a month there, though I have to wonder, if she'd written the book in 2003 rather than in 1993, how much of it would be the same.

You know, I wouldn't have thought of Holiday as transitional though. There's so much in there between Nita and the Lone Power, and it introduces Roshaun as well, that I'd characterize it, if anything, as one half of a larger book (War being the other half).