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

[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. :-)