Um, I hate to be the voice of dissent, but I didn't enjoy AWAl much. The plot just didn't grab me at all . . . There were some neat ideas, but I thought they were underdeveloped . . . The plot seemed incidental to the character's feelings, where it should go the other way around. A lot of details seemed just forgotten instead of left mysterious on purpose.
Also, it seems like the wizardry is just becoming too . . . convienent (sp?) I think is the word I'm looking for. The spells aren't hard to find and they seem to be more accessible and specialized easily. The most annoying example to me was the lucid dreaming spell. It's a *major tool* but it just pops out of no where. We don't get much background into how it works like most spells before. (ie the "beam-me-up" spell) I just didn't think it was well done. If it plays such a major part, we should get to know how it works.
The book also seemed a little didactic. There were a lot of ideas that I didn't agree with, and usually I think DD is very reasonable. Usually the books leave the judging open to you, but this one felt closed to me. Lots of the ideas conflicted with my personal beliefs, where things usually fit in the past. I guess I had problems suspending disbelief.
One thing I did like: the austism descriptions in the book! Great bubble, curtain, screaming, trapped imagery. However, its effects on Kit were really obvious and it bothered me that Nita didn't notice. I was like *HELLOOOOOO! Earth to Nita!* (Like Ronan in AWAb on the book-on-tape!) Her actions seemed a little too passive to me. She didn't seem to notice things like in the past.
Anyway, I hope these things are just an exception and that Wizard's Holiday is better! BTW, here's my rank of books:
1 High Wizardry
2 A Wizard Abroad
3 Deep Wizardry (tie)
So You Want to Be a Wizard (tie)
4 The Wizard's Delimma
5 A Wizard Alone
Yours till the kitchen sinks,
Rowen Avalon
mysites/ravensiggys/constitutionality
~Post Disclaimer~
"I know that you think you
understood what I said, but I
don't think you understand
that what I said is not
exactally what I meant." He
he! So true
Also, it seems like the wizardry is just becoming too . . . convienent (sp?) I think is the word I'm looking for. The spells aren't hard to find and they seem to be more accessible and specialized easily. The most annoying example to me was the lucid dreaming spell. It's a *major tool* but it just pops out of no where. We don't get much background into how it works like most spells before. (ie the "beam-me-up" spell) I just didn't think it was well done. If it plays such a major part, we should get to know how it works.
The book also seemed a little didactic. There were a lot of ideas that I didn't agree with, and usually I think DD is very reasonable. Usually the books leave the judging open to you, but this one felt closed to me. Lots of the ideas conflicted with my personal beliefs, where things usually fit in the past. I guess I had problems suspending disbelief.
One thing I did like: the austism descriptions in the book! Great bubble, curtain, screaming, trapped imagery. However, its effects on Kit were really obvious and it bothered me that Nita didn't notice. I was like *HELLOOOOOO! Earth to Nita!* (Like Ronan in AWAb on the book-on-tape!) Her actions seemed a little too passive to me. She didn't seem to notice things like in the past.
Anyway, I hope these things are just an exception and that Wizard's Holiday is better! BTW, here's my rank of books:
1 High Wizardry
2 A Wizard Abroad
3 Deep Wizardry (tie)
So You Want to Be a Wizard (tie)
4 The Wizard's Delimma
5 A Wizard Alone
Yours till the kitchen sinks,
Rowen Avalon
mysites/ravensiggys/constitutionality
~Post Disclaimer~
"I know that you think you
understood what I said, but I
don't think you understand
that what I said is not
exactally what I meant." He
he! So true

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