High Wizardry Group Reading Thread

[illiriam]

Well here we go with book three! I'm a couple of chapters in so far, so I thought I would start with what I have noticed so far.
I'm not gonna lie, I like Dairine. She is funny. Different enough from Nita that it is refreshing to hear something from her point of view, yet still able to see similarities between her and her sister.
This time around I paid close attention to the beginning, with Dair and setting up the computer. I tried to imagine Dairine in the background when the focus is on Nita and Kit, knowing what is actually going on. It is interesting the things that you miss of you don't pay good enough attention.
Also, the computer bits are intriguing to me, since I am not sure how much is the original part and what was edited with a new reprinting to make it more modern. Anyone got any ideas?

[SilveredBlue]

Thanks for starting the thread- I meant to do it but I didn't get around to it! So kudos to illiriam.

Actually, I'm not a huge computer geek or anything, so I wouldn't know about the computer stuff- although I do know that at the time, there was an Apple III (or was it II?) and DD put a '+' in there.

What I was really intrigued by was the plaque at the bottom of Olympus Mons. I know that DD was planning on this being the last of a trilogy (....and I'm SO GLAD it wasn't.....), so do you guys think that she might resurrect that idea, or leave it lay as a little piece of alien culture?

I got the feeling that it was there as a 'there is life in other worlds' statement, but it would be cool to see it turn up again in AWoM.

[illiriam]

I always thought of it as just something to remind us that aliens can be tourists too. Some travelers came to our solar system and wanted to see the highest peak. It would be cool if someone from AWOM showed up who left it, but I doubt it will resurface.

When Nita and Kit show up at Tom and Carl's house, there is a brief discussion about planetary Seniors. Earth has 24: 6 in Asia, 1 in Australia, 1 in the Atlantic Ocean (for the whales), 3 in Europe, 4 in Africa, and 9 in the Americas.
Now that last bit is what caught my interest. Pg 72:

five in Central and South America (one of whom handled the Antarctic) and four in the north.

Hmm... So does this mean that there is some form of life in Antarctica that non-wizards are unaware of, or that there are a lot of wizardries taking place at the South Pole (like trying to take care of the hole in the ozone layer)? EIther way, that would be interesting to hear more about.

[SpacePen]

I wonder that there isn't a Senior in the Pacific? Perhaps Australia's (or one of Asia's) has jurisdiction there.

And as for the antarctic... I wonder if Penguins are high enough up on the food chain to have been offered wizardry.

[Space Cadet]

I haven't re-read this book for a couple of years, but I'll jump in here too.

Some of my favourite scenes are in this book. I like the conversation K & N have about the meteorite in the museum, particularly Nita's thoughts on how nice it is to have someone in her life who feels the same as her about so many things. When I first read books 1-4, I myself had only recently found a friend who liked the same things as me. We're still best friends *mumble mumble* years later.

I also like the conversation they have in the birthing room in the Crossings; the way Nita feels so relieved when Kit says she is his best friend. I can understand that uncertainty: even when you know something intellectually, like Nita knew she was Kit's closest friend (after everything they had been through, she must have, no matter what she said) sometimes you still need to be assured by an external party so that you can know it emotionally too.

I'm also quite fond of how the 5th Doctor shows up to lend Dairine a hand

[illiriam]

Ahh I guess we are supposed to be moving on to AWAb now.
AWAb: 16th Feb
AWD: 26th Feb
AWAl: 8th March
AWH: 18th March
W@W: 28th March

Thing-I-Noticed-#-1)
Just have to finalize my monopolization of the discussion before we go. lol.
On page 120, Dairine is at the Crossings. She bumps into a gate that she doesn't have a ticket for, and something that looked more or less like a holly tree, with lots of berries for eyes, walked past her and went through. Sounds like Filif's species, right? But Dairine can see this fella's roots. Is Filif just shy, or this tree an exhibitionist?
#2) We hear a lot about the instrumentality in WAW. I think that the Hesper was just the one important at the time, since Spot refers to the LP as an instrumentality on page 127.

Stated number of arguments allows for interference in transit by other instrumentalities.

So is an instrumentality a Power?
#3) Also on page 127

Sort for anticipated arrival, time continuum maximal but skewed to eliminate paradox.

I thought that that was interesting. Skewed to eliminate paradox. So, maybe Dairine has to spend more time in transit so that she isn't effectively going back in time? Or something along those lines?

Just my fun-things-I-noticed-but-couldn't-find-the-post-it-I-wrote-them0down-on-until-today-or-else-I-would-have-put-this-up-before list.

[permafry_42]

I haven't re-read this book for a couple of years, but I'll jump in here too.

Some of my favourite scenes are in this book. I like the conversation K & N have about the meteorite in the museum, particularly Nita's thoughts on how nice it is to have someone in her life who feels the same as her about so many things. When I first read books 1-4, I myself had only recently found a friend who liked the same things as me. We're still best friends *mumble mumble* years later.

I also like the conversation they have in the birthing room in the Crossings; the way Nita feels so relieved when Kit says she is his best friend. I can understand that uncertainty: even when you know something intellectually, like Nita knew she was Kit's closest friend (after everything they had been through, she must have, no matter what she said) sometimes you still need to be assured by an external party so that you can know it emotionally too.

I'm also quite fond of how the 5th Doctor shows up to lend Dairine a hand

no offense, but i personally dislike the romantic parts of the book, because they make it seem too mature of characters for teens. at this part of my life at least, i didn't exactly take romance to the level that nita and kit did; to where their already worried about they're relationship, and they spend a majority of their thoughts thinking of each other rather than about darine who was about to face basically the physical embodiment of the devil while they just need to work together.

personally i feel that the best parts of the books were where it shows that kid's have the power, and that the more kid-minded you were, the more powerful you could become. Darine is my favourite character because she proves that it's the kids that will always get things done in the world. She also thinks a lot like me. i too work very well with computers (mostly because they will do whatever you want them to do if you know how to tell them). I love reading, and i am a techie fan (though i don't like most apple products since they are often over priced). also, like her, i always tried to learn what i could as long as i can remember.i'm also good at debating/arguing, which she obviously is considering she argued with the devil and didn't die from it.

[SilveredBlue]

lol. Exhibitionist tree...

As for the time paradox: didn't that transit seem like it went on forever to Dairine? (And was extremely painful into the bargain.)

I think the same long transit happened when Roshaun and Dairine went to the Motherboard in W@W, although I don't think it was as painful. Possibly because the LKP was actively interfering in the first transit...?

[Space Cadet]

no offense, but i personally dislike the romantic parts of the book, because they make it seem too mature of characters for teens.

Permafry, I wasn't talking about romance. I was talking about friendship. I know there are scenes in this book (these scenes, even) which are used as examples of possible romantic feelings between K&N, but I think the nature of their friendship is the more important take-home message. Kit's role in this book (in the first four, really) is to be Nita's support in a tough situation. And the tough situation at hand is Dairine.

One thing that bugged me about this book, though, is that Nita wasn't there to support Kit when he told his parents about his wizardry, even though he had been there for her. Yes, yes, I know, time constraints. She had to draw the spell diagram, and she was worried about Dairine. But still, that always jumped out at me.

[illiriam]

I have to agree. It is nice to see how much Nita appreciates Kit; she doesn't take his friendship for granted. They have a connection, and that will be there whether they are just friends (although there really isn't anything just about friendship) or if it evolves into something more as they grow older.
And another take home message seems to be that you shouldn't discount anyone. Dairine is the youngest one, yet she has a fierceness and determination to her that you wouldn't expect at a first glance. She is the one good at martial arts, she is the one who realizes that maybe she isn't as important as she thought she was (like when she was ready to scour the universe looking for Darth Vader...) which I think takes something special. It can be hard when you realize that you aren't the center of the Universe.

[kk]

Some pictures...

Okay... I've been not participating in the discussions, and I know I should, but before we move on, here are some pictures I took a while ago in New York, that I thought you'd like to see:

"They ambled down the hall a little way, to the Ahnighito meteorite on its low pedestal - thirty four tons of nickel-iron slag, pited with great holes like an irregularly melted lump of Swiss cheese. Nita laid her hands and cheek against it; on a hot day in New York, this was the best thing in the city to touch... - Page 28, HW



(And yes, when I saw it, I cackled a bit madly, and did press my cheek and hands against it, and the surface was as cool as described.)

(Also, I apologize for how large the image is; but I wanted everyone to be able to read the "Thirty-Four Tons of Iron" sign. Because that's mentioned in the book!)

And here are two of the scales; the Mars one and the Saturn one:



They didn't have a sign that said, "To Mars, Venus, Ladies' Room," (At least I couldn't find one...) but I did notice that the trim and paint color around where the Ladies' Room was looked almost exactly like the trim and paint color from this cover of High Wizardry.

(I've also got pictures of the PanAm (now Metlife) helipad, just PM or IM me if you'd like to see them!)