If you could change one thing about the YW series, what would it be?

[Trialia]

Blue, I'm pretty sure we don't have any eight-year-olds on here, and if they're old enough to be talking and thinking about death (i.e. Dilemma) and the other concepts of the series, then I think they're old enough to understand the concept of virginity.

Honestly, I don't think it is so terribly inappropriate, given that under-13s have to get parental permission to register here anyway. I'm not encouraging kids to go out and have sex at an age that young, not at all. I think it's a very bad idea. I'm just stating the fact that it does happen sometimes. I'm not being crude, rude or making jokes on the subject, and people of that age should already be learning about this stuff in school, so I don't see there being much harm so long as I don't get any more explicit, and I really don't plan on that, I promise. (12 is legally old enough to be doing that stuff in several countries, remember. Even if it isn't in most of them.)

But yes, about Nita's relationship with her mother, I think you have something there.

[SilveredBlue]

*ducks* Don't shoot me!

True. Very true. I guess the line about "we've polled and some members are as young as 8" in the FAQ's kind of lodged in my head and I didn't think it out.

Most of that would go over a normal eight-year-old's head anyway...although would a 'normal' eight-year-old be reading YW? ...so I guess there's no reason to worry.


Sorry for calling you out! I hope I didn't make anyone angry.

[Trialia]

To be honest, I don't think an average eight-year-old would be reading YW. Ten, perhaps. (And if you want to know where I'm getting my facts about AoC laws: here. Interesting site.)

I'm not angry. Just wanted to point out that if a kid has the maturity to be thinking about some of the other issues brought up in the YW series, then sie would most likely have the maturity to think about other issues, too. I'm not going to be explicit about any of that, because I know DD doesn't wish it on the forums. I just don't want to treat the younger members of the forum with kid gloves and over-protect them, because life will not do that, and it's best that they do know about these things, to prepare themselves for later on, if nothing else. At least, that's my opinion, and you're free to disagree with it, of course.

[SilveredBlue]

Yep. I agree. I read YW at eleven, but I only went up to HW- because that's all that the library had. I read the others around thirteen, and I'm glad I waited because of the more mature themes.

I suppose that it's just ingrained in me to dance around anything mildly in that direction because of living with three younger siblings.

EDIT: I still wish that that DW scene could have been taken out though. Just me.

[Wolf]

Dear Trialia and SilveredBlue:

I am VERY upset that my two friends are debating/arguing! Stop it!!!
=)

I do think that a lot of the mature stuff would go over an 8 year old's head, if they read some of the stuff. As for the young maturity thing... that conversation always give me a very big start. The radio show I listen to in the mornings had a conversation about that topic once, and it was alarming how young people are when things like that happen. I don't really think it's a matter of the person and personality as much as it is upbringing and conditions and location...

The one thing that I have to keep bringing myself back on is the maturity level, actually, which of course factors into relationships. I have to keep reminding myself how young these kids in the books are, and to be honest... at 12, I think I was reading Nancy Drew, coming home to watch Sailor Moon, and watching Star Trek re-runs. I was pretty darn innocent. I'm not saying DD is putting more maturity on these kids than they really deserve, but I think a lot of us would agree there needs to be an age jump, although not so much that they start getting into a different kind of trouble (like what Trialia was not-so-much alluding to).

Well, we can't really do anything about Nita's relationship with her mom... I think the relationship with her dad is pretty spot-on, for now. Maybe a little more strict-ness, I'd say, but he knows all about Wizardry, the dangers, and seems to have accepted this and he does trust Nita. And I know books are little worlds sort of removed from our own, but maybe he's letting her get into a little more danger than other fathers would allow? I mean, wouldn't he worry more since he's now a single parent?

And since I'm watching the military channel, this just hit me... do you think when DD's timeline progresses enough, will she deal with 9/11, and attribute it to the Lone Power? Or do you think her timeline will stop before 2001? Remember, it's 1980 or something like that to Kit & Nita...

The above is in blackout because I do NOT want to debate about the events I mentioned. It's just me speculating about the books and their timeline. Please do not post in reply if you're just going to debate about conspiracy, as I am close to the event mentioned.

[SilveredBlue]

I think she HAS dealt with 9/11. Somewhat. Remember, Nita thinks sadly of the Manhattan skyline when Tom says. "Things are changing...and not for the better." or something along those lines, in W@W. (Of course, he meant it from a thousands-of-years point of view, but still.) And that was all. I don't know whether there will be more about it, or what. Tom also didn't say LP in regard to that, so it's just a quick memorial to the event. Maybe it will turn up later, but I don't know.

I'll stop debating with Triala now. Although I ditto everything you said, Wolf. Again.

Hey, you read Nancy Drew too? I was addicited at eleven. I read through all, like, forty of them.

A lot of people see Nita and Kit as more fourteen-and-thirteen, or 14 and 14, or 15 and 14, than 13 and 12. There's been numerous time lines up, but DD has mentioned that there probably will be a re-issue of the first three or so books to clear up the timeline problems in some future date.

For me, Neets is fourteen (from W@W) but soon turning fifteen, and Kit is only a few months younger, which is the intuitive way to fix their ages and maturity IMO. Dairine is thirteen. (Gah, I can't figure out the fractions from W@W!) Also, dealing with the Power that invented Death tends to make you more mature, I'd think.

One last sputter of debate: If I'm doing the fractions right (which I seriously doubt) from the Dair-and-Roshuan scene in W@W, the given age for that sort of thing is 18-20. In canon, that is. Sooo....draw your own conclusions.

[Wolf]

Hmm. I'd have to double-check the publication dates and see if that's so.... I was about to say that I also add Nita's alternate-universe view in the first book as further evidence, but I forgot that was released in like, 1970.

I read all the Nancy Drew, too! Heehee. I don't remember any of them, or barely, but I know for a fact I read them all, most of them at least twice. (I could never read mysteries after the mystery was gone =P )

The timeline is so messy... *grows + sighs*
I guess when AWOM comes out, we'll have ages, and that'll help straighten things out.

[Nights Mistress]

She has dealt with it. The LP's gloating spiel to the wizards at the end of WAW makes reference to how the atrocities that are going to take place put the events you're referring to as being pretty small scale.

Given that there's been nine years since then, the LP will probably reference something else, if it does.

[Opal]

Mine is how the ages keep getting messed up. Or how Nita is supposed to be in High School by now. If she got the manual at around 14, and in some books (High Wizardry) it says it's been two years since she found it, then how is it in Wizards at War, she is still fourteen? I would figure, that even being wizards, entropy would still affect them.

[dorotheia]

*Giggles* "The title is a dead giveaway." Good point. But you know, there are some lovely folk out there who leave things out just to annoy the heck out of our imaginations. So maybe I jumped early about the phone numbers. *Giggles again* I still haven't figured out Kirk's "Rihannsu" name and why it's so funny. (Though I have my suspicions; I'm pretty sure they're not DD's.)
I couldn't stand Nancy Drews, but I did read Trixie Beldens and whatever other interesting mysteries I could get my hands on. I know what you mean about not re-reading mysteries, with the exception of Encyclopedia Brown (I forgot the plots after reading the last story/explanation).
Actually, I think Nita got the manual when she was twelve, not fourteen. I'm not going to check again. I think the parts between SYWTBAW through AWAb time out okay. They're all within a year, which is reasonable. It's a matter of shrinking the next books, TWD through WAW to the least amount of time possible, within a year or so. (Which is crazy since there's a lot of 'recovery time' between, too, especially between TWD and AWAl.) Those books seem to take a couple of months to a year to get through all those events, and there are so many!
So, I think we've gotten off topic. Aside from a timeline, which we all would just adore... Oh, I know! How Carmela got to the Crossings. She's not at all clear, and Kit's hysterical because Carmela lets him think it's for the other reason. Maybe that'll be revealed in AWoM, too? *Zips up straitjacket*

[Wolf]

Didn't Carmela put a Worldgate in her closet? I don't remember that happening but someone said it and it sounds familiar. And something that Carmela would do, anyway. :P

Nahh, Carmela's not a wizard. She like being around them, but she wouldn't want to be one. I think she said something quite similar to that sentence, actually, right after she gave Kit a heart attack making him think she was one. ^_^

I can't wait for AWoM. I know I'm totally preaching to the choir here, but just so the ruddy time line will be cleared up!! Hahh.

I want to hear more about Kit's new dog. Will it be Ponchy like he was "meant to be"?- or was he meant to be the dog's One in the first place and that's just how he developed? Don't answer me, I know it's the second.... I just really miss Ponch. =( But now I think I'm at a point where I want to learn more about this doggy. Obviously no one can replace Ponchy, but it'll be fun to see Kit & Nita's new sidekick.

Also, does anyone else feel like we need to hear maybe just a little bit more about Dair and her little children? I think maybe we need to touch on them just one more time, briefly. I don't know why, I just feel like we need a smidgen more down-time with them. Not to explore them more or anything... even if Dair went there real quick cuz she forgot something, I'd be satisfied with that. =)

[Silverclaw]

I started reading YW at 7, and while I was a bit confused at first, I don't remember having any trouble understanding "mature" themes. I'm not sure if I count as normal or not.

[rick455]

Training

It seems in the YW universe, wizards are expected to act like and behave like knights. I would've found a way once they pass their ordeal to get them some formal training. It might cut down on the body count.
Tom and Carl simply don't have the time to do something like that. If 1% of the population are wizards ,that's over 3 million wizards in the US alone and 66 million for the world.

[Nights Mistress]

Some more girl wizards.

Don't get me wrong, I am utterly delighted that Kit's finally getting a book to himself (it's about time, really!) and I'm definitely looking forward to it. But one of the things I've noticed is that the series is really getting very male-dominated - it's not so bad if you just take names, but the majority of "major" characters in the series are male, especially if you consider the ones introduced later. I'd really like some more female wizards introduced as major characters in the series. It's sad because I love Nita and Dairine! But the gender balance is a little skewed.

That said, I also wouldn't want them just introduced to be love interests. Admittedly, DD has consciously avoided and subverted that in the past with Ronan being Nita's love interest. It's just something I'm concerned about.

[Trialia]

Mistress, I agree, I'd love to see some more female characters.