JS&MN - Chapters 31-34
From "Seventeen dead Neapolitans" to "On the edge of the desert".
Strange is in Spain working under the direction of Wellington and ends up doing many odd magical things, according to the various demands of the general: moving towns about, making rivers go the other way, removing a forest, swapping churches round, etc. He also uses necromancy to resurrect seventeen dead Neapolitan soldiers to find out where they have hidden their cannon.
Upon his return to England after Napoleon's abdication and is joyfully reunited with Arabella. Currently-mad King George's many sons come calling and ask if Strange can do something about their father's madness and Strange agrees. King George is certainly insane and blind but he appears to be able to talk to the gentleman with the thistle-down hair. Then when the King and indeed Strange is being seduced away by the music of a flute in the deep woods, Strange remembers Ormskirke's spell and successfully uses the moon, the colour of scarlet, and a few other things to keep them from being swayed.
Stephen and the gentleman with the thistle-down hair are walking through somewhere in the desert (with Stephen unsuccessfully trying, again, to get out) and the gentleman with the thistle-down hair tells Stephen he is trying to make Stephen King of England, which explains the events of the previous chapter.
--
Wellington "approved of people doing things promptly and in a businesslike fashion" (regarding the dead Neapolitans learning how to speak the dialects of Hell in three days) omg
The part with the King is so interesting because it's where we actually see Strange "use" magic. In most cases the narrative just says that then Strange did magic and this happened, illustrating what happens before (like his difficulty finding spells) and after (what the spells did) but not the actual act of magic itself. The magic here is very low-key. Also in the letter to John Segundus it appears that magic is quite simple--just quarter a bowl of water!--but nevertheless impossible if you're not a magician.
Imagine being trapped in a carpet!!
Next week will be chapters 35-39, "The Nottinghamshire gentleman" to "The two magicians".
Crosspost: http://silverflight8.dreamwidth.org/158917.html.
Strange is in Spain working under the direction of Wellington and ends up doing many odd magical things, according to the various demands of the general: moving towns about, making rivers go the other way, removing a forest, swapping churches round, etc. He also uses necromancy to resurrect seventeen dead Neapolitan soldiers to find out where they have hidden their cannon.
Upon his return to England after Napoleon's abdication and is joyfully reunited with Arabella. Currently-mad King George's many sons come calling and ask if Strange can do something about their father's madness and Strange agrees. King George is certainly insane and blind but he appears to be able to talk to the gentleman with the thistle-down hair. Then when the King and indeed Strange is being seduced away by the music of a flute in the deep woods, Strange remembers Ormskirke's spell and successfully uses the moon, the colour of scarlet, and a few other things to keep them from being swayed.
Stephen and the gentleman with the thistle-down hair are walking through somewhere in the desert (with Stephen unsuccessfully trying, again, to get out) and the gentleman with the thistle-down hair tells Stephen he is trying to make Stephen King of England, which explains the events of the previous chapter.
--
Wellington "approved of people doing things promptly and in a businesslike fashion" (regarding the dead Neapolitans learning how to speak the dialects of Hell in three days) omg
The part with the King is so interesting because it's where we actually see Strange "use" magic. In most cases the narrative just says that then Strange did magic and this happened, illustrating what happens before (like his difficulty finding spells) and after (what the spells did) but not the actual act of magic itself. The magic here is very low-key. Also in the letter to John Segundus it appears that magic is quite simple--just quarter a bowl of water!--but nevertheless impossible if you're not a magician.
Imagine being trapped in a carpet!!
Next week will be chapters 35-39, "The Nottinghamshire gentleman" to "The two magicians".
Crosspost: http://silverflight8.dreamwidth.org/158917.html.