WEBVTT

00:00:01.330 --> 00:00:03.370
What do you do when everything's lost? When you

00:00:03.370 --> 00:00:05.690
have a plan or had a plan and it totally got

00:00:05.690 --> 00:00:07.870
ruined? You have to pick up the pieces and move

00:00:07.870 --> 00:00:13.070
on. And sometimes it's hard. And sometimes it's

00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:16.089
hardest to admit when it's maybe not all your

00:00:16.089 --> 00:00:18.809
fault, but a lot of it is your fault. And I feel

00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:21.309
like that's what we're dealing with here in chapter

00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:24.589
9, I believe, of the Book of Three, Flute or

00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:27.390
Flam. Excuse me, that's the name of the title,

00:00:27.489 --> 00:00:28.829
that's the name of the chapter, and that's the

00:00:28.829 --> 00:00:30.829
name of the character we meet in this chapter.

00:00:30.989 --> 00:00:35.429
At the end of the last chapter, we had this mysterious

00:00:35.429 --> 00:00:37.789
man who Tarn had never seen before, who was standing

00:00:37.789 --> 00:00:42.189
with Malangar at the tree. He's who Alonbi had

00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:45.270
freed from Spiral Castle, and it turns out he's

00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:48.789
a relative of Gwydion, but he isn't Gwydion,

00:00:48.869 --> 00:00:51.990
and Tarn attacks him, and then after they talk

00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:54.210
and regroup and everything, they realize that...

00:00:54.329 --> 00:00:57.170
Gwydion is gone, that he's possibly dead, um,

00:00:57.429 --> 00:01:01.329
that, uh, Ahren is either dead or she's fled

00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:04.090
somewhere, and there are the Cauldronborn still

00:01:04.090 --> 00:01:06.489
out there that they have to deal with. Tarin

00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:10.250
has to continue his mission of finding Henwen,

00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:15.549
but also Gwydion's mission of, uh, carrying word

00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:18.370
to somebody at Caer Dathol, uh, to tell them

00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:20.989
what's going on, and we have a very interesting

00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:23.840
circumstance where It's not literally all Taran's

00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:25.760
fault. Well, it is kind of his fault that they

00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.959
were captured, first of all. So that is a problem.

00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:34.260
And then he upsets Olanwi. But it doesn't really

00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:39.939
affect too much. But definitely just... He's

00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:41.379
had a lot of negative reactions, as I've talked

00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:43.040
about in the past chapter -by -chapter discussions

00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.019
of this, and they have caused a lot of issues.

00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.480
By the way, this is MJ. I'm an author. I'm an

00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:49.040
artist. I'm an analyzer. I welcome you to this

00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.799
chapter -by -chapter discussion of the Book of

00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.359
Three by Lloyd Alexander. And, yeah, sorry I

00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:54.620
forgot to mention all that stuff up at the front,

00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:59.299
but here we go. This is another chapter that

00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:00.980
could just be a transitional chapter, but it's

00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:04.540
full, but it's... One, it's not just another

00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:06.659
transition chapter. It's a transition chapter

00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:08.580
that gives us a lot of purpose. It gives us some

00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:10.580
texture on the world. It gives us some information

00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:13.039
that we didn't know before. And it gives us some,

00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.300
I guess, emotional and character beats that are

00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:19.120
probably necessary. I was going to say, it kind

00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.199
of gives room to breathe, although there wasn't

00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.719
a lot of tense action in the last chapter. This

00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:25.979
is actually more of a lot of foreboding is happening.

00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:27.900
A lot of buildup is happening. Gergie comes back

00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:30.960
and he warns them that there's a lot. going on.

00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.139
The Horned King is still out there. He's still

00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:39.060
hunting for, I guess, Tarn. And Flutterflam kind

00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:41.180
of convinces, or he almost convinces Tarn to

00:02:41.180 --> 00:02:43.520
go and fight, but Tarn actually shows some wisdom

00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.460
here. He shows some growth and progression. He

00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:48.060
thinks, no, that's not what Gwydion would do

00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:49.819
right now. He would be smarter and he would play

00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.479
this differently. And that's what I want to do.

00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:56.750
And then they journey together. One of the things

00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.150
I like that they do here is they actually stop

00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:02.409
and pick up as many weapons as they can, arrows,

00:03:02.590 --> 00:03:07.370
bows, dagger, swords, whatever, from the dead

00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:11.250
bodies of, I guess, were there living guards?

00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:13.330
I guess there must have been living guards in

00:03:13.330 --> 00:03:16.310
Ashram's Spiral Castle as well as the Cauldronborn,

00:03:16.389 --> 00:03:17.509
because the Cauldronborn are gone somewhere.

00:03:17.650 --> 00:03:20.229
But anyway, they scavenge weapons from the dead,

00:03:20.349 --> 00:03:22.629
and they use those because they want to be as

00:03:22.629 --> 00:03:26.259
prepared as possible. They're sticking together.

00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:27.840
They're trying to survive. They've got enemy

00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.900
forces out there who are after them, so to speak,

00:03:30.939 --> 00:03:34.620
or who they may very well or very easily encounter.

00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:38.000
And they want to escape the encounter. And being

00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.860
armed is the best way to do that. So there's

00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:41.919
a lot of practicality going on here. But there's

00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:46.879
also some character stuff going on. And again,

00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.580
I'm kind of glossing over some of what happened.

00:03:52.279 --> 00:03:54.099
I'm just mentioning directly that, you know,

00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:55.819
there's the foreboding and the buildup of they

00:03:55.819 --> 00:03:57.800
are in danger and they are outnumbered and they're

00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.919
alone and they effectively don't have competent,

00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:04.259
you know, warband leadership. This is despite

00:04:04.259 --> 00:04:05.900
the fact that Fleur de Flam says he's, you know,

00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.460
he's the guy to take care of these things. He

00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:10.460
doesn't really take charge like Gideon may have.

00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:14.240
He does take, however, an advisory role. And

00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:15.759
this is kind of what I want to talk about more

00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:20.100
of the. the character stuff. And I don't know

00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:24.259
if Flutterflam is technically a foil for Tarin,

00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:29.680
but he may be. I mean, I guess by going by my

00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:31.459
assumption or my observation so far on the book,

00:04:31.459 --> 00:04:34.300
I would say he is. In what way does he foil him?

00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:39.230
Tarin... Well, he calls Elanwe a winsome lass,

00:04:39.290 --> 00:04:41.829
and he says it's too bad, or it's not good that

00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:45.490
Tarin just dismissed her. And he also tells Tarin

00:04:45.490 --> 00:04:47.089
that Gwydion wouldn't have dismissed her, because

00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:51.129
Tarin wrongly thinks, wrongly assumes that Elanwe

00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:54.029
was a traitor, and she was working with and for

00:04:54.029 --> 00:04:56.790
Achren this whole time, and she wasn't. And he

00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.470
castigates her, he verbally attacks her, and

00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:02.860
she leaves crying. And Flutter's like... she's

00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:04.660
a pretty girl. You should, you know, go talk

00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:06.899
to her. And, uh, also that's what Gwydion would

00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:10.000
do. Uh, and he wouldn't like, he would see justice

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.699
done and he wouldn't neglect, uh, doing the duty

00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:17.000
of doing justice. And he also, um, like he would

00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.779
just follow through on this. And so in a way

00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:23.899
Flutters a mirror or foil for Tarn by saying,

00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:26.100
Hey, look, you're not being as much like Gwydion

00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:28.540
as you possibly could be. Go do that. And also

00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:33.009
he shows the tact and the diplomacy that Tarn

00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:36.370
lacks because we, well, he's a brash young man

00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:40.209
and he's unschooled in these matters. So he is

00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:44.850
lacking in, uh, not game, but in, um, maturity

00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:48.750
and, uh, well, diplomacy, like I said earlier.

00:05:48.970 --> 00:05:51.930
And that's another little thing going on here.

00:05:51.970 --> 00:05:57.319
Uh, his behavior towards Gergi. shows his lack

00:05:57.319 --> 00:05:59.480
of diplomacy and his lack of understanding, his

00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.120
lack of wisdom as well. Gwydion treated, you

00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:04.459
know, what would Gwydion do? Gwydion would treat

00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.180
Gergi better, and he did in the past, and he

00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:09.639
should follow that example, just like he should

00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:12.939
follow the example of being good with Olanwi.

00:06:13.259 --> 00:06:18.579
And it's really interesting how Flutter offers

00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:21.819
him that opportunity of growth and showing that

00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:26.339
level of maturity. In conclusion, that's about

00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:28.279
all I have to say about this chapter. Well, except

00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:29.879
for this. I feel like I'm not doing as good of

00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:31.899
a job selling this as a really fun and really

00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:35.740
cool chapter, really enjoyable chapter. But it

00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:37.699
is. And I guess you have to read it for yourself,

00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:39.980
or I need to get better at telling you why I

00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.100
like something so much. But it was really enjoyable

00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:43.759
to listen to, and it was a lot of fun. A lot

00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:45.639
of cool things happened. And a lot of, again,

00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:50.439
this layering of character and such. So it was

00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:52.279
pretty good. I'm going to close out real quick

00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:54.579
and just let you know that I will be doing...

00:06:54.829 --> 00:06:56.470
Sometime around the release of this, a Wings

00:06:56.470 --> 00:06:59.050
of Fire review, book one of Wings of Fire. I'm

00:06:59.050 --> 00:07:01.610
checking out multiple fantasy novels, middle

00:07:01.610 --> 00:07:03.009
grade fantasy novels that are going to be similar

00:07:03.009 --> 00:07:05.790
to my book, Mocking Mayhem, which has magical

00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:08.589
bugs battling monsters, particularly monsters

00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:10.529
who attack their home and try to kill them all.

00:07:11.670 --> 00:07:15.490
And a couple, a pair of young, untested grow

00:07:15.490 --> 00:07:18.850
bugs do their best to fight against these monsters.

00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:22.540
survive, save their master and see if they can

00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:24.420
survive the attack of the rest of the flock as

00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:27.259
well. And if they do this, they survive and they

00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:28.459
get to live and they get to go on to protect

00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:30.939
children from other monsters. And if they don't,

00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:32.500
well, I guess that's the end of the story. So

00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:34.959
anyway, the exciting thing will be to find out

00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:36.639
how that happens. But yeah, I've already finished

00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.480
listening to Rings of Fire, book one, and I have

00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:41.699
a lot of thoughts on it. So I'd like to talk

00:07:41.699 --> 00:07:43.620
about that sometime soon. That'll be released

00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.079
on Fortress Fiction. It won't be chapter by chapter.

00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.480
That's going to become my new weekly thing is

00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:48.699
I'm going to be talking about different books

00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:52.139
that are... tangentially related to um my book

00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.959
mocking mayhem and as i write other books that

00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:56.560
are in the middle grade genre i think i might

00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.079
shift fortress fiction to being that where i

00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:01.259
say okay i like these books you know like the

00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:02.839
chronicles of bernina i will continue to talk

00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:04.459
about until i'm done with them chapter by chapter

00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:06.000
because they're that good and they're that fun

00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.540
they may become shorter episodes if i don't have

00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:10.319
much to say like in this one or i'm not doing

00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.259
a good job of it i'll just cut myself off um

00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:15.000
but other than that um you can expect weekly

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:18.569
chapter by chapter uh covering Chronicles of

00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:20.910
Bredain, and then I'm going to try to sneak in

00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:23.050
every week as well, when I'm available to do

00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:25.329
it, a book review of a book that's kind of an

00:08:25.329 --> 00:08:28.449
also -bought, so to speak, for my book, Mocking

00:08:28.449 --> 00:08:30.709
Mayhem. And anyway, I hope you'll enjoy that.

00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:32.070
If you want to learn more about Mocking Mayhem,

00:08:32.090 --> 00:08:34.409
you can go to mgwinners .com. There will be a

00:08:34.409 --> 00:08:35.970
link in the show notes here, and you can find

00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:37.629
out about the book and sign up for a newsletter

00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:40.669
so you can get a bonus story, a bonus guide,

00:08:40.889 --> 00:08:44.570
and also an announcement about when the book's

00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:46.899
going to come out and other... Good, fun stuff.

00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:48.879
So until next time, folks, take care and be well.