writer on the television series The Canada Crew, Now You Know, I Love Mummy, and RoboCop Prime Directives, and a journalist whose work has appeared in Rue Morgue, Dreamwatch, Starburst, and Fangoria.He applied the Page 69 Test to Magicians Impossible and reported the following:
Magicians Impossible is many things. It’s a fantasy, it’s a thriller, it’s a mystery. But at its heart it’s the story of someone who, for much of his life, felt he was unexceptional. Then he discovers he’s much more than that. Page 69 in the book is where Jason Bishop first finally gazes upon The Spire – the training facility for the Invisible Hand; a cabal of magic-wielding spies locked in a centuries-old conflict against forces of chaos and darkness. The Spire is is as much a physical representation of the difficult road that lies ahead for Jason Bishop, as it is an Escher-esque training facility.Visit Brad Abraham's website.Below them lay an immense arena, but calling it immense sold it short. On first glance he thought you could fit the old and new Yankee stadiums into it, and still have room for Storm King Mountain in the cheap seats. As Jason focused on one corner of the arena, the view seemed to get closer even though the room didn’t move; like everywhere he focused the viewing window magnified to see every last detail. To call the effect disorienting was as great a disservice as calling the arena immense.What I like about this page and this sequence is how it gives Jason (and us) a sense of scale by comparison; a technique I return to throughout the book, especially when describing the fantastical world of the Invisible Hand. Describing it as something that would fit two baseball stadiums and a mountain and still have room left over gives the reader a sense of what he’s seeing. I wanted Magicians Impossible to move with a good amount of momentum, while still giving you a chance to envision everything in your head. This is especially important with The Spire, which comes into play in the climax in a big way.
On the ground, a large racing track surrounded a patch of green Astroturf that was covered with obstacles set up its length and around it. But the track seemed to undulate, looping in and around itself like the coils of a snake, and Jason felt dizzy just trying to figure out where it began and where it ended. Heavy-looking crates rested on the field and more floated in the air, stretching all the way up to the ceiling hundreds of feet above. There were people visible, too, all dressed in red-and-black training uniforms. He saw a girl leap gracefully onto the stack of crates and vanish in a puff of smoke. She reappeared midway up, balanced on one of the floating crates. She disappeared again, then reappeared again balanced on the edge of the highest one. She held there for a moment, peered over the edge, like a child contemplating the distance from the high board at the local pool. Then she stepped off, plummeting like a rock. Jason sucked air as she fell. Midway down, she disappeared in a thunderclap of smoke, and reappeared back on the ground, light as a feather.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
