Wizards' War Waged In Liminal Ways
The Face In The Frost Review, Part Two
We have two kingdoms where wizards exist, as do monsters and other things, but no normal men like any of them much. That dislike and disgust constrains our wizard protagonist and his friend, but their opponent not so much. The magical attacks by the antagonist so far have made use of the liminal space between the ordinary and the unreal to, alternatively, draw the target into the unreal or push the unreal into the ordinary heedless of the consequences knowing full well that those others affected would lay the blame on the hero(es) instead.
If you’re doing a low-key conflict, and you know the minds of the men around your enemy, making them unwitting agents of your agenda is an obvious play to make. No need to actively use magic upon any such population; just being uncaring about using it against your enemies will do- and that has been the antagonist’s pattern so far. The result was that existing political fractures would widen into war, all on account of a witch hunt seeking to put down perfidious prestidigitators dealing with demons.
As for our antagonist, he does not make a direct appearance until the end when our protagonist and his friend manage to first deduce who the threat is and then how to deal with him before their window of opportunity—as they estimated it—closed, past which stopping the threat was impossible.
Our final act was a fantastic display of magical theatrics as the power compelling the enemy wizard got broken through the aid of a third wizard’s serendipitous appearance with the means and aim to assist at the final moment. With that sorted, the war threat faded and the people calmed down- going back to the sleep of their ordinary lives, such that almost no one had a clue as to what went on or how close calamity came.
Fantastic read. Well worth the time spent, and worth having on the shelf. If you want to know a lot more about where the Magic-User, and specific Magic-Users as a type, come from this book is a must-read.
Next week we have a program announcement.
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