This is part of my series retelling Diary of a Very Bad Year. Today we’re covering Chapter VII.
It’s May 2009. The Dow is at 8,504. Unemployment is 9.4 percent. Over 342,000 homes got foreclosed that month. But the worst of the panic? That part seems to be over.
These three chapters are a lot. They cover Bro recovering from his arrow wound, falling for a woman who is secretly the most powerful wizard on the continent, losing more friends, and then we cut to Lauzoril having one of the most emotionally intense father-daughter scenes in any D&D novel. So let’s get into it.
Chapter 22 starts with a storm and ends with Urza casually dismantling the life Xantcha and Ratepe have built together. It’s a lot.
This is part of my series retelling Diary of a Very Bad Year. Today we’re covering Chapter VI - the start of Part 3: Aftermath.
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
After the battle at the Naz Mathoni camp, things should calm down. The enemies are defeated. Water is secured. The Key of Arimithos has been found. Time to rest, right?
Three chapters. Three completely different vibes. A room full of the most dangerous wizards in Faerun. A queen strapping on leather armor. And a boy getting shot in the back with an arrow right after hugging his dad.
Chapter 21 is where everything the book has been building toward starts to crack open. Xantcha has to deal with what happened with Gix in the catacombs, and the truth she discovers at Koilos changes everything.
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Last chapter ended with a ridiculous plan. Sandy and Zhadnoboth would walk into a camp full of enemies and pretend to be harmless travelers. Uskban and Pognak would hide in the desert, waiting.
Bro finally made it to the Yuirwood. He’s walking through the forest he’s dreamed about for seven years. And it’s nothing like he remembers.
This is part of my series retelling Diary of a Very Bad Year. Today we’re covering Chapter V.
It’s January 16, 2009. The Dow is at 8,281. Unemployment is 7.6 percent. Over 300,000 foreclosures this month. And HFM just spent his New Year’s Eve chasing bank traders on ski slopes to get year-end prices for his portfolio. Welcome to year-end closing on Wall Street.