Hi!

I just want to ask, what really makes a person a potential magician? Isn't all humans commoners from the start? It only takes the knowledge, right? No special talents whatsoever? Then why don't they just disseminate all those knowledge to the public? o.O

Nope, no special talents needed, just the patience and intellectual capacity necessary to learn all the ancient languages and incantations and so on necessary for the summoning and control, and the strength of will and character to deal with the spirits.

The knowledge is kept to the magician caste because:
a) without a lifetime of training in all the methods needed, and even then to some extent, summoning spirits is immensely dangerous and if you try it unprepared you will get killed and eaten, and
b) because it's the rulers' source of power, and if everyone can use it, they don't have it as a means of controlling the plebs any more.

So I guess, in the end, it's all just filthy politics. I'll join the resistance!

Haha, I thought that was going to be a Jonathan Stroud's interview or something. Haha. How the heck can he snort that loud?

Haha. That pretty much settles it all. :D

Oh... Mr Bean is a magician! I should have known. He probably summoned a marid and ordered it to perform a Snort. Or is the Snort a punishment for a spirit's disobedience? I'm leaning towards the latter. :D