What is your preferred Magic?

[pietro]

There are many different schools of magic in fantasy, for want of a better description.

 

Which writer/author writes the best, most believable, or whatever, magic in your opinion?

 

Is it Tolkien's god-based magic?

 

Mercedes Lackey's version?

 

Katherine Kerr's shamanism?

 

Robin Hobb's Soldier Son naturistic?

 

Feist?

 

Jamie's super technological, parapsycological magic in The Scrolls of Icaria?

 

Ann Somerville's ESP in the Darshian and Pindone worlds?

 

Kyle Aaron's mix of D&G, RPG and native belief in his Kandric world?

 

Hopefully someone who I have never read so that I will more fantasy deposits to mine

 

P

[Raro]

I really like the question! When I read magical fantasy, there's still enough little boy in me to ask "would it be cool to have this kind of magic?" And then the more sober rational part of me responds with "is this magic even plausible enough to day-dream about?"

 

I generally prefer magic of the "wishing makes it so" variety, both because you can wish for so many neat things, and because there aren't any cumbersome explanations to get in the way of its plausibility. ((The most recent example I read of trying to overexplain magic is The Name of the Wind, where the author tries to concoct magical laws akin to some basic principles of thermodynamics, and has the characters blithely talking about "conservation of (magical) energy". For one thing this jarred me as being really anachronistic, since the principle of conservation of energy was only discovered in the mid 19th century, well into the industrial revolution and well beyond the technology level of most any fantasy kingdom. And for another, imitation of scientific laws doesn't make good magic, so the author promptly sidestepped many of his so-called laws.)) Anyway, two series that for me have cool plausible magic are the Chrestomancy series, by Diana Wynn Jones, and the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan -- though I never made it past book 6 of this, for quite different reasons.

 

-- Raro

[BeaStKid]

Well...I like three forms of magic that I've read/seen...

 

1. J.K Rowling's Harry Potter universe. Although I don't like restricting myself to a wand.

 

2. The mage magic. I don't remember the stories that involve mages, but dkstories's latest story, Rich Boy, has a modified version of it.

 

3. The Bewitched version of magic. Anyone seen the movie, Bewitched (Nicole Kidman) or the soap that used to feature a few years back.

 

 

 

Thats all...

 

The BeaStKid

[Menzoberranzen]

Robert Jordan's concept of magic is the one that most appeals to me, because he gives an excellent framework for why/how it exists in his universe. You can also never go wrong with classic D&D magic

 

[/nerdism]

 

Menzo

[Dalmatia]

You can also never go wrong with classic D&D magic

 

 

Yeah thats what I was going to say, D&D magic is one of the best I think

[Liddy]

Anyone ever heard of Anne Bishop's "the black jewels"?

 

You need a jewel to cause magic which is like your "pool of power". Somebody breaks your jewels -> you loose your power. You have to learn how to control your powers but you don't need to learn spells for that. The more power you have the harder it gets to do magic that needs "detail". You can move a mountain but can't throw a stone. It's also tied to your soul, if your magic is to strong for you you can't use it and then there are different....

 

ahhhhhhhhh

 

just read the books, they are worth it.

[Andy]

Mage: The Awakening by White-Wolf/World-Of-Darkness (A freeform-ish RPG game)

[Graeme]

Mage: The Awakening by White-Wolf/World-Of-Darkness (A freeform-ish RPG game)

I like the magic system in Mage, as well. Also the magic system in Ars Magica (another RPG) is one the best I've seen -- it gives a detailed basis for doing almost anything with magic, if you're good enough, but it in a balanced and 'realistic' way.

 

In novels, Lyndon Hardy's Master of the Five Magics has a very good magic system, though I think, as a story, Lawrence Watt-Evans's With a Single Spell has to be one of the most enjoyable.

[clumber]

Anyone ever heard of Anne Bishop's "the black jewels"?

 

You need a jewel to cause magic which is like your "pool of power". Somebody breaks your jewels -> you loose your power.

 

Getting your Jewels broken? Sounds painful...

 

 

I have to say I quite like Tolkien's Magic... but thats probably just because LOTR is one of my favourite books.

Edited September 12, 2007 by clumber

[Razor]

I like David Eddings' version. Y'know, the whole the will and the word thing.

[TheZot]

I've always been rather fond of the magic system in Roger Zelazny's Madwand/Changeling books.

[colinian]

I love humorous SF and Fantasy stories. John Morressy's series of short fantasy stories about the wizard Kedrigern and his wife Princess (that's her name, Princess) are wonderful. I love the tongue-firmly-in-cheek humorous magic of Terry Pratchett's stories, Going Postal is my favorite. Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners are two collections of bizarre and funny short stories about... well, about magic, and ghosts, and witches, and zombies, and lots more.

 

Colin

[clumber]

magic of Terry Pratchett's stories

 

That's a good point... you never mentioned the Diskworld system... (A bunch of old bearded wizards sitting in a tower not using magic because it's more trouble than its worth )

 

And Colinian, you're right. Going Postal is a great book

[writeincode]

I like Justin's vampire-mimic magic from 'Gone from Daylight' (Comicality)

 

I like the concept of mastering one's own magic and then the magic of others through mental pull and emotion.

[Ieshwar]

I don't know if it comes here but I like fairy tales. Yeah, the classic fairy tales with princes, kingdoms... I always like the idea of Prince Charming out there waiting for me who'll fight off death with a kiss or will give me his kingdom. The 'And lived happily for ever' is sweet and the idea of good winning over evil. Yeah, it sounds very silly but it's fun to be silly! And these tales teachess a lot...

 

Otherwise, I LOVE JKR's Harry Potter. It's too good.

 

And I love X-men too. Yeah, it's sci-fic but still....

 

And I love elementals powers. Have you heard about it? It's the power to control one of the elements. (a bit like mage power) but this one is too cool! Just imagine the power of one element inside you...

 

Take care,

Ieshwar

[Razor]

I thought Harry Potter magic was just kind of cutesy. Not much depth to it. It kind of got deeper toward the end but it was still very wishy washy as far as mechanics and theory went. Just way too vague to decide if I liked it as a system or not. It worked for JK, though, so go her.

[Menzoberranzen]

I thought Harry Potter magic was just kind of cutesy. Not much depth to it. It kind of got deeper toward the end but it was still very wishy washy as far as mechanics and theory went. Just way too vague to decide if I liked it as a system or not. It worked for JK, though, so go her.

 

I agree, and I am generally offended by things in the 'love triumphs all' vein.

[JamesSavik]

It has been a very long time sicnce I read it but the first three books of the Dragonlance series did an excellent job of showing a very coherent magical system.

 

Basically there were three schools of magic- white (good, clerical type magic), red (neutral elemental based magic: air, fire, water & earth) and finally black magic (death/evil magic).

 

Practicioners of magic are limited in scope to the spells that they can cast first by the school of their magic. Next by the spells that they have learned. Mages have to have formal training and registration as wild mages are considered at worst a threat or at best a nuisance by the Crown.

 

Just because you are a mage does not mean that you can cast anything you want. Mages don't come off their spells easily. If someone uses one of your spells to do something criminal, you bear some of the responsibility.

 

Masters are high level Mages that can teach higher level magic but they won't teach just any old Sot the stumbles along. They will want to know who you are, where you are from and your reputation. Even then a master may tell you to get lost if they just don't like your looks.

 

Your magic is unique. To other mages a spell cast is like a signed painting. Other Mages will know what you've done. Mages feel the flow of magic and can feel normal low-level spells cast up to a half mile away. Powerful high-level spells can be felt continents away.

 

 

 

Anywho... I thought that magic system made more sense than many of the others that I've seen or read about.

[sungod]

I thought Harry Potter magic was just kind of cutesy. Not much depth to it. It kind of got deeper toward the end but it was still very wishy washy as far as mechanics and theory went. Just way too vague to decide if I liked it as a system or not. It worked for JK, though, so go her.

 

There's a book by Roger Highfield, The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works that's amusing and interesting. It was written in 2002, so some of the magicks in the later HP books aren't covered, like the Patronus.

 

sungod

[Lugh]

herm....

 

I don't have a particular favorite "form" of magic, but there are a few things that I look for in a good, working magical system.

 

First, there must be a system of checks and balances -- energy isn't free and magic is another form of energy (imho). Second, there must be some form of personal cost to using magic which should be high enough to make people consider the consequences and to keep "just anybody" from running willy-nilly about casting spells (or what-not). Third, there must be rules, even when it is granted by the gods, bought with the blood of ten thousand virgins, or whatever. Finally, it must be consistant. If mage A can not do a thing because it is against the rules of magic, then 100 pages later I do not want to see Mage B doing it.

 

One thing that really aggravates me though is when there is one person in all the world who has (nearly) all the magical gifts of that world and this has never happened before (either by incident or accident) so it must be ordained by the god(desse)s, YET there is a big-bad-guy that (s)he alone must face because (s)he is the only one in the world powerful enough to defeat him.

[Graeme]

One thing that really aggravates me though is when there is one person in all the world who has (nearly) all the magical gifts of that world and this has never happened before (either by incident or accident) so it must be ordained by the god(desse)s, YET there is a big-bad-guy that (s)he alone must face because (s)he is the only one in the world powerful enough to defeat him.

While that is the basic plot for Master of the Five Magics, I didn't find it annoying. It came over as natural -- a logical progression in the story, and not forced. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest giving it a go if you can find it at your local library. I'd offer to lend you my copy, but you're a bit far away...

[writeincode]

And I love elementals powers. Have you heard about it? It's the power to control one of the elements. (a bit like mage power) but this one is too cool! Just imagine the power of one element inside you...

Like the Planeteers!

Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!... With your powers combined- I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!

[Ieshwar]

Like the Planeteers!

Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!... With your powers combined- I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!

 

I never heard about Planeteers before. I just goggled this and I love it. Thanks.

 

Ieshwar

[Dalmatia]

I like the magic of the Care Bears.... I'm kidding, I havent watched that in years... honest

[Graeme]

Like the Planeteers!

Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!... With your powers combined- I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!

It says something about the amount of kids TV I watch that, even at the ripe old age of 44, I know what this show is all about.... I've even seen a few episodes.