Monday, March 11, 2013

TOTW: Systems of Magic




In medieval times, witchcraft was believed to be a craft: arcane, complicated, and work-intensive. To the modern mind, though, this might seem dubious; we find it easier to think of magic as the power of the mind, a simple if powerful force, not requiring potions or incomprehensible words or weird ingredients gathered at midnight. Think “the Will & the Word” from David Edding’s Belgariad series, where magic is just a matter of mental focus.

As a writer, you might be drawn to one or the other based on personal inclination, but it’s worth notingthat both these ways of dealing with magical systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

The arcane method can give a sense of flavor and, especially in historical fantasy, authenticity; plus, it can be useful for plot reasons, giving your characters motivations for getting into all sorts of trouble. (This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel is a great example of this.) On the other hand, the reader might either be bothered by the fact that there’s no cohesive magical system, or, alternatively, bored by your explanation of how exactly it all works.
 
On the other hand, the “modern” method has the advantage of simplicity and believability. Plus, magic that comes from within can be useful in terms of character development.

As fantasy writers and readers, which system of magic do you prefer? Does either feel more authentic to you? Which makes for better stories – or does it depend on the type of story?

And last but not least, please share any books that you think do a good job of using one or the other!

10 comments:

  1. I kind of like the complex systems. I mean the author has to have an explanation as to why if-people-can-work-magic-then-why-isn't-the-world-perfect assumption.

    Loved the Harry Potter system and also the one in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I guess I love the stories where magic doesn't solve all the problems, but ends up creating more.

    Shelley

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    1. Good point - that's another advantage of complex systems! And the revelation of how the magic works in Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of my favorite pieces of worldbuilding of all time.

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  2. Great post, Leah, I love systems of magic that seduce characters, and cause mayhem and chaos, as in Susan Coopers stories like Greenwitch and Grey Wolf, where magic comes from deeply rooted mystic mythology. I think it's more fun to see a person with no magic react to it. Then again there's Alan Garner, with books like the 'Owl Service' where there's magical elements within the characters as well as in the environment. 'Splendor and Glooms' and 'The Daylight Gate', mix up magic from within a character and magical elements acting on people. I love magic in stories as long as it's never as controllable as it first seems!

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    1. Thank you! I actually haven't read some of those books - I will have to fix that.

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  3. I think it's all in the handling - I really enjoyed how Eddings handled magic in THE BELGARIAD and other series, but OTOH I really love how acquisition of magic requires terrible risk and endurance in Kathleen Duey's RESURRECTION OF MAGIC books. It's all in the execution for me.

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    1. Good point - and I agree, both can work if done well. I liked that aspect of Kathleen Duey's books too.

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  4. Sometimes I like magic that's less of a system and more of a metaphor. The daemons in Pullman's work comes to mind - they are this externalized soul that behaves like a soul does. The water horses in Scorpio Races also come to mind, with the ferocious savagery of any truly wild creature or the ocean itself. I suppose, rather than a system, they have a recognizable logic and realism.

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    1. Very true! In those cases, though, I don't feel like they can be divided into systems - the magic system IS the story being told, in a way.

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  5. I guess I prefer it when the magic requires knowledge as well as innate skill. Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus books, for example, have all the magic stemming from the djinn, and the magician's strength lies in controlling a djinni. I loved the fact that the slightest mistake in setting up your trap for the djinni could result in failure or destruction.

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    1. True, that could be a whole different category - the magic-comes-from-controlling-demons system - though I think in those cases, you usually need arcane knowledge about how to summon/control demons (in addition to inner strength). I love the Bartimaeus books and their take on this - also the Demon's Lexicon trilogy, with a very different take.

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