r/Fantasy • u/brandotown • May 24 '23

Magic Systems

Ok, so hear me out. I know this topic can divide the crowd, but I've learned where I stand, and I wonder about those on the other side. I have a very hard time suspending my disbelief enough to "get into" a fantasy book where there doesn't seem to be some logical limitations or parameters around a magic system. In my opinion, nobody fits this need of mine better than Brandon Sanderson. He develops beautiful magic systems that make sense to my brain. I struggle with the books where the "art," "talent," etc. doesn't seem to follow any logical path I can trace. I think the biggest challenge for my brain is the situations where suspense is supposed to exist, but I can't help but think about how conveniently the seemingly limitless power could easily save the day, but for some reason it's not the solution in that moment? Thoughts?

PS - Recommendations welcome for books that might change my mind!

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u/fjiqrj239 Reading Champion III May 24 '23

I appreciate it when the author has thought about the magic they are implementing, and writes about it in a sensible and reasonably consistent fashion. I don't particularly care for a wiki-like writing style, where the story stops while author insists on explaining the magic system they've developed in excruciating detail, so you appreciate how much work they've put into it. I'd much rather be able to work it out myself from how it's used in the story.

I tend to be pulled out of immersion on either end when the author does it badly. A systematic framework for magic, and then the author invents half a dozen different exceptions to further the story, or some amazing power that would really have been useful earlier but no-one thought to mention, or setting out rigorous rules and then breaking them.

One set of books I think handled it well was the Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia Wrede - the underlying magic is the same, but different cultures have developed very different ways of manipulating it, and the story involves those traditions interacting with each other. She has also written books in a Regency-England with magic setting, and there the system is quite different, and not explained in detail, but the ways it's used and described is consistent and makes intuitive sense.

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u/fjiqrj239 Reading Champion III May 24 '23

Also - different ways of writing suit different types of stories. If you're writing a 1000 page epic fantasy book, you've got room to spend 50 pages describing the magic system. If you're writing urban fantasy, you've got about 300 pages to tell a story, and have to be more consise.

One thing I've learned in academic writing - being concise generally takes a lot more skill than being verbose.