Magic is a big a part of many fantasy books. From Gandalf the Grey of Tolkien to Spellfire of Forgotten Realms, magic is a staple. Sometimes the magic is nothing more than a few mystical creatures and other times it comes in the form of mental manipulation. For example, there is no magic in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. There is mention of mind manipulation, which is the closest they come to it. So it is entirely possible to have a very low magic world to the point where the reader doesn’t even realize magic is there.
Personally, I like reading about magic with wizard duels and combat spells. So much can be done with magic as long as you stick to the rules that you make. That’s one of my pet peeves when it comes to magic. You have to stay within your own rules or given an explanation of why a rule is being broken. For example, I have it that magic in Windemere is the manipulation of auras. To do so, you use gestures, words, and/or ingredients for your spells. Nyx and Trinity don’t need any of that, so a reason is going to be needed. I can’t say that here because it’s a spoiler.
That’s another thing that I look for in a magic system. Details are fine, but I prefer when a magic system isn’t one where a spell can get broken by a sneeze. I’ve read books where a spell is undone because somebody yelled at the wizard. I wonder why anybody would want to learn magic if their concentration is so terrible. Even the big, powerful wizards were undone by a stumble of words. If magic is so dangerous then the people using it really need to have incredible focus and care. The ‘spell went wrong’ isn’t a terrible idea, but seeing it more than once in the same book is ugh worthy.
So, what do people look for in fantasy book magic?
Legends of Windemere 
” So much can be done with magic as long as you stick to the rules that you make.”
That’s the key, right there. I also think that magic needs to be available or useable in extremely limited circumstances, otherwise there aren’t really any rules. It’s one of the reasons why fantasy books just don’t hold me much anymore. Too much magic. If you think about Lord of the Rings, there really isn’t a lot of magic. Yes, Gandalf has himself a lot of power and the elves, but the vast majority of the story is about men and hobbits and others who do trek through Middle Earth and do battle with the swords strapped to their sides.
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I’ve been going the other way. Everyone keeps yelling for less magic, so now many fantasy books barely have it. Magic is either absent, locked away, or easily explained tricks. I went to epic magic battles and everything in the world having magic in it. Full high fantasy to the point where you have to realize that magic to Windemere is like electricity to us. It’s there and working for people every day, but you don’t pay much attention to it.
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I think the magic needs to make sense within the world in which it is used, else it comes off as cliched or gimmicky. Also magic that is too easily broken (e.g the wizard) comes over as a bit lazy. The magic for me ultimately has to advance plot in a complex way or reveal a strength or weakness in a character.
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Good points. I’m not sure I follow the easily broken magic part.
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I was referring to your comment where someone shouts at the wizard and the magic spell is broken.
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Ah, that’s definitely an annoyance for me. It makes magic so useless.
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I will admit one of my pet peeves about the use of magic… I drives me up the wall when authors use magic as a deciding factor in a drawn out battle, if a spell could have ended the battle why isn’t it used at the beginning of the battle and hence avoid the battle all together… of course magic user against magic user would probably be a fight involving mostly magic… Another thing that annoys me is casting time… most spells take time to reference and cast (No magic user should be able to recall every spell from memory) in you previous posts I’ve commented on backfiring and side effects… these mistakes would be multiplied if the spellcaster is not directly referencing his book of spells…
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Yeah . . . I don’t bother with casting times outside of really massive spells. I hated stories that dealt with those because the ‘disruption’ was so cliche and obvious. I always wondered why spellcasters wouldn’t learn some form of unbreakable focus or trance. It means they’re defenseless, but it makes more sense than ‘your sneeze broke my focus’.
To answer the question about the big spell finishing a battle, it could be casting time or other factors. Allies in the way, wanting to avoid the fallout from such a spell, panic at the beginning, etc. I’ve seen it done poorly more often than perfectly.
I never go the spellbook thing for combat casters. I always imagined a wizard on a battlefield holding up a hand for people to let him turn to a page. “Hold on! I need to find the spell! Papercut!”
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how do you feel about Psyonics …
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They have their pros and cons. I do have a few of those planned. My main problem with them is that they are given fewer negatives than spellcasters. The mind has limits, so I would think they have a higher risk than those that operate with magic. One of the plus sides is that you can explain their abilities and level of skill more easily. There’s the natural skill/mutant route, which doesn’t typically work for spellcasters.
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I remember when they were introduced into D&D they were originally a monster ablility that filtered through to characters… I’ll be honest here in my days as a dungeon master if a player relied on psyonics too much I would fry his mind… make him into a basketcase with a dribble cup… while I allowed for them to eventually come back to there senses if they went back to employing psyonics in the same fashion I would make them a vegitable again for increasing periods of time until they were in essence a giant zuccini in human (or whatever race) form. Also a factor I find authors avoid is the learning curve of coping and managing psyonic ability… to control those powers would take an education of some kind… whether by trial and error and uncontrollable outbursts, or by a more formal form of training… the subconcious mind might also influence use of Psyonics…
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I remember that class and I was never impressed. The powers were either mundane or ridiculously powerful. When I phase them into Windemere, I’m going more the comic book route. Telepaths, telekinetics, etc. So, a psionic will need some type of specialty when I make them. The current one I’m designing is going to be a telepath, which opens up a lot more than people realize. Communication is only a bit. There’s messing with your own mind to increase your physical abilities. Downside though is mental exhaustion.
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I still have friends that are mad at me for making their favourite character a veggie that was left behind by the party because they had to carry him around so much… I payed close attention to encumberance… I like that you are factoring mental fatigue… may I suggest if you haven’t already thought of it headaches… just saying what happens when we think too hard…
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I’m considering it. Was leaning toward nosebleeds and earbleeds. The odd thing here is that I don’t see the character using very strong psionics too often. If it’s simple scans or minor physical enhancements then I don’t want to make the mental fatigue too much. Maybe always yawning.
One of the challenges with magic and psionics is making the ‘punishment’ fit the power. If a small light spell or quick surface thought scan are used, it makes little sense to go for backlash. I’ve read a few books that overdo it to the point where you wonder why anyone would bother with powers in the first place.
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I think that a light magic arrow spell or a quick mind scan to determine basic truth would be relatively simple and hence probably have no ill effects(unless of course coming up against someone with superior ability,) but something like a mind blast, or an incinerate spell might come with some serious reprucussions. no power should be limitless, or you end up with a whole bunch of supermen… while its fun to watch them bust everything up it eventually gets tiresome… the matrix movies poked fun at Neo’s abilities in the second or third movie… they made light of the absurdity of their own plots for the sequals when one of the characters refers to Neo doing his superman thing again… I think that is a good warning to writers when it comes to introducing unnatural abilities…
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I don’t think those movies meant to make fun of themselves as much as they did, but that’s a different topic. 🙂
I think if a character does have that level of power, you need to be careful with repercussions. If they are penalized every time they cast a spell then they’re going to be relatively useless. Personally, I’d like it to be a build up to something or the villains require such a power be used.
I keep thinking of my character Nyx, who is able to fling magic without words, gestures, and ingredients. She does fall under the Superman thing, but there’s more to her character than her powers. I guess my question here is: what about a character with such magical power and their flaws are mental? For example, Nyx has a lot of doubt, a temper, and is always struggling to make sure she doesn’t kill her friends. Once you get past her magic, she isn’t that dangerous either.
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I think you are on the right track… just trying to give you something to think about, not to change anything… there would also be a moral conflict too I think, the more power the more thought through the way they use it or not use it… Right and wrong… also another note on psyonics have you considered for some they might not be able to control their ability, for example this is used frequently in the X-men comics. Gene Gray cannot fully control the pheonix… Scott Summer cannot control his power completely either… Nor Storm… they are all vulnerable to the power taking control of them
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I’m grinning at the moral conflict part because of something that happens in the second book. I’ve been looking at the uncontrollable power for a few of the later books. Growing up with comics, I saw it a lot, so I want to use it carefully. The current series doesn’t really open itself to that possibility, but I have one series where a main character has a hand that turns whatever she touches into monsters. She’s the only one I can think of at this moment and I’m not sure where I’m going with her.
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I agree, magic has to have rules and consistency. Too much power and too few limitations means that you lose the drama and suspense in a story. If a character can cancel out any threat or injury with magic then a reader quickly loses interest. The threats have to feel real and immediate. Also, if the author keeps giving new abilities to the characters to cope with new challenges as the story develops the reader can feel cheated, or surprised – in a bad way. IMO, the reader should be given a feel for the boundaries of the magic at the same time as the rest of the parameters of the world are being introduced.
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What about characters with a lot of power and downsides? The character that is being introduced in my second book is a very powerful spellcaster. Very little limitation, but she’s very susceptible to a negative aspect of magic that I can’t go into without spoilers. Let’s just say it’s very bad and it happens a few times in the series. I try to counter her power by making the threats at her level and making her iffy on non-magical combat. If she can’t hit something with a spell then she’s in trouble.
As for the new abilities, I have to admit to enjoying character upgrades. Not a new upgrade for every challenge, but an eventual major boost that they can learn as the story progresses. I get bored or confused if a character stays at the same skill level and can continually defeat stronger and stronger foes. It’s probably all in the delivery.
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“It’s probably all in the delivery.” I agree. If your characters are getting new abilities because of a natural development that is part of your story then that’s okay. I just hate it when new abilities pop up completely unannounced or unexplained. As for your powerful character, it sounds as if you’ve got it balanced nicely with a few major limitations. 😀
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It’s funny with the powerful character. I know she’s very strong, but she doesn’t dominate as much as one would expect. Only when she’s really angry does she cuts loose and beat her enemies down. I think I made her enjoy fighting so much that she wants to draw it out. No fun in an easy win.
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Sounds good. I will have another look around your blog when I have more time. Do you post excerpts from your books?
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There are excerpts of the first two and a few sneak peeks of the third. The first book is on Amazon for .99 cents and the second book is debuting for .99 cents on July 31st.
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Cool! I look forward to reading some of your work.
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I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
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I don’t care for cheesy or gimmick magic, but I love magics of the mind, The paranormal/scientific kind intrigues me because of the near realism and potential. For examples: telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, clairvoyance,extra sensory perceptions all fascinate me. I do also like the use of potions and herbs because there is a real history to that sort of sorcery. I have always enjoyed stories and novels about witches for these reasons.
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So, you’re more into psionics and alchemists than the battle casters?
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Probably, I don’t know that first word so I will have to look it up. Spell casters don’t hold as much allure for me, I like the intelligence behind what has scientific foundation. It’s all good though 🙂
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A psionic is someone that doesn’t have magic, but has mental powers like all those you describe. They are typically born with the powers unlike spellcasters that have to train.
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Just looked it up. yeah, that stuff. My love for it comes from my biopsychosociospiritual indoctrinations of nursing school most likely.
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I’m more of a fan of science and magic being combined. I think going strictly one way or the other can block an author from some fun options. For example, flying cities.
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Sticking to the rules is essential. If the magic is going to be unreliable, let it be consistently unreliable and for a good reason.
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Wild magic is always fun. I love the term ‘consistently unreliable’ because it sounds like it shouldn’t make perfect sense, but it does.
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For some reason when you say ‘wild magic’ I get this vision of Homer Simpson with fantastic but uncontrollable powers, crying “Doh!” every time he lifts his finger.
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There’s a definite episode in that. Wild magic is a Dungeons & Dragons term for areas where magic is unpredictable. You either get what you want, get nothing, or something unexpected happens. For example, I was in a game that had a wild magic area. Two spell casters tried a fireball against all of our judgement. One got a spark and nothing else. The other set the area on fire and summoned a fire demon that ate him. Yeah, the guy running the game was a fan of extremes.
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Livin’ on the edge!
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I enjoy magic of all kinds in novels, so long, as you say, it follows the rules and fits within the framework of the story. Personally, I use more psionic-type powers in my work, and I try to keep it as subtle as possible.
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I think psionic and subtle are the favorites right now. I see a lot of mind magic and ‘dominant will’ systems in novels. I never understood how the strong willpower system worked. A guy has a stronger personality, so he can mind control people without training to do so?
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That I think is more down to wishful thinking!
I’m not a fan of mind-control in general, but if someone can go into someone else’s mind (with adequate training) and pull information from it to scare them/disarm them, then I might be able to buy it. Everyone has tells, and someone skillful enough, and has trained enough, they can manipulate the tells and the person enough to gain an advantage.
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I can’t even call it mind-control really. It’s typically used by villains, who simply order people around and are obeyed. Some authors go with ‘his will is too strong to be ignored’, which is confusing. Heroes with this power tend to use it to ‘throw off’ the effects of something. Poisoned by a snake? My indomitable will shall see me through the night instead of an anti-venom. All for the wow factor.
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Erg. Not a fan of that kind of magic at all. Oddly, it seems a little mundane – even though I like psionics, that doesn’t seem to require a whole lot of creativity. Perhaps that’s what I like to see in magic – a well-crafted use of creativity.
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There’s a trend of low or no magic worlds now. Not sure what started it since I don’t remember a trend of over-the-top magic.
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Mainly, I don’t want to come up with an idea where I wonder, why didn’t he or she just do that instead? I like the laws of magic to seem self-consistent, and I don’t like to feel that the laws allowed for a shortcut that could have made the story so much simpler.
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The difficulty with magic is that it can always make a shortcut. Why buy a crossbow when you can learn to hurl a fireball? The trick with magic is to make it an option that not everyone can take and, as TJ said, put some limitations.
This topic is rough for me because I can throw out all the limitations and mistakes that Nyx deals with, but they’re all spoilers. She has epic level magic after a lifetime of training. The only ‘issue’ I can mention is that she can’t see through illusions as easily as non-magical people. For some reason, she falls for illusions like a child. Worse sometimes, which is why the illusionist character messes with her all the time.
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Hurling a fireball may drain much more energy. 🙂 I feel that there is always a shortcut if anything is possible (just say poof!), but if there seem to be limitations and a set of rules to go by, shortcuts may not be as easy to come by.
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A price must be paid. Funny that you mention ‘poof’ because that’s what the tiny dragon in my series calls his disintegration spell.
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Reblogged this on Adventures in Text.
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I like believable magic that opens the mind to endless possibilities.
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Simple and fun. Best way to take on magic. 🙂
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Often, I find that using magic doesn’t feel significantly powerful. What I look for in magic is how the magic is written compared to the structure of writing for everything else. Example, i’d not write how magic looks, feels, and acts the same way I would write two characters interacting.
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A lot of stories seem to downplay magic to the point where villains have it more often than heroes. Magic tends to require flashy words and exposition.
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That is rather odd, but at the same time does show that those who tend to be antagonists are likely more willing to employ and study it more than the average. Behind the scenes, they obsess over it in ways the normal or trained folk do not. It is like the scientist who does play legal, experimenting underground.
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That does explain it. Though, I always wonder why heroes that train in magic since childhood never seem to have the same level of power. Maybe villains are more prone to unleashing their full power because they don’t care about innocent bystanders and property damage.
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Perhaps that is what literary fantasy needs, a hero or group of heroes that are very relatable yet also break convention. Not mavericks or renegades, but perhaps an eccentric group (like engineers at NASA).
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It definitely would fill in an interesting niche.
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