Art by Alison Hunt
(This is part of the section of Do I Need to Use a Dragon? that delves into using magic as a ‘cure all’. There’s a common joke that ‘a wizard did it’ and a common argument that ‘a wizard could do it’. People look at magic as the solution to everything once it’s introduced to a world. As a fantasy author, I’ve had to tackle this question and mold my world to explain why it doesn’t work that way. So, I had a lot of fun with this topic.)
what I have to get out of my system.
In Legends of Windemere, I have the character, Nyx, who is a powerful caster. I lost count of the number of times people asked me why she didn’t just blow up *insert obstacle*. This gets frustrating because the question ignores that some challenges are clearly for other characters, so Nyx wouldn’t get involved to that extent. It ignores her personality and the basics of group dynamics. She’s aware her friends will be angry if she blasts away their rivals and obstacles. Not to mention it means she’d reach the final battle against a superior enemy alongside a band of weak allies.
This question also treats magic like a cure-all for every situation, which isn’t how it should be, even in worlds where it’s plentiful. Readers may miss the nuances of this, so this question will exist for as long as people write fantasy stories. As authors, we should be more aware of this and have an explanation as to why the caster doesn’t do it by themselves.
Do I blame readers for asking this question? Not really because it’s a legitimate point in several cases. The audience might not realize the reasons behind magic not being used to solve everything because the author doesn’t make it clear. That isn’t to say it’s the author’s fault. Many factors fall into the use of magic in stories, as long as it isn’t being thrown around without consequence. If that’s the case then there’s fewer reasons for casters to solve every problem with a spell, which brings us to a truth about writing.
We depend a lot on readers catching the nuances of characters, worlds, and situations in order to avoid spelling everything out for them. Doing so can make a story boring and offend people who think they’re being looked at as simple-minded. So, an author has to work off established rules and themes without bringing blunt attention to their existence. A rampaging monster not being stopped by the powerful caster can be seen by a reader as a mistake while the author is hoping for them to see the limitations of the world’s magic. Just another reason why some people go for low and limited magic since the more of it that’s around, the louder the question.
The real question that should be asked at this point is:
Why CAN’T a caster fix it?
While it’s up to the author to give a clear reason for this, there are traditional explanations that can be modified for the story. These relate to world-building and characters, but they can have some of the most profound effects on quest progression:
Legends of Windemere 
The question asked reminds me of the one usually asked about LoTR: Why didn’t the eagles take the ring to Mount Doom? In other words, why not the convenient route? I don’t know anyone who writes a book just to present a five-second solution to a problem. The goal is to take the reader on a journey. Those who want to go will go regardless of the easy outs other readers might come up with. Character growth, which you mentioned, is also important.
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I wondered that as a kid. As an adult, I realized the eagles would be a terrible idea. Too big and easily seen, which means easily shot down.
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Also, the book would be about 50 pages long and not at all memorable. But yes, we’ve all wondered the same thing.
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It’s funny how many fantasy readers want their stories to be shorter, which they would inevitably hate.
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I never contemplated the quest as to why casters (Or anyone with magical powers) can’t fix it till now. Good explaination
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Thanks. Glad it made sense.
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😁
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This plays into the suspension of disbelief. If you want to go on the ride, you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy it. Just let the story absorb you for a few hours. I believe we can spend so much time on this that we add a lot of unnecessary words to our narrative explaining things for the odd grouch who probably shouldn’t read the book anyway.
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True. That odd grouch tends to be the only one that talks too. So, you get a skewing of reality. It seems like the majority have problems with the story, but it’s really a vocal minority. Those who enjoy things are less likely to be loudly critical.
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I am about to stop looking at YouTube for the same reason. The only stuff there seems to be about tearing things down or putting people down for whatever reason. How did we ever get to this point?
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I tend to get anime music videos, stand-up comedy, and video game cartoons on YouTube. I think what you see is mostly connected to what you watch. I remember when I watched a lot of movie reviews, I’d get a lot of the negative ones. Those disappeared for the most part when I removed the culprits from my history.
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That sounds like a great idea. Clear the history, then search for fun things until the algorithm figures it out.
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Worked out for me. Good luck.
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A very good post, Charles. We need to have limitations on the use of magic, so it’s not a cure all.
In my Wolves of Vimar books, magic is used by mages, but not everyone can use it. It flows around the world like rivers. Mages can ‘hold’ a certain amount, increasing as they get more experienced. But using magic is very draining, so that limits what a mage can do.
In my Elemental Worlds books, the magic is held in gemstones and they need recharging when it’s ipused up. Only mages can recharge them.
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I actually went in the opposite direction with my Windemere stories. Magic is in everything and everyone is capable of using it on some level. This also means most problems are caused by magic, so it comes down to levels of power and knowledge. So, a caster can’t step in to easily fix a problem since they’re going to be up against someone or something that is prepared for their power.
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Yes, I remember that it’s everywhere. We all have our different idea,s as to how magic works.
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