What kind of magic do you prefer?

[L.G.]

Do you like it more when anyone can learn any kind of magic with enough practice, or do you prefer it when each person has their own unique kind of magic?

[Bev]

I like unique powers. If everyone had them it wouls be dull.

[Dameon]

I like varying powers from a source, i.e., power streams in the planet, stars, cosmos and et cetera or from the good and evil supernatural beings controlling the people's existence.

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Definitely unique magic to individuals.

Course I wouldn't mind being able to learn a bit of magic/wizardry myself.
;)

[Ian]

unique magic definately, i prefer when only certain characters have different styles of magic

[DavidO]

Not unique magic. Feels to much like the x-men to me every time I see it.

That said, there doesn't have to be a single magic system, or that everyone can use it.

[Luke]

I like multiple source powers, meaning that "magic" comes from several sources, not all of them in harmony. Think a religious form of magic, an ancient, old magic, and a naturalistic, wild magic all co-existing together. Sometimes for the better, but most of the time for the worst.

I guess the best example would be aSoIaF: The old gods of the north (ancient) versus the seven (the religious) versus the "new" or "semi-evil" magic of the red god or whatever he's called (the "bad" magic). They may not be true magic systems, but they have that feel, and limited magic that's pretty subtle and alluded to.

[Jake]

I kind of like a combination of the two. Magic is a well-defined force but different individuals interact and utilize it differently. An example would be the Dresden Files. A wizard is a wizard but each one has different strengths, weaknesses, and specialties.

I don’t like nebulous magic systems. For instance I recently read The Blade Itself which I enjoyed but I wasn’t a huge fan of the magic. It kind of just seemed haphazard with no rules or anything. The second book brought a little more clarity but not as much as I would like.

[Luke]

I'm almost finished with the first, and I completely agree. Abercrombie is definitely light on the magic explanations.

[Jake]

Luke wrote: "I'm almost finished with the first, and I completely agree. Abercrombie is definitely light on the magic explanations."

I watched an interview where someone asked "How come Logen never held a fire spirit in his mouth again so he could spit it at people like he did at the beginning?" His answer was he changed how the spirits work in the next books and decided Logen couldn't do that. What? You can't change halfway through!

[Luke]

That's severely disappointing. Also, I'm a HUGE map guy. The lack of a map is hard on me. I keep wanting to flip to the front, even thought I know that nothing's there.

[Godslayer]

I like magic to make sense, I prefer it when there are rules and systems which all users follow i.e. Mistborn, lightbringer. The ingenious applications of it are part of what might make the hero - or villan - more worthy of the name.

[L.G.]

Robert wrote: "I like magic to make sense, I prefer it when there are rules and systems which all users follow i.e. Mistborn, lightbringer. The ingenious applications of it are part of what might make the hero - ..."

Yeah, I love internal consistency for magic - it makes it more fun.

[Marc]

Robert wrote: "I like magic to make sense, I prefer it when there are rules and systems which all users follow i.e. Mistborn, lightbringer. The ingenious applications of it are part of what might make the hero - ..."

Try Master of the Five Magics and its sequels. The basic idea is that there are five types of magic, and magicians are usually only capable of learning one. In this book the MC has to master them all and use them in combination to save the world.

[Bev]

Marc wrote: "Robert wrote: "I like magic to make sense, I prefer it when there are rules and systems which all users follow i.e. Mistborn, lightbringer. The ingenious applications of it are part of what might m..."

Crikey I read that and its follow up decades ago. I am getting old!

[[deleted user]]

Personally I'm a sucker for all the magical paraphernalia - books of spells, scrying stones, sentient staffs, all that kind of thing. I don't care for the kind of magic that just consists of some guy having a special, unexplained power; I want some magical gizmos with my magic.

[Michele]

Like Zayne I'm good with any system as long as it makes sense.

My favorite is like Mercedes Lackey's in Valdemar - all living things exude a magical energy that collects in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and then certain gifted people can tap into those and use it to do amazing, elemental-type things.

One I've always thought was stupid was when a spell is written on a scroll or memorized and then Poof! Scroll/memory wiped on use of spell.

[[deleted user]]

Michele wrote: One I've always thought was stupid was when a spell is written on a scroll or memorized and then Poof! Scroll/memory wiped on use of spell.

If you only paid the magician for one use of the spell, it makes perfect sense, just like the coupon for a cheap pizza you have to give the pizza guy when he arrives.

[Michele]

No I mean where the actual magician has to constantly rewrite or re-memorize the same spells. It's a DnD thing I guess, to limit a magician's powers, but still seems stupid to me in novels.

[Mary]

I like it when it's something anyone willing to put the effort into it can learn.

"Only special people can do it" has an unsurprising tendency to make the wizards special little snowflakes, which doesn't help

Or, of course, something outside human ability. J.R.R. Tolkien has the simple rule that if you were entirely human (or hobbit) you couldn't do it.

[Mary]

Michele wrote: "No I mean where the actual magician has to constantly rewrite or re-memorize the same spells. It's a DnD thing I guess, to limit a magician's powers, but still seems stupid to me in novels."

Jack Vance had something like it, but you could keep the spell until you launched it -- and there was none of this "level" nonsense, anyone could prepare any spell, though the tough ones might blow up in your face, and you could prepare as many as you liked.

[Mary]

Chris wrote: "Personally I'm a sucker for all the magical paraphernalia - books of spells, scrying stones, sentient staffs, all that kind of thing. I don't care for the kind of magic that just consists of some g..."

Yeah, but that does require your wizard to either be sedentary or lug about lots of stuff.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Michele wrote: "Like Zayne I'm good with any system as long as it makes sense.

My favorite is like Mercedes Lackey's in Valdemar - all living things exude a magical energy that collects in streams, rivers, ponds,..."

I love Lackey's magical system, too. It makes sense, requires training and skill but is renewable.

[James]

Robert wrote: "I like magic to make sense, I prefer it when there are rules and systems which all users follow i.e. Mistborn, lightbringer. The ingenious applications of it are part of what might make the hero - ..."

Exactly this for me. Having rules gives the reader an idea of what the characters can and can't do, so it makes hazardous situations even more interesting. When a magic system is too undefined, the character can just bust out with a new, unknown power to overcome any situation ala Richard Rahl. That's just lazy.

[A.J.]

I like variety. when each character has his or her own set of magic skills especially that of an element.
As far as story, it is fun to watch the character learn his new magic abilities (do I hear Naruto)

[L.G.]

A.J. wrote: "I like variety. when each character has his or her own set of magic skills especially that of an element.
As far as story, it is fun to watch the character learn his new magic abilities (do I hear..."

Ah, Naruto. It was great until people started getting random god-like power ups.

[Anirudh]

I prefer magic which makes sense and has some natural principles and limitations. Branden Sanderson calls it 'Hard Magic' I like it because of the limitations placed on it. It makes it more of a challenge.

I don't like a magic system which doesn't have much of an explanation. For example in the Malazan series magic is a mixture of a great many things. The author uses various types of magic. This allows for a lot of deus ex machina making the read a little less exciting for me. And after a while it becomes difficult to imagine all the magic battles taking place.

Naruto for the most part had a very well balanced and sensible system. Elements being weak again one another, higher level Jutsu costing a lot of chakra and tiring the user etc.

[David]

I agree that fantasy needs boundaries, otherwise it gets too silly. You can solve every problem with magic. A lot of authors get the balance about right. Michael Sullivan is very good but strangely there's actually not a lot of magic but what there is - is very discrete.

[Anirudh]

David wrote: "I agree that fantasy needs boundaries, otherwise it gets too silly. You can solve every problem with magic. A lot of authors get the balance about right. Michael Sullivan is very good but strangely..."

I didn't particularly like the dragon which is not a dragon thing.. But as you said there is not much magic there.

Joe Abercrombie does a good job in this regard. He doesn't explain much but the magic system is good. It has limitations and consequences. As the magi mentions, They tend to specialise in a particular field. That limits the magic powers making it much more believable.

[L.G.]

One of the problems with having god-like magic is that you need similarly powerful enemies or winning just becomes a cakewalk.

[Susie]

I prefer a low magic system like that in The Lord of the Rings or the Conan books. The godlike magic in, say, the Riddlemaster is fun every once in a while, though.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

I like magic more limited and nebulous. "Hard magic" a la Sanderson feels too much like a video game to me - I want the story to be about the people, not the magic, so if it's the kind of story where I need to be given a lot of information about the magic to appreciate the plot I'll probably get tired of it. A bit of mysticism and possibility is good, but I don't want it to take over.

[Susie]

I agree about the story and characters being most important. Who wants to read a grimorie? Lord Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow is an excellent example.

[Olumide]

can someone pls recommend really good fantasy magic based nooks for me?

[Mary]

Well, then -- I second The Charwoman's Shadow.

The 13 Clocks has fun with it.
Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest
L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero Lost, Prospero in Hell, and Prospero Regained
Patricia A. McKillip's The Bell at Sealey Head

These are works in which human beings work magic, and I think it is handled particularly well, not just happens to be a particularly good book.

[Robert]

The kind of magic that's like a living thing. The kind that grows and changes into something the wizard or witch couldn't expect as soon as their back is turned for too long. The kind with rules, but where the rules are not entirely understood or are subject to change.

[Scott]

Magic that is sourced from somewhere, whether from the environment or the individual, where that source is limited. An individual only possesses so much energy, in other words, so that becomes a limiting factor. Environment based magic (magic sourced from the moon, for example) is much more powerful because the source is so much greater.

Also, I like a system where anyone can potentially learn to practice magic, but where some have a greater aptitude and predisposition to actually do it.

Magic that becomes too defined doesn't do it for me. This is magic, not science. I prefer it have a mystical, undefined quality to it.

[Greg]

Crinkle the nose, grind some ingredients up, and poof! Don't take the magic out of it.

[Steve]

I love what Guy Gavriel Kay does with magic. It's always there in the background, but it is subtle and minimal. Characters, motivations and plot come first. You can't just say a few words in quasi-latin and advance to the next obstacle. What little magic there is is hard earned and more beautiful and precious for that.

Robin Hobb has also done a masterful job crafting a world with a very defined, logical system of magic. Magic in her world is a useful edge that a character might have, but is NOT any help in solving 95% of the problems the protagonists face.

[Mary]

Steve wrote: "I love what Guy Gavriel Kay does with magic. It's always there in the background, but it is subtle and minimal."

Indeed, there are times when it is so minimal as to be pointless. He's not one of my favorites because a lot of the time it's not really fantasy.

[Steve]

His more recent works are becoming less fantasy and more like historical fiction, but I was referring to his earlier novels which better straddled the line between those genres. Which of his books have you read?

[James]

You know, I think one of my favorite magic systems is also one of the simplest I've ever read. Two of my all time favorite series are Dave Duncan's A Man of His Word and A Handful of Men which take place in the world of Pandemia. In Pandemia, the magic system is based on, of all things, magic words.

Knowing one word makes an individual a "genius," or exceptionally good at their own personal talent. Two words makes someone an "adept" or exceptionally good at pretty much everything. Three words makes a mage who can cast temporary spells such as illusions or fireballs, things of that nature, while four words turns you into a nearly all-powerful sorcerer. Five words... well, you'll have to read them yourself because I don't want to spoil it.

Anyway, this system is used in a lot of really interesting ways. The words are slippery, intangible things and don't like to be spoken or shared. Each word carries a finite amount of power and sharing the word means that you are splitting the power with the person you told it to. Some words are so watered down, the people who know it only experience a tiny improvement to their natural talent. However, the more morally corrupt individuals who know how this sort of thing works might try to hunt down and do away with anyone else who knows their word...

The best part about the system in these books is that knowing a word (or words) actually results in more complex problems even if it does provide solutions to some simpler problems. Even when one of the characters becomes a four-word sorcery-slinging superhero, it lasts all of about an hour before the rubber band snaps back and takes him down a peg or two.