Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Creativity > Tilted Literature


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 10-23-2003, 11:23 AM   #1 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
Discussion - The nature of magic in fiction

Disclaimer - Im not really sure how many people visit this thread, and of those people, Im not really sure if there is a base of people who write, or even enjoy what is regularly called fantasy.. Some of the things I have posted here have floated by with no responses, or views for that fact, so I'm not sure.. I'll put out this bone, and see who bites..

What has been your favorite "system of magic" in literature (that you've read, or even better, what you've written yourself)
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 11:24 AM   #2 (permalink)
Keep on rolling. It only hurts for a little while.
 
Location: wherever I am
What do you mean by "system of magic"? Could you offer some examples?

Thanks
__________________
So, what's your point?

It's not an attitude, it's a way of life.
mb99usa is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 11:31 AM   #3 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
Okay..
Some settings offer magic as a thing you can learn.. (Riftwar Saga). You can learn phrases and write words of power
In Tad WIlliam's Memory Sorrow and Thorn, magic is something simpler, the way a song is sang..

A system of magic is simply put.. the way magic works.. and how people/or whatever influence it and use it..
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 11:36 AM   #4 (permalink)
Keep on rolling. It only hurts for a little while.
 
Location: wherever I am
I've always liked it when magic was something not easily done. A person wishing to perform magic either already had or was forced to go through intense training. Makes for a stronger argument the power magic can have.

Sorry but I cannot think of any examples right now.
__________________
So, what's your point?

It's not an attitude, it's a way of life.
mb99usa is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 12:13 PM   #5 (permalink)
Addict
 
Magic is a hell of a lot of power. i personally think that power should be earned through discipline. Any system with this philosophy I usually like.
Lunchbox7 is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 11:00 PM   #6 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
I agree with the price of magic, and that it is a hell of a lot of power.. I tend to favor the wild magic though.. Stories where even though magic is powerful, and difficult, it is also fickle.. more it choosing people, then people choosing it
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
Old 10-24-2003, 05:57 AM   #7 (permalink)
Keep on rolling. It only hurts for a little while.
 
Location: wherever I am
Or the kind of magic that does not always work as expected. Always adds a good twist as well as some comedic touches.
__________________
So, what's your point?

It's not an attitude, it's a way of life.
mb99usa is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 03:13 PM   #8 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: Utah
Is magic in the eye of the beholder, or the magican? As far as system of magic in writing, I don't read a lot of fantasty stuff, but to me, The magic of writing is when I am whisked off to some place other than where I am at. In that sense, A lot of good writers to me are magicians. As far as writing goes, to me, it is magic when I write. I hear a word, or a phrase, and the words seem to flow from me like magic. It may not be that good, but it feels like someone else it doing it.
__________________
And as she plays,
her sweet song of laughter
floats through the air
and warms my heart
J.R.V.A. is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 03:24 PM   #9 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: Where You Live.
I love fantasy! I read a book once, called something like 'Something of Recluse' and the system was brilliant. The premise was that there existed three primary types of magick, White, black and grey, but it totally turned my preconceptions on their head. It reasoned black, comforting and all absorbant was the 'good' type. White was chaotic basically, and grey was a really dangerous mixture. The wya people used this magick is something i really identified with. Basically, you had to find the power within yourself, and it took a great deal of concentration and internal willpower to control and master, and it more often than not left the caster extremely fatigued. At the end of the seocnd novel in the series, three 'good' magus' kill themselves in summoning a huge storm! i loved it!!!
__________________
No Win No Fee
vonstalhein is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 04:41 PM   #10 (permalink)
Darth Papa
 
ratbastid's Avatar
 
Location: Yonder
In the <i>His Dark Materials</i> series, what we would call "magic" is referred to in the alternate universe of the story as "Theological Science". It has a very mysterious, scientific, steam-punkish feel. Very neat.
ratbastid is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 04:49 PM   #11 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
Quote:
Originally posted by ratbastid
In the <i>His Dark Materials</i> series, what we would call "magic" is referred to in the alternate universe of the story as "Theological Science". It has a very mysterious, scientific, steam-punkish feel. Very neat.

I love the idea that magic can be mixed with science.. Often it gets a very turn of the century industrial revolution feel.
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 06:35 PM   #12 (permalink)
Loser
 
Location: Davidson College, NC
I like the type of magic like in Alleria.com. It involves a lot of focus and a lot of training, as well as a clear mind.
Eldaire is offline  
Old 10-30-2003, 08:59 PM   #13 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
Seems there is a trend here.. Lots of work, Sacrifice, etc..

A friend and me were talking about that trend tonight.. We think that there is a tendancy towards it taking alot of work because 1) We have always been taught that to get anything you have to work hard, and that translates into literature, even fantasy or 2) it lends an air of "anyone can do it if thye work hard at it"

What do you think of a .. Royal system.. Its harder to explain, but think about it.. To use magic you have to be of a certain family, have the right bloodlines, and there isnt any work for you to use the power you now have.. (No add to that a devine right of kings attiture where because the royal mage is so powerful, they have to use the power accordingly)
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
Old 10-31-2003, 03:26 AM   #14 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: Where You Live.
sounds interesting. Also sounds like it should fit with the style of your prologue (from what i can gather) but it must sound, and FEEL right.
__________________
No Win No Fee
vonstalhein is offline  
Old 10-31-2003, 01:50 PM   #15 (permalink)
Thats MR. Muffin Face now
 
losthellhound's Avatar
 
Location: Everywhere work sends me
Im thinking I can do that thanks
__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death
losthellhound is offline  
 

Tags
discussion, fiction, magic, nature

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:56 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360