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Fantasy Novels: Do The Rules Of Magic Matter To You?
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<blockquote data-quote="mattcolville" data-source="post: 6201911" data-attributes="member: 1300"><p>I was a guest on a friend's podcast and the topic was Fantasy Worldbuilding.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/...ast/id/2505006" target="_blank">http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/...ast/id/2505006</a></p><p></p><p>But really, the topic was "how much do we care about the rules of the secondary world?"</p><p></p><p>And I guess I'm surprised to find that to some people (a lot? I dunno! That's what this thread is for) the rules are really important. When Penny Arcade makes fun of the fans of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, that's what they're making fun of. That people love how he sets out these clear-to-understand rules, and then combines them in surprising ways so the reader goes "Of course!" Of course that's what would happen if you combined X + Y and, "oh no!" Oh no he's almost out of iron or tin or whatever. </p><p></p><p>The host argues that most fantasy fiction (like mine own) authors just pull stuff out of thin air. He contends that this undermines dramatic tension.</p><p></p><p>Is that true? The example he uses is Spiderman. If Spiderman could just pull a random power out of his ass whenever he wanted, that would be dumb. But don't superheroes do this all the time? </p><p></p><p>I get that, if you're a fan of the X-Men, part of the fun is watching them use their powers to solve problems in interesting ways. And I like that as much as anyone. But the main show is these personalities clashing and engaging. The soap opera quality of it.</p><p></p><p>My favorite fantasy novels...hell, I can't even remember what the rules were. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, there's almost no magic at all. The Lord of the Rings, there's almost no magic. Gandalf is like a 5th level D&D wizard based on what we see. Magic, in Middle-earth, appears to be all about creating and fighting fear and despair with hope and courage. </p><p></p><p>The Black Company, read it a million times, NO IDEA how magic works there. </p><p></p><p>Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, Moorcock just pulls out of his ass constantly. And it's amazing!</p><p></p><p>This is relevant to me because I write this stuff and I enjoy pulling stuff out of my ass constantly. It's what makes writing the action sequences fun and I strongly feel like if I enjoy writing it, people will enjoy reading it and thusfar that appears to be the case.</p><p></p><p>So I wonder how common this attitude is. Do you know the rules of your favorite fantasy fiction? Does it matter?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mattcolville, post: 6201911, member: 1300"] I was a guest on a friend's podcast and the topic was Fantasy Worldbuilding. [url]http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/...ast/id/2505006[/url] But really, the topic was "how much do we care about the rules of the secondary world?" And I guess I'm surprised to find that to some people (a lot? I dunno! That's what this thread is for) the rules are really important. When Penny Arcade makes fun of the fans of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, that's what they're making fun of. That people love how he sets out these clear-to-understand rules, and then combines them in surprising ways so the reader goes "Of course!" Of course that's what would happen if you combined X + Y and, "oh no!" Oh no he's almost out of iron or tin or whatever. The host argues that most fantasy fiction (like mine own) authors just pull stuff out of thin air. He contends that this undermines dramatic tension. Is that true? The example he uses is Spiderman. If Spiderman could just pull a random power out of his ass whenever he wanted, that would be dumb. But don't superheroes do this all the time? I get that, if you're a fan of the X-Men, part of the fun is watching them use their powers to solve problems in interesting ways. And I like that as much as anyone. But the main show is these personalities clashing and engaging. The soap opera quality of it. My favorite fantasy novels...hell, I can't even remember what the rules were. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, there's almost no magic at all. The Lord of the Rings, there's almost no magic. Gandalf is like a 5th level D&D wizard based on what we see. Magic, in Middle-earth, appears to be all about creating and fighting fear and despair with hope and courage. The Black Company, read it a million times, NO IDEA how magic works there. Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, Moorcock just pulls out of his ass constantly. And it's amazing! This is relevant to me because I write this stuff and I enjoy pulling stuff out of my ass constantly. It's what makes writing the action sequences fun and I strongly feel like if I enjoy writing it, people will enjoy reading it and thusfar that appears to be the case. So I wonder how common this attitude is. Do you know the rules of your favorite fantasy fiction? Does it matter? [/QUOTE]
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