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<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 9323636" data-attributes="member: 5142">In some ways, Le Guin's &quot;magic system,&quot; which is probably a description she herself would loathe applied to her works, is probably something more akin to a soft magic system. We have some basic principles for how it works: i.e., true names, humans can't lie in the Old Speech, natural balance, etc. However, it's still pretty loose as a magic system that mostly exists in service to the needs of the author's story. IMHO, there is not a sort of commodification or obsession with the technical workings of magic in Earthsea as you find in books from Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson apart from how magic expresses the themes of Le Guin's stories: e.g., natural balance, self-discovery, life vs. resisting death, feminism, etc. I kinda feel like there is a fair amount of authors in post-D&amp;D fantasy lit who approach magic as if they were engineers, and a fair amount of that magic also involves blasting as if they were playing wargames. In contrast, I would say that Le Guin approaches magic in Earthsea as a philosopher, teacher, or sage interested in teaching the Tao/Dao.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 9323636, member: 5142"] In some ways, Le Guin's "magic system," which is probably a description she herself would loathe applied to her works, is probably something more akin to a soft magic system. We have some basic principles for how it works: i.e., true names, humans can't lie in the Old Speech, natural balance, etc. However, it's still pretty loose as a magic system that mostly exists in service to the needs of the author's story. IMHO, there is not a sort of commodification or obsession with the technical workings of magic in Earthsea as you find in books from Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson [I]apart from[/I] how magic expresses the themes of Le Guin's stories: e.g., natural balance, self-discovery, life vs. resisting death, feminism, etc. I kinda feel like there is a fair amount of authors in post-D&D fantasy lit who approach magic as if they were engineers, and a fair amount of that magic also involves blasting as if they were playing wargames. In contrast, I would say that Le Guin approaches magic in Earthsea as a philosopher, teacher, or sage interested in teaching the Tao/Dao. [/QUOTE]

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