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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 8057793" data-attributes="member: 19675">There is no standard magic system in fantasy.  Most writers don't explain how magic works, it just does.I haven’t read them, but as I understand the Potterverse stories, you have to be born with magical talent.In the Dresden Files, magic is corrosive to technology, and while there are enumerated rules of magic, they govern the actions of practitioners, not the magic itself.In Shannara, we know that magic is corrosive to the beings that use it.  And not everyone can.  Beyond that?Pretty much all the magic in LotR is subtle and controlled by beings beyond mortal ken.  What are LotR’s rules for accumulating magical ability?Meanwhile, in Moorcock’s writing, most magic flows from making pacts with powerful, unearthly beings.In Harry Turtledove’s Darkness novels, we’re exposed to the rules of magic over the course of the series, as new mageries are discovered through intense research.  But anyone who knows the spells can cast them.  And divine magic is altogether different, mysterious and seemingly more powerful.Niven’s fantasy writings often involve use of the natural resource of mana.  The Magicians series had a similar concept, but the source was created and controlled by higher beings who could cut it off if they wanted.The magic in Landover stories functions like the debits and credits on an accounting sheet, and it does NOT automatically refresh.  You have to earn more magic.How does magic function in Rosenburg’s Gaurdians of the Flames stories?  Piers Anthony’s Xanth?  How about Narnia?Prospero may not prep spells like a Vancian caster, but neither does Shakespeare tell us exactly how he does the magic he does or why Ariel serves him.Etc.</blockquote>

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