I am half-way through Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire. I like it a great deal more than I thought I would, and quite a bit more than the The Way of Kings (which, I am also halfway through).
Sanderson's magic systems have been lauded as amazing and unique. They are definitely unique. However, I don't think they are amazing.
Sanderson's first law states: Sanderson’s First Law of Magics: An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how ...well the reader understands said magic.
Sanderson's magic systems have been lauded as amazing and unique. They are definitely unique. However, I don't think they are amazing.
Sanderson's first law states: Sanderson’s First Law of Magics: An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how ...well the reader understands said magic.
That is all well and good. A well defined magic system allows the author to used the known variable of magic in plausibly dramatic ways and prevent the deus ex machina (deus ex magica?) that Erikson has been accused of in his Malazan Book of the Fallen.
However, it seems that the readers understanding of said magic system is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the mythic atmospheric qualities said magic can generate. In works with less defined magic systems, where the mysterious nature of magic is preserved, whether epic such as Lord of the Rings, or heroic/sword and sorcery such as Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, a greater sense of wonder and the numinous is preserved. The resolution of a mystery is rarely as gratifying as sense of mystery. The preservation of mystery, I feel, leads to a world of greater depths, where unknown energies eddy in shady, unexplored parts of the world, and fey and infernal beings gambol in liminal thresholds.
When everything is carefully defined for the reader it feels too much like an rpg. Everything has it's little niche in a carefully catalogued encyclopedia that can be indexed. It is an odd blend of nihilistic fantastica or fantastic scientism.
This doesn't mean that a reader cannot find a sense of wonder or escapism in the works, rather it is diminished by degrees of definition.
However, it seems that the readers understanding of said magic system is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the mythic atmospheric qualities said magic can generate. In works with less defined magic systems, where the mysterious nature of magic is preserved, whether epic such as Lord of the Rings, or heroic/sword and sorcery such as Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, a greater sense of wonder and the numinous is preserved. The resolution of a mystery is rarely as gratifying as sense of mystery. The preservation of mystery, I feel, leads to a world of greater depths, where unknown energies eddy in shady, unexplored parts of the world, and fey and infernal beings gambol in liminal thresholds.
When everything is carefully defined for the reader it feels too much like an rpg. Everything has it's little niche in a carefully catalogued encyclopedia that can be indexed. It is an odd blend of nihilistic fantastica or fantastic scientism.
This doesn't mean that a reader cannot find a sense of wonder or escapism in the works, rather it is diminished by degrees of definition.
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