The hardest magic system I'm ok with is probably Jack Vance's Dying Earth stuff or I guess the use of like Solomonic magical references in things
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that's fair. personally I like how the magic systems in Sanderson's works specifically work because they tend to have interesting limitations that the characters have to work within, but they can sometimes have really goofy and tedious explanations.
sep 1, 2025, 3:10 am • 4 0 • view
The thing is, Vance's magic system doesn't work the way people think it does. Mages always seem to memorize the right spells for the occasion, and they overpower the thing they are cast to deal with. So they are basically 2-6 "I win" buttons for scenes, allowing the plot to advance.
sep 1, 2025, 8:09 am • 0 0 • view
I think the magic system in Naomi Novik's Scholomance series is my platonic ideal of a hard magic system. But like, how she uses it to structure the arc of the whole series...just masterful.
sep 1, 2025, 4:11 am • 1 0 • view