The ABC’s of magic in a fantasy story

Magic is a very powerful word with numerous uses in our language.  It can refer to a trick with cards or coins, the thrill of a first date, or mystical powers and unexplainable events.  As a writer of young adult fantasy stories, I’ve used it in all three of those contexts.  To be sure there are many other uses for the word, but it’s the last one that I want to explore in this blog.

The Five Istari from Middle-Earth

Whether the story’s a contemporary, dystopian, or traditional high fantasy, virtually every type of fantasy includes something magical.  It may manifest itself as supernatural/paranormal, sorcery/witchcraft, or some other enchantment or mysterious power, but they’ll all have something recognizable as magic.  The specifics will vary, but will include two parts, the structure of the magic and how it interacts with the world.

I think of structure as the ABC’s of magic:  Access to magic, the Bounds of magic, and the Creation of magic.  Most stories limit magical Access to a few select people.  In some only specific individuals wield magic, e.g., the gifted in Eddings’ Belgariad.  In others, e.g., Harry Potter, entire classes of people do.  Characters outside these groups may or may not understand magic, but they’re typically unable to wield it.  Each magical framework must also include a consistent set of Bounds and rules for magic.  Without them, magic becomes the universal key to Gordian knots in convoluted plot-lines.  Rules typically include limits, e.g., the prohibition against ‘unmaking’ something in the Belgariad or the unspeakable curses in Harry Potter.  In both stories, breaking the Bounds leads to unpleasant consequences.

Finally, magic requires an act of Creation to release its power.  In the Belgariad, a magician’s willpower forms the magic and the spoken word releases it.  Wizards and witches in the Harry Potter series also use words or incantations to release their magic, but there are many other forms of magic, too.  They use magical plants, artifacts, and combinations of ingredients in potions to Create magic.  Once you create magic you must determine how it interacts with the world.

The vast majority of authors utilize an active model where the magic delivers clear impacts.  In Harry Potter, magic stuns, transforms, renders invisible, transports or delivers other similarly fantastic active effects on the world.  At the other end of the spectrum magic acts as an underlying force or influence.  The most prominent example is in Tolkien’s Middle-earth.  With the exception of the divine, the most proficient users of magic are the elves.  The three elven rings of power (Clockwise from the left Narya, Vilya, and Nenya) don’t zap enemies with fire; rather they preserve, protect, and inspire hope for the bearers and their people.  In a role-playing game, active magic would include fireballs and lightning bolts, while influencing magic would increase the morale or initiative of the user’s allies.

If you’re a writer, do you think about the ABC’s of fantasy magic when you create your world?  As a reader, how do you like your magic?  Do you prefer the active or influencing type?  Do you like detailed descriptions of how it works or prefer the mystery?

Here’s a magical excerpt from The Poisoned Princess , the first book in my high fantasy series The Warders .

In a softer tone Egon replied, “I’m really sorry about your beard, but it did grow back nicely.  Regardless, an invisibility potion wouldn’t help you much this time.  Apis bees don’t see very well, but the small hairs on their bodies make them very sensitive to vibrations.”  Turning from the table Egon said, “Ssarel, would you please bring me the boots and the other items.”

“Yesss Massster,” answered Ssarel, who brought two pairs of boots and a box to the table.

“These are mute boots.  They enable anyone, even a heavy-footed dwarf, to move as softly as a ghost,” Egon said.  He handed a pair to Adara and to Draham.  “Don’t worry about their size.  Once you put them on they’ll conform to your feet.”  Looking at Toran he said, “I’m sorry, but I only have two pair.  So you’ll have to rely on your natural abilities.”

Toran nodded.

“What else is in the box?” Adara asked.

Egon pulled out three blue feathered arrows that were tipped with small blue spheres and handed them to Toran.  “The tip contains a sleeping potion that’s released on contact.  One arrow should put the whole hive to sleep for at least an hour.  The gas won’t affect you or Draham, but Adara will need to avoid it.”

“That’s great for the bees, but what about the ogres?” Adara asked.

“Aye, and even if we’re successful, the Ramdal hills are too far away for us to make it back in time to save the princess,” Draham added.

“Quite right both of you,” replied Egon taking out a vial, two egg-sized spheres, and three brownish chunks of wax.

“What are those?” Draham asked suspiciously.

“The vial contains efreet essence,” Egon answered.  Seeing confused looks on everyone’s faces he added, “The essence creates replicas of everyone it touches.  The replicas will disintegrate if touched, but they’ll be good enough to confuse ogres.  The spheres are transporter nodes.  You place them on the ground and speak the command word which activates the slip-gate.  When you step through the gate you’re instantly transported to the keyed location, which for these spheres is my chamber.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a pair keyed to the Ramdal, would you?” Draham asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t.  They require a complex incantation and that needs to be completed at their destination location.”

“That figures,” Draham grumbled.

“Oh, one other thing, you can only activate them once and once you activate them you’ve only got about thirty seconds to use them before the slip-gate closes.”

“And the brown wax?” Toran asked.

“Ahh, that’s honeycomb.  If you get stung by one of the Apis bees, eat it and it will slow the poison.”

As always thanks for reading,

Armen