"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
Column by Chaos2651
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Hey watch what you're saying, man. Some of that could still be considered spoilers at the point in the books he's in.Er, what in that post could possibly be a spoiler? As far as I can tell I mentioned nothing about the plot other than extreme generalities and things in EotW, which he already finished.
Also, I'm finding his inner battle with the dagger VERY interesting. Just another side story, but a good one.Heh. I'm not too sure "just" is the right word to use when talking about that one, but I should probably shut up now to avoid spoiling anything.
It wasn't my intention to turn this thread into one that chronicles my progression through the WOT books, it's just turning out that way. LOL You guys are very helpful, but I also get a sense of joy that you guys like seeing someone else getting into a series that you love personally. Does it bring back memories?? I experienced the same thing with all the people I've gotten into Mistborn (counting six so far, two have completed the series.) I loved hearing about where they are in the story and what they think about it. Good stuff. So, if you guys feel the same, I'd be more than happy to give frequent updates. Plus, I would love to get into WOT discussions with you (so long as nothing gets spoiled!!! grr)Yeah, the Wheel of Time is one of my top two most favorite series (the other is Mistborn, and I'm not sure which I like better), and talking about it with someone as he goes through it himself for the first time is quite enjoyable.
Thanks again guys.
-Joe
My criticisms are that I still don't fully understand the system of magicNone of the viewpoint characters understand more than the extreme basics of that, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. Your understanding of the magic system will grow mainly when viewpoint characters start learning it themselves. For some of them this does start to happen in TGH, so you don't have long to wait.
there is way too much traveling.The amount of traveling doesn't go down much at all, I think, but I imagine your real complaint is about the length of narrative spent on simply getting from point A to point B. That does go down quite a bit as I recall.
My compliments are that I LOVE the world RJ made. Very thorough and well described, I feel like it could be a real world. I like how the heroes seem to have all the cards stacked against them and are up against some very tough enemies (when Aginor came at the end and busted them all up, I was like "Holy crap!!")If you keep with the series you're up for a lot more like that. The heroes get a lot more skilled and powerful as the story progresses, but I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that there are 13 Forsaken, Aginor was relatively weak for a Forsaken and even he only lost because Rand caught him off guard, and all 13 survived the 3 millennia of their imprisonment and are now being released. And they aren't the only powerful enemies the protagonists have to face.
I'm enthralled with the whole Legend of the Dragon Reborn stuff. I like all of the characters now and I'm enjoying their progressions. They've all changed a lot since the beginning of the book (except Lan and Moraine of course) I thought learning of Lan's history was awesome because he wasn't just another bodyguard. I would like to know more about Moraine and her history though. Hopefully, they explain the magic system and the legends more thoroughly in the next book. The index at the back of EOtW was helpful.If you think they've changed a lot now, just wait until you've finished the rest of the series! There is a huge amount of character development throughout the series.
Thanks for your input guys!!
Interestingly enough, though, if a Soother with a Hemalurgic Duralumin spike (or with a companion who's a Nicrosil misting) came across Marsh in the next trilogy, he WOULD be able to take him over. That's cool.Sazed would be able to use Ruin's power to steal that control, though, and I think he'd do so pretty quickly. He might adopt a mostly hands-off approach for managing the world, but I don't think he'd permit someone to dominate Marsh for long regardless.
Okay, but if Terr could foresee everything that would happen. doesn't that mean he knew that the world would undergo a thousand years of struggle and nearly crumble and end just to return to the way it was when created? Did he really not like Ruin that much? Or is there a something bigger in play? How far did he see? Did he realize that the world would need the powers of them both combined and knew that Ruin wouldn't provide his half. What is going to happen that would make it necessary for their to be a single god?Once mankind was created, Preservation was weaker than Ruin. Ruin wanted to completely destroy the world eventually, and Preservation would, in normal circumstance, be unable to stop him. Preservation's desperate plan and great sacrifice were done not out of hate for Ruin, but to save the world. However close the world may have come to ending and however unlikely the final victory might have been, it was better than the absolute certainty that Ruin would destroy everything if Preservation did not enact his desperate plan.
2) Marsh is alive. I changed this from when I talked to Ookla. I realized some things about his use of Allomancy that would allow him to survive. Actually, he is immortal. He can pull off the same Allomancy/Feruchemy trick that the Lord Ruler did. (And he knows it too, since he was there when Sazed explained how it was done in Book One.) He's actually the only living person who actually knows this trick for certain. (Though there's a chance that Spook, Ham and Breeze heard about it from Vin and the others.) So yes, if there were another series, Marsh would make an appearance.
In a future book series, Mistborn will also have become things of legend. The bloodlines will have become diluted to the point that there are no Mistborn, only Mistings--however, the latter are far more common. In this environment, a Nicrosil Misting could be invaluable both as an enhancer to your own team or a weapon to use against unsuspecting other Misthings.
