[krm0915]

Are there are fantasy novels/series out there with absolutely no magic? OR, where the form of magic used isn't very predictable or useful?

[Jeroen]

Well... George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire has almost no magic in it.

For unpredictable magic, try Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy. People use magic through some kind of weird entities named sandestins and Vance always comes up with the weirdest stuff.

[JCD]

The Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon features no magic at all.

[DurzoBlint]

Well... George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire has almost no magic in it.

I would agree with that statement. Although Magic is making its return as the series progresses.

Also, The First Law Trilogy and Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie doesn't feature much magic.

The Gentleman Bastards series starting with The Lies of Locke Lamora doesn't have much magic in it either.

Hopefully others will suggest a few more as well.

[Randy M.]

Are there are fantasy novels/series out there with absolutely no magic? OR, where the form of magic used isn't very predictable or useful?

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Arguably some of Jonathan Carroll's work isn't powered by magic -- or, at least, it's not called magic: The Land of Laughs, for instance.


Randy M.

[kcf]

The Stone Dance of the Chameleon series by Ricardo Pinto is magic free. The full trilogy is out and avaible - I've only read the first book. It's got some flaws but enough potential that I'll read on at some point. The Chosen is the first book.

A Trial of Blood and Steel by Joel Shepherd is another series that is magic free. If you live in Australia, the whole series is available. Elsewhere, the first book, Sasha, has been released and the second book, Petrador, is coming soon. I really like Sasha a lot - it is impressive in many ways.

[algernoninc]

Guy Gavriel Kay has very little magic in titles like Last Light of the Sun, Sailing to Sarantium or Lions of Al-Rassan

K J Parker has no magic in the Engineer series or in The Company, and very little in Fencer. The Scavenger series apparently has a God, but the story is so twisted it could later be possible to find some other explanation for it [I only finished the first book]

[WhiteKnight]

I'd second that recommendation on GGK. I read A Song for Arbonne and magic was employed for describing certain environments, omniscient characters, and overall feel. Loved his writing style...

[Heather Myst]

I have to agree with JCD. Jennifer Fallon's Second Sons trilogy has no magic but I thought it was one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Book one in the series is The Lion of Senet and the books are about a hero who uses his brains instead of magic.

[Inkstain]

If by no magic you mean, no wizards and spells, then try The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. It is a hybrid of fantasy and science fiction. There are one or two magical seeming effects but that is really about it.

OOC: Edited to not reveal spoilers.