The defining characteristic of a fantasy story general tends to be the presense of some sort of "magic" in the world. However, some authors seem to come up with more interesting magic systems than others.
The biggest beef I have with the vast majority of fantasy magic systems is that in order for a character to have any magic at all, the character must be born with it. Basically, the character inherits the kingdom and merely has to claim his power. No matter what a character does, if he isn't born with the power, no matter how heroic or selfless or determined he is, he's out of luck. As the standard "mage" character in most fantasy novels is capable of blasting just about anyone else out of existance, unless the mage screws up royally (which they are oft to do) a character without any magic is pretty much screwed.
In addition to that, I can imagine that in any realistic world, if a few are born with powers and the rest without, tremendous class envy will naturally arise. In real societies with rigid class structures (such as Czar Russia) the lower classes generally hated the ones born into wealth with a vengeance. In a similar vein, I can imagine that in any fantasy world where a few are born with the potential for enormous magical power, tremendous friction between those with and without would arise. The reason we don't hate the wealthy in most Western countries is because there IS a ladder in place. Although its easier to be born into wealth, its possible for almost anyone who is lucky and determined enough to gain wealth.
So why isn't Perrin always jealous of Rand, or the townsfolk of Tar Valon always hating the White Tower and all within it? Why can't a heroic character (such as Perrin) gain any real power? Rather than following him blindly, I can imagine that all the peoples who Rand has so far conquered, constantly resenting his meddling using socery they cannot ever hope to resist or understand, and generally resisting his rule. But instead, they behave like we do with regard to rich people...occasionally envious, but because there IS a ladder, we admire people with wealth rather than hating them. But in most fantasy worlds, its not possible to gain any real magic if one isn't born with it.
Now, for a few comparisons :
Star Wars :
Pros: The Force is pretty cool. The whole idea of it giving passive guidance rather than outright intervention (except for a little telekinesis) is one many find quite appealing. And the lightsabers the Jedi can use are very, very cool.
Cons: "Feel the Force" so they say. Well, unfortanatly, unless one is lucky enough to be born with the "midichlorians" (one wonders what Lucas was smoking when he came up with that name) one is blind as a bat to the force, no matter what one does. The Jedi have sight in a world of the blind. Bummer. Guess you'll just have to steal droids for a living or work on a moisture farm. Also, since the Force will give visions of the future and warning whenever the Jedi is in danger, they are pretty much invulnerable to attack by anyone without the aid of the Force.
Wheel of Time :
pros: there are a lot of very, very cool spells that Channelers can pump out. The magical "gunfights" with balefire bolts heading every which way are nice. Also, the "concrete" nature of the powers of a Channeler are somewhat nice. They can't change "fate" itself, or influence things and people beyond the range of their weaves. Also, the powers give the "fantasy equivalent" of certain modern devices. The "Healing" weave is the fantasy equivalent of a hospital (even better actually), balefire is the equivalent of an anti-tank rocket, they have gateways instead of jet planes, and Rand armed with a sa'angreal is the equivalent of a nuke.
cons : same problem as most others : gotta be born to power or one can't do squat. But worse, Channelers are WAY WAY WAY WAY too powerful. INSTANT teleportation to ANYWHERE? INSTANT healing of all but the worst of wounds? UNLIMITED power source? (i.e. no magic "source" to drain dry) Even a few Channelers without angreals can blast away WHOLE ARMIES of ELITE troops. And there are NO real consequences to the use of this power. In most fantasy, this sort of power requires a terrible price. Not so in WoT. Channelers can blast away without a care in the world. Worse, the female channelers will use their powers OUT OF SPITE against their male ALLIES who can't do anything back!!! (Nynaeve tying up Matt with weaves of Air for instance). That's as ethical as a smart guy playing tricks on someone retarded, or someone tying up a BLIND MAN!
Sure, there's the taint. But
****SPOILER****
Rand never actually went crazy, and with it cleansed there are now no real limits on his power
****YOU WERE SPOILED****
The whole gateway thing is by far the most overpowered power....it means that anyone who can make gateways and with a grain of sense is INVULNERABLE (just teleport to the other side of the continent if danger threatens!). Worse still, it makes Egwene gathering an army and marching to besiege Tar Valon pointless and stupid! Why doesn't Egwene, instead of wasting hundreds of pages of paper gathering troops, just teleport into the white tower with a SWAT team of her best channelers and take the place? On that note, why gather an army? One good channeler is as good as hundreds of troops...just get her people together, come up with a good assault plan, and storm the place. Remember, she has all sorts of powers now that the Aes Sedai left in the tower don't have...the ability to explore the dream world, the ability to make gateways, the ability to heal the Stilled, the ability to make balefire, and many many others...
Finally, the Channeling thing is SEXIST! When I first read the part where they figure out that men are stronger than women in the One Power I was like WTF!!!! The fact is, as warriors in any real world, women get the shaft. The strength difference is simply to great for most women to make good fighters. But I guess the Wheel of Time world has a glass ceiling just like ours...even in something that you wouldn't think physical characteristics would make any difference (wielding magic power) women are again at best second class.
Speaking of second class, in this world "ordinary" men and women (no matter how strong willed or heroic they are) really, really get the shaft. I recall several scenes where people try to attack Rand with thrown weapons by surprise, and he's able to completely twart their attacks! (somehow reacting fast enough to stop arrows and knives in mid flight. Considering how fast an arrow travels...) You'd think that ordinary people would have at least a PRAYER of taking a channeler by surprise and killing them, but I guess not. Hell, Rand doesn't even have to fight fair in a little swordplay...he can just make a blade of fire and cut them in half with no skill at all!
One final thing. I enjoyed reading the Wheel of Time novels. Yes, I've read them all. No, I haven't reread them all except the first 3, so that's why I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details. The first ones, especially, were some of the best fantasy I've ever read (Martin is THE best of course). But many of the battles with channelers and ordinary guys are like watching a fight of stone age club men going up against guys armed with railguns and power armor. Its about as exciting as playing Doom in God mode...amusing at first, but ultimately quite dull.
David Eddings : I was going to say the Belgariad, but since just about everything Eddings has written is in the same universe...
Pros : the Will and the Word is about as simple as it gets. Garion can start doing extremely powerful magic right away, with 10 minutes or so of instruction. That's about it with regard to pros.
Cons : Of course, only a few can actually use the will and the word. Same problem there as always. And some (like Garion) are born MUCH MUCH MUCH more powerful than others. That's lame. But there are deeper problems. For one thing, in the Belgariad at least (I got sick of the first book of the Mallorean, haven't read any of his other works) Garion is supported by six GODS. His job is to, with the help of GODs, beat up on ONE bad god. Umm... How lame is that. I mean, it just begs the question...why can't these Gods just take care of business among themselves, and leave the poor mortals out of it.
Worse, the whole thing where Garion can just start doing powerful sorcery whenever he damn well pleases right after knowing to "use the will and say some lame word" is just stupid. In most fantasy, the aspiring mage, even after being born with powers, has to attend "boot camp" and undergo extreme stress and intense instruction to actually USE his powers.
Example : Star Wars, Wheel of Time, to some extent Sword of Truth, Harry Potter, Demonwars, ect...
But nope. All Garion has to do is believe he can do it, and presto! he's got the equivalent of a personal nuclear arsenal in his young hands. Of course, he needs a little practice before he can start blowing stuff up, but anyway...
And finally, at one point in the series Eddings suddenly realizes that he needs to put some limits on Garions powers. So he suddenly announces to the reader that right after doing a little sorcery, a sorcerer is vulnerable to attack. (To explain why Garion, using his nifty magic sword/power amplifier can't just blow the enemy city wall into rubble to let his troops in). Umm... Really, is that lame or what?
A Song of Ice and Fire :
In this series, there really isn't a whole lot of magic. In fact, Martin could easily delete the dragons and the other bits of magic (leave that mage bitch supporting Robert's older brother in as a charlatan) and it wouldn't really make any difference in the story.
Pros : the little magic there is is VERY mysterious. Martin has told the reader very little about it. This air of mystery, thus limiting the power of mages to subtle things, is a great way to go. And, there is no unlimited source of magic power. All magic requires a price, such as blood. Rather than being the main movers and shakers, wizards are background characters. Although we won't know until later books, its quite possible that anyone (in theory) can become a mage...no "birth" requirements. But that's not certain...have to see what Arya finds out.
Cons : All the magic in the world comes from dragons? That sucks (what if the dragons become extinct for real?), and doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. (doesn't most of the magic power for the spells we've seen worked in the 3 books so far come from blood? What would the dragons have to do with it. Or the making of wildfire...isn't that just a chemical concoction? Have to see how Martin handles it) And of course only a few can actually control dragons. More of this "birth to power" crap. But the worst problem is when that fire witch (forgot her name...don't have a copy right in front of me) burned the sacrificial heart, she supposedly affected FATE with her power. A little bit too powerful for a mere mortal, wouldn't you think?
I'm running out of time for today, so I'll finish my analysis on the morrow. Still to go : the magic system of Harry Potter, the magic system of Mercedes Lackey's novels, and the magic system of the Demonwars books. If you have anything to contribute (similar critiques of fantasy magic I won't be doing because I haven't read them or don't remember them that well) feel free to add on. If you have a flame coming, please at least make reasoned arguments rather than simply saying I'm stupid. Later.
The biggest beef I have with the vast majority of fantasy magic systems is that in order for a character to have any magic at all, the character must be born with it. Basically, the character inherits the kingdom and merely has to claim his power. No matter what a character does, if he isn't born with the power, no matter how heroic or selfless or determined he is, he's out of luck. As the standard "mage" character in most fantasy novels is capable of blasting just about anyone else out of existance, unless the mage screws up royally (which they are oft to do) a character without any magic is pretty much screwed.
In addition to that, I can imagine that in any realistic world, if a few are born with powers and the rest without, tremendous class envy will naturally arise. In real societies with rigid class structures (such as Czar Russia) the lower classes generally hated the ones born into wealth with a vengeance. In a similar vein, I can imagine that in any fantasy world where a few are born with the potential for enormous magical power, tremendous friction between those with and without would arise. The reason we don't hate the wealthy in most Western countries is because there IS a ladder in place. Although its easier to be born into wealth, its possible for almost anyone who is lucky and determined enough to gain wealth.
So why isn't Perrin always jealous of Rand, or the townsfolk of Tar Valon always hating the White Tower and all within it? Why can't a heroic character (such as Perrin) gain any real power? Rather than following him blindly, I can imagine that all the peoples who Rand has so far conquered, constantly resenting his meddling using socery they cannot ever hope to resist or understand, and generally resisting his rule. But instead, they behave like we do with regard to rich people...occasionally envious, but because there IS a ladder, we admire people with wealth rather than hating them. But in most fantasy worlds, its not possible to gain any real magic if one isn't born with it.
Now, for a few comparisons :
Star Wars :
Pros: The Force is pretty cool. The whole idea of it giving passive guidance rather than outright intervention (except for a little telekinesis) is one many find quite appealing. And the lightsabers the Jedi can use are very, very cool.
Cons: "Feel the Force" so they say. Well, unfortanatly, unless one is lucky enough to be born with the "midichlorians" (one wonders what Lucas was smoking when he came up with that name) one is blind as a bat to the force, no matter what one does. The Jedi have sight in a world of the blind. Bummer. Guess you'll just have to steal droids for a living or work on a moisture farm. Also, since the Force will give visions of the future and warning whenever the Jedi is in danger, they are pretty much invulnerable to attack by anyone without the aid of the Force.
Wheel of Time :
pros: there are a lot of very, very cool spells that Channelers can pump out. The magical "gunfights" with balefire bolts heading every which way are nice. Also, the "concrete" nature of the powers of a Channeler are somewhat nice. They can't change "fate" itself, or influence things and people beyond the range of their weaves. Also, the powers give the "fantasy equivalent" of certain modern devices. The "Healing" weave is the fantasy equivalent of a hospital (even better actually), balefire is the equivalent of an anti-tank rocket, they have gateways instead of jet planes, and Rand armed with a sa'angreal is the equivalent of a nuke.
cons : same problem as most others : gotta be born to power or one can't do squat. But worse, Channelers are WAY WAY WAY WAY too powerful. INSTANT teleportation to ANYWHERE? INSTANT healing of all but the worst of wounds? UNLIMITED power source? (i.e. no magic "source" to drain dry) Even a few Channelers without angreals can blast away WHOLE ARMIES of ELITE troops. And there are NO real consequences to the use of this power. In most fantasy, this sort of power requires a terrible price. Not so in WoT. Channelers can blast away without a care in the world. Worse, the female channelers will use their powers OUT OF SPITE against their male ALLIES who can't do anything back!!! (Nynaeve tying up Matt with weaves of Air for instance). That's as ethical as a smart guy playing tricks on someone retarded, or someone tying up a BLIND MAN!
Sure, there's the taint. But
****SPOILER****
Rand never actually went crazy, and with it cleansed there are now no real limits on his power
****YOU WERE SPOILED****
The whole gateway thing is by far the most overpowered power....it means that anyone who can make gateways and with a grain of sense is INVULNERABLE (just teleport to the other side of the continent if danger threatens!). Worse still, it makes Egwene gathering an army and marching to besiege Tar Valon pointless and stupid! Why doesn't Egwene, instead of wasting hundreds of pages of paper gathering troops, just teleport into the white tower with a SWAT team of her best channelers and take the place? On that note, why gather an army? One good channeler is as good as hundreds of troops...just get her people together, come up with a good assault plan, and storm the place. Remember, she has all sorts of powers now that the Aes Sedai left in the tower don't have...the ability to explore the dream world, the ability to make gateways, the ability to heal the Stilled, the ability to make balefire, and many many others...
Finally, the Channeling thing is SEXIST! When I first read the part where they figure out that men are stronger than women in the One Power I was like WTF!!!! The fact is, as warriors in any real world, women get the shaft. The strength difference is simply to great for most women to make good fighters. But I guess the Wheel of Time world has a glass ceiling just like ours...even in something that you wouldn't think physical characteristics would make any difference (wielding magic power) women are again at best second class.
Speaking of second class, in this world "ordinary" men and women (no matter how strong willed or heroic they are) really, really get the shaft. I recall several scenes where people try to attack Rand with thrown weapons by surprise, and he's able to completely twart their attacks! (somehow reacting fast enough to stop arrows and knives in mid flight. Considering how fast an arrow travels...) You'd think that ordinary people would have at least a PRAYER of taking a channeler by surprise and killing them, but I guess not. Hell, Rand doesn't even have to fight fair in a little swordplay...he can just make a blade of fire and cut them in half with no skill at all!
One final thing. I enjoyed reading the Wheel of Time novels. Yes, I've read them all. No, I haven't reread them all except the first 3, so that's why I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details. The first ones, especially, were some of the best fantasy I've ever read (Martin is THE best of course). But many of the battles with channelers and ordinary guys are like watching a fight of stone age club men going up against guys armed with railguns and power armor. Its about as exciting as playing Doom in God mode...amusing at first, but ultimately quite dull.
David Eddings : I was going to say the Belgariad, but since just about everything Eddings has written is in the same universe...
Pros : the Will and the Word is about as simple as it gets. Garion can start doing extremely powerful magic right away, with 10 minutes or so of instruction. That's about it with regard to pros.
Cons : Of course, only a few can actually use the will and the word. Same problem there as always. And some (like Garion) are born MUCH MUCH MUCH more powerful than others. That's lame. But there are deeper problems. For one thing, in the Belgariad at least (I got sick of the first book of the Mallorean, haven't read any of his other works) Garion is supported by six GODS. His job is to, with the help of GODs, beat up on ONE bad god. Umm... How lame is that. I mean, it just begs the question...why can't these Gods just take care of business among themselves, and leave the poor mortals out of it.
Worse, the whole thing where Garion can just start doing powerful sorcery whenever he damn well pleases right after knowing to "use the will and say some lame word" is just stupid. In most fantasy, the aspiring mage, even after being born with powers, has to attend "boot camp" and undergo extreme stress and intense instruction to actually USE his powers.
Example : Star Wars, Wheel of Time, to some extent Sword of Truth, Harry Potter, Demonwars, ect...
But nope. All Garion has to do is believe he can do it, and presto! he's got the equivalent of a personal nuclear arsenal in his young hands. Of course, he needs a little practice before he can start blowing stuff up, but anyway...
And finally, at one point in the series Eddings suddenly realizes that he needs to put some limits on Garions powers. So he suddenly announces to the reader that right after doing a little sorcery, a sorcerer is vulnerable to attack. (To explain why Garion, using his nifty magic sword/power amplifier can't just blow the enemy city wall into rubble to let his troops in). Umm... Really, is that lame or what?
A Song of Ice and Fire :
In this series, there really isn't a whole lot of magic. In fact, Martin could easily delete the dragons and the other bits of magic (leave that mage bitch supporting Robert's older brother in as a charlatan) and it wouldn't really make any difference in the story.
Pros : the little magic there is is VERY mysterious. Martin has told the reader very little about it. This air of mystery, thus limiting the power of mages to subtle things, is a great way to go. And, there is no unlimited source of magic power. All magic requires a price, such as blood. Rather than being the main movers and shakers, wizards are background characters. Although we won't know until later books, its quite possible that anyone (in theory) can become a mage...no "birth" requirements. But that's not certain...have to see what Arya finds out.
Cons : All the magic in the world comes from dragons? That sucks (what if the dragons become extinct for real?), and doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. (doesn't most of the magic power for the spells we've seen worked in the 3 books so far come from blood? What would the dragons have to do with it. Or the making of wildfire...isn't that just a chemical concoction? Have to see how Martin handles it) And of course only a few can actually control dragons. More of this "birth to power" crap. But the worst problem is when that fire witch (forgot her name...don't have a copy right in front of me) burned the sacrificial heart, she supposedly affected FATE with her power. A little bit too powerful for a mere mortal, wouldn't you think?
I'm running out of time for today, so I'll finish my analysis on the morrow. Still to go : the magic system of Harry Potter, the magic system of Mercedes Lackey's novels, and the magic system of the Demonwars books. If you have anything to contribute (similar critiques of fantasy magic I won't be doing because I haven't read them or don't remember them that well) feel free to add on. If you have a flame coming, please at least make reasoned arguments rather than simply saying I'm stupid. Later.
