Spoiler space - Magician spoiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . my 2 cents
As for the fantasy being set as the end of or after the end of great magic my call is because it makes such a wonderful plot device. The author then has no need to explain the workings of a lot of the magic because the the hero/heroine does not understand it either and it gives realm a history that can be used to drive the plot (Not to mention that the end of age can be very fast while beginnings are often very slow). While in Ray's books we are witnessing the rise of greater magic in Midkemia we still have the Valheru and their battle with the gods that gives us a history with great magic ages past and of course Macros the Black. The theme of great magic in a past age seems to be at the core of every religion. Think of the stories of the bible, the earlier the stories in the bible then more God plays an active role. In the Greek/Roman/Norse religions we see the same with the time of man following the time gods, so this theme is obviously very powerful, and I have seen Ray note before, there are only so many plot devices so it is not surprising that such a powerful be used repeatedly. Michael On 15 April 2012 08:52, Noah P. Melnick <[email protected]> wrote: > Spoiler space > > More soldier space > > Still more spoiler space > > Yet more spoiler space > > And, for good measure, even more spoiler space > . > . > . > . > . > > Although Ray doesn't come out and say the Oracle of Aal is dead, it is at > least suggested in ACI that if not dead it can no longer see into the > future because we're now at the end of everything and it could go any which > way (I am paraphrasing of course). Although I am very curious to see how > this all plays out in Ray's universe it strikes me that an often common > theme in fantasy series is a transition away from times of magic and really > fantastical stuff to the end of magic, or prophecy, etc. Don't mean to > imply that any particular implementation of the notion is bad or unoriginal > (or that Ray is going to kill off magic), just rather noting a hint of > commonality of theme. I don't think I've ever read a fantasy series that > goes the other way, e.g., where the characters begin an age of great magic, > prophecy and fantastical stuff rather than hearing legends of one or ending > one. Tolkien ends with the era of magic ending. Brooks began with the > magic largely having been lost. Jordan the same. Goodkind seems to have > gone there and looks to continue to be doing so. Martin's legends are of > those who did such great things his current characters think of those > ancient vanquished does as fairy tales... > > Just a few examples, but has anyone thought about this before? Why is > the age of magic and what have you always ending rather than beginning? > > > >
