(These principles were used to great effect by de Camp and Pratt in their very funny ' Compleat Enchanter' novels, as when their hero shortens a jailer's nose by forming a model of it in wax and melting it.) However, a strong spell requires a great deal of energy, such a from a fire or a flywheel. Using the principles of sympathy and contagion, it's possible to move things, to transform things into other things, and otherwise manipulate one's environment. Hardy's Thaumaturgy is what we usually think of as magic. Law of Dichotomy: dominance or submission.The Rule of Three: thrice spoken, once fulfilled.The Maxim of Persistence: perfection is eternal.The Doctrine of Signatures: the attributes without mirror the powers within.The Principle of Contagion: once together, always together.The Principle of Sympathy: like produces like.For those who haven't had the pleasure, the five systems used by Hardy and their governing laws are: There were two semi-sequels, but MOTFM nailed the premise of magic as a scientific undertaking.īecause it took a somewhat more mechanistic approach to magic (as opposed to LeGuin's naturalistic interpretation), I'm a little surprised not to have seen the concepts of magic as expressed in Hardy's book show up in some MMORPG already.

LeGuin's original Earthsea trilogy (definitely not including the brutish fourth book tacked on years later) was in large part so wonderful because it evoked some aspect of what we find so fascinating about 'magic.' The Earthsea trilogy expressed the ' magic as art' position superbly.įor the other approach, I can't think of a better example than Lyndon Hardy's novel Master of the Five Magics. I didn't come to a conclusion, other than that both forms can be fun to experience.įor example, Ursula K.

I’ve addressed elsewhere the question of whether magic in books and games should be presented as a science or as an art.

Master of the 5 magics