Systems of Magic, and a request

[rising_moon]

Recently I've read a few excellent fantasy novels which were written around believable, consistent, and reasonable systems of magic. Believable magic is one of the elements that will sell me on a writer. I've enjoyed The Abhorsen Trilogy, by Garth Nix, and, most recently, The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss.

I've learned that Brandon Sanderson, who wrote this essay on systems of magic, is going to finish Robert Jordan's 12th and final novel of the Wheel of Time series. Depending on my Lady's response to his work, I might take up the first one. :)

Unrelatedly (maybe): can any of you recommend a good history (articles, blogs, anything) of technical approaches to affixing Identity? That is, assuring that individuals are who they say they are? I'm making a study of transaction psychology -- financial services inclined but not fixed -- and would love some background data on approaches to identity assurance. Thanks!

Comments

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

Samuel Delany suggests in a couple places that whenever we set up ostensably equal dichotomies, there's always an implicit hierarchy.

The only people I ever hear talk about Hard vs Soft SF are people who love the former, and usually show a bit of contempt for the latter. Sanderson goes out of his way to assert that he believes both the approaches he describes to be equally valid, but, to be blunt, I don't believe him.

I do think his proposed rule is worth musing on, I think it is nowhere near as hard-and-fast as he asserts. Exhibit A here would once again be Jonathan Strange, which is way to the Soft end if I understand the essay at all, and does not fall neatly into the problems-sloved-with-magic/problems-solved-not-with-magic dichotomy.

More generally, yeah, if you're setting up a puzzle game like a mystery novel, explicit rules are necessary. Not all fantasy novels are, or should be, puzzle games.