Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Difference between revisions
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* Jax makes this argument comparing the magic of her world and the technology of ours in [[Terry Goodkind]]'s ''[[Sword of Truth|Law of Nines]]''. |
* Jax makes this argument comparing the magic of her world and the technology of ours in [[Terry Goodkind]]'s ''[[Sword of Truth|Law of Nines]]''. |
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* [[Fritz Leiber]]'s ''Conjure Wife'' explores this trope, as a college professor discovers that witchcraft is an open secret among women (including his wife) and ends up analyzing magic himself. |
* [[Fritz Leiber]]'s ''Conjure Wife'' explores this trope, as a college professor discovers that witchcraft is an open secret among women (including his wife) and ends up analyzing magic himself. |
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* ''Prof. A.Donda'' by [[Stanislaw Lem]]. |
* ''Prof. A.Donda'' by [[Stanislaw Lem]]. He accepted the position of "professor of Svarnetics" in Kulaharian University - not knowing what it is, but expecting that with his three diplomas he can wing it. It apparently was a typo, and no one (alive and not [[The Purge|imprisoned]], anyway) knew what "svarnetics" is, but the University had an IBM computer as a gift of UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture gave grants for research relevant to the local traditions, so... he decided it may as well mean "Stochastic Verification of Automatized Rules of Negative Enchantment". The joke is, of course, that development of a statistical framework for [[Voodoo Doll]] hexing is ''not'' too weird for a man versed in applied mathematics. |
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* In ''[[Mistborn]]'', allomancy- a magic system triggered by ingesting and "burning" various metals- was thoroughly explored by [[God-Emperor|the Lord Ruler]], who only allowed knowledge of ten basic metals to reach the general populace. As the series progresses, [[Action Girl|Vin]] uses her knowledge of allomancy's logical setup of powers to discover a handful of new metals with additional abilities. From the same series, it's revealed in the final book that the torture chambers of the Steel Inquisitors were actually laboratories for researching [[Blood Magic|hemalurgy]]. |
* In ''[[Mistborn]]'', allomancy- a magic system triggered by ingesting and "burning" various metals- was thoroughly explored by [[God-Emperor|the Lord Ruler]], who only allowed knowledge of ten basic metals to reach the general populace. As the series progresses, [[Action Girl|Vin]] uses her knowledge of allomancy's logical setup of powers to discover a handful of new metals with additional abilities. From the same series, it's revealed in the final book that the torture chambers of the Steel Inquisitors were actually laboratories for researching [[Blood Magic|hemalurgy]]. |
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* Lev Grossman's ''[[The Magicians]]'' and subsequent sequel play into this a lot. Magic is only doable by the most intelligent and obsessed people, as it requires memorizing enormous charts of data (moon position, weather), dozens of language (ancient and current), and the most elaborate hand gestures. Analysis is the main method of learning magic; only rare examples do magic spontaneously. |
* Lev Grossman's ''[[The Magicians]]'' and subsequent sequel play into this a lot. Magic is only doable by the most intelligent and obsessed people, as it requires memorizing enormous charts of data (moon position, weather), dozens of language (ancient and current), and the most elaborate hand gestures. Analysis is the main method of learning magic; only rare examples do magic spontaneously. |
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* Magic spells in [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series are pretty much written or spoken equations for a higher order of physics, including [[Equivalent Exchange|the requirement that they balance]]. |
* Magic spells in [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series are pretty much written or spoken equations for a higher order of physics, including [[Equivalent Exchange|the requirement that they balance]]. |
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* ''[[Monday Begins on Saturday]]'' is set mostly in the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry. |
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== Myths & Religion == |
== Myths & Religion == |
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