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Post by vrabinec on Feb 24, 2014 13:31:55 GMT -5
What cape? Oh... didn't notice it at first... Was it the loin cloth that distracted you?  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 24, 2014 14:34:07 GMT -5
What cape? Oh... didn't notice it at first... Was it the loin cloth that distracted you? And vrab continues his thread-winning ways. The Conan invasion of the life-affirming quote thread was awesome. |
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Post by Pru Freda on Feb 24, 2014 14:42:47 GMT -5
And have a fish sticking out of his cod piece - just saying.  |
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Post by Suzy on Feb 24, 2014 14:54:54 GMT -5
What cape? Oh... didn't notice it at first... Was it the loin cloth that distracted you? No. It was the pointy helmets. |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 24, 2014 15:04:36 GMT -5
Seems like just the kind of book where the hero would happen across a deus ex machina magic cape! If it were my story, I'd try to do better than that. I'd at least have the cape be the Talisman the hero needs to save the day. But I can't write stories about magic hoods or capes. It would be too obvious. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 24, 2014 15:09:16 GMT -5
Seems like just the kind of book where the hero would happen across a deus ex machina magic cape! If it were my story, I'd try to do better than that. I'd at least have the cape be the Talisman the hero needs to save the day. But I can't write stories about magic hoods or capes. It would be too obvious. How about a magic ring? No, wait, think that's been done. How about some sort of cup? |
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Post by vrabinec on Feb 24, 2014 15:39:49 GMT -5
Seems like just the kind of book where the hero would happen across a deus ex machina magic cape! If it were my story, I'd try to do better than that. I'd at least have the cape be the Talisman the hero needs to save the day. But I can't write stories about magic hoods or capes. It would be too obvious. I have sat there for hours on end, trying to think of something new and cool to be magic for a fantasy series. Haven't come up with a single thing that hasn't been done. In fact, the last thing I can remember that felt at least somewhat "fresh" was Stephen R. Donaldson in his Thomas Covenant stuff having the people in the magic land do something (I can't remember exactly what, it's been 30 years since I read it) with an urn or crock with embers in it. |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 24, 2014 15:53:05 GMT -5
How about a magic ring? No, wait, think that's been done. How about some sort of cup? Like vrabinec says, it's all been done. I doubt it's possible to do much original work at this point as well. My main focus was on designing a magic system, and the trinkets evolved from that. Although my stories have wands and amulets in them, the way they work is what I tried to make unusual, if not unique. Even some of my more critical reviews have mentioned an appreciation for the magic system, which makes me more happy than the reviewers probably intended. ETA: My sister called me the other day and told me she was reading my second book. She said she enjoyed the detail and wondered, "How do you come up with this stuff? I can't believe my brother wrote this." I took it as high praise. |
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Post by vrabinec on Feb 24, 2014 16:02:11 GMT -5
Yeah, the system, parameters, limits, etc. make magic these days. When I get done with this WIP, I gotta grab one of your books. See watcha got.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 24, 2014 16:11:47 GMT -5
ETA: My sister called me the other day and told me she was reading my second book. She said she enjoyed the detail and wondered, "How do you come up with this stuff? I can't believe my brother wrote this." I took it as high praise. That's awesome, Daniel.  Some recent stuff that's struck me as original in urban fantasy has to do with the overall explanation of how magic relates to the mundane world. Ilona Andrews is great on this front. She has a very successful UF series that's based on the idea that the world swings back and forth between the ascendancies of magic and tech. When one gets pushed too far, it creates an imbalance and the other surges, destroying what the other has wrought. The books are set in a near future where humanity is dealing with the return of magic to the world. It comes and goes in waves, so that tech works at some points and magic at others. It's a brilliant premise. Can you see the plot potential of having magic vanish just when you need it, or of having your gun stop working right when you need that? It's fantastic. |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 24, 2014 16:18:10 GMT -5
ETA: My sister called me the other day and told me she was reading my second book. She said she enjoyed the detail and wondered, "How do you come up with this stuff? I can't believe my brother wrote this." I took it as high praise. That's awesome, Daniel. Some recent stuff that's struck me as original in urban fantasy has to do with the overall explanation of how magic relates to the mundane world. Ilona Andrews is great on this front. She has a very successful UF series that's based on the idea that the world swings back and forth between the ascendancies of magic and tech. When one gets pushed too far, it creates an imbalance and the other surges, destroying what the other has wrought. The books are set in a near future where humanity is dealing with the return of magic to the world. It comes and goes in waves, so that tech works at some points and magic at others. It's a brilliant premise. Can you see the plot potential of having magic vanish just when you need it, or of having your gun stop working right when you need that? It's fantastic. I think her name has been mentioned to me before. I'll have to check her out and add one of her books to my wish list. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 24, 2014 16:30:38 GMT -5
That's awesome, Daniel. Some recent stuff that's struck me as original in urban fantasy has to do with the overall explanation of how magic relates to the mundane world. Ilona Andrews is great on this front. She has a very successful UF series that's based on the idea that the world swings back and forth between the ascendancies of magic and tech. When one gets pushed too far, it creates an imbalance and the other surges, destroying what the other has wrought. The books are set in a near future where humanity is dealing with the return of magic to the world. It comes and goes in waves, so that tech works at some points and magic at others. It's a brilliant premise. Can you see the plot potential of having magic vanish just when you need it, or of having your gun stop working right when you need that? It's fantastic. I think her name has been mentioned to me before. I'll have to check her out and add one of her books to my wish list. She has a paranormal romance series, too. It's also got a good world-building premise. But the one I'm talking about is the Kate Daniels UF series. The first book isn't quite as strong as the ones that follow, IMO: www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Kate-Daniels-Book-ebook/dp/B000SEH16E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1393277380&sr=8-3&keywords=kate+daniels |
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