The Five Rings are at the very core of the magic system I developed for the book.

But before we get into that, I want to take a moment to discuss magic in fantasy.

Magic often serves double-duty in high fantasy novels: as utility for characters (ex: cast a ‘fire’ spell to light a campfire) and as an important plot device. (ie: Nature is out of balance so magic must be restored, someone craves the ultimate destructive magic, magic is the very lifeforce of nature and people are using too much of it, etc.)

A dyed-in-the-wool magic system must have a cohesive set of rules to follow—-just like the world the story is set in—-in order to be more believable. If a caster is limited only by their imagination and can cast without any drawbacks what-so-ever, it becomes too tempting for the author to use magic as an easy way out of difficult situations. And, worse, makes characters seem invincible. And, perhaps worst of all, they lose much of their humanity, right along with their ability to connect with the reader on any level. Read the rest of this entry »