Creating my magical system was probably one of the most entertaining parts of writing the book. I had an opportunity to go through all of the different books, movies, TV shows and other media that have depicted magic throughout my life, and use all of them to help form my system. I could cherry pick the things I liked. I could fix the things I never liked. And I could let my imagination flow.

As mentioned before, Terry Goodkind has been a big inspiration for me. His book, Soul of Fire has been one of my favorite books since the moment I read it. Among other readers, I would not be surprised to find it near the bottom of the list. But for me… it was one of his best ever. The reason: Magic. That book delved into the intricacies of magic more than most of the other books. And even better, it discussed an aspect of magic that I had always seen, but few really bring up.

Art.

Magic is not just a set of ingredients, or a list of requirements. Do this, then chant this, one eye of newt, two pigs feet, draw a circle of blood, etc… Sure, those things work. Those are legit spells. But… at some point, someone had to create that spell. The world did not come into existence with those spells already created. No, someone had to have the artistic eye, and the creativity to create that spell the first time around. And they likely went through several different versions before the “modern” version was finally figured out, perfected, and eventually written down in a book, and passed down through the generations.

That is what I wanted my Magical system to have. Art. Not just pre-made spells. I wanted the beauty and wonder of new things. The danger and intrigue that comes with not knowing if the next spell will work or not.

But we have to start slow. So in the first book, we mention the art, and we have a few examples of it. But mostly, we have training with the safe, “old” spells. The tried and true. With some innovative stuff thrown in. Just enough to wet your whistle for more stuff down the road.

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