Elijah David

Last Tuesday, Amanda Bradburn asked me about my favorite magic systems, so I thought I would talk a bit more here about what magic systems are my favorite and why. What do I mean by magic system? Basically, any book, film, or TV series will have its own take on magical or supernatural power and how that power works -- who can (or cannot) wield it, what can magic do (or not do), what a given power's weaknesses and limitations are, etc. This understanding of magic, in its totality, is what I mean when I say magic system.* Some systems -- for example, Allomancy in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series -- are so thoroughly detailed that you actually have a systematic view of magic in play when reading the book. Others -- such as Narnia or Harry Potter -- leave far more to the imagination than they do to the schoolbooks; their focus is less on how the magic works in small details than in the larger story.** * It should be noted that (while brilliant in their own right) Sanders...

Currently reading: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (I've been reading this for more than a month, and I'll probably be reading it for another two or three months.)                             Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson Currently Writing: Thesis revisions ("My Friend the Fish" is next up)                             "Joseph Psalm" Mike DiMartino, one of the creative minds behind Avatar: The Last Airbender  and The Legend of Korra , has started writing a blog , and I have been inspired to come back and make another entry here. One of my friends recently asked me if I had been doing any writing lately. Normally, this would be a silly question. A better query would be " What have you been writing lately?" The truth is I haven't been writing much at all due to my thesis defense later this semester (a little over a month f...