Compare and contrast Magic Realism, which on the one hand treats magic as having a life of its own but also makes it subtler and/or weaker. Think happy thoughts very, very, hard.Ĭontrast with Ritual Magic, where the procedures are orderly and strict. It will frequently mistake your mind for a set of inspirational prompts. Or, in other words, reality is a Reality Warper. Particularly powerful Wild Magic may take the form of a Background Magic Field that renders reality unstable. New users may also Go Mad from the Revelation.

Another danger of using wild magic to cast spells, generally more prominent when using methods 1 or 3, is a Heroic RRoD. You either have to convince magic to do what you want it to, subdue it in a battle of wills, or accept that you are basically tilting the metaphorical pinball machine of reality. Not to be confused with cases where someone either gets lost in the underlying magical fabric of the universe all on their own or decide they like it there so much there that they're staying.Ĭasting a spell with this kind of magic is often extremely dangerous. Or maybe it's lonely and tries to get you to stay awhile. Maybe it's hungry and wants to eat your soul. It's safer, trust us.)īut if you are not so lucky, you may trip over a sentient magical force that wants something. We advise you to play with the dire wolf.

(Speaking of which, the dire wolf over there also just wants to play. At best they are whimsical, in a way that would normally be completely harmless. And more often than not, they are completely amoral. (Oct.The underlying magical forces at work in the universe, or at least in this section of it, are, quite literally, alive. However, Pierce's inventive descriptions of Daine's apprenticeship as a Mage, her riveting battles with griffins, dragons and other monsters, and her delightful, egalitarian ideals more than compensate for this minor flaw. Although this device proves effective for the most part, some of the scenes are a little bewildering.

By telling the story through Daine's eyes, she allows new readers a chance to ``catch up'' on who's who along with her heroine. Trying to make the sequel to four previous novels stand on its own is no mean feat, and Pierce has a lot of exposition to relate. The teenager is swept up in the first skirmishes of a war, and is forced to master her fears and learn how to marshall her magical abilities. Here, she tells the story of Daine, a 13-year-old orphaned girl with an extraordinary talent for communicating with animals. In this first volume of a series, Pierce returns to the world and characters she introduced in her Song of the Lioness fantasy epic.

Wild magic book 2