Fantasy Readers: I have a few questions (a survey, if you will) about magic, if you want to answer them?

Question

You can pick more than one answer if you'd like, but ONLY if there are more than two choices to a question.

1.) Do you prefer:
A. Magic explained. As in, the reason of how magic is possible is explained in the book. You have good reasoning for it to be possible in the fantasy world or on Earth.
B. Magic left unexplained. You have no idea how magic is possible, it's just there. But the bok isn't really affected by this.

2.) Do you like it when a book has:
A. More than one type of magic present. (By "magic types" I mean: Dark magic, Light magic, Elementals, Witchcraft, Wizardry, etc...)
B. Only one kind of magic present.

3.) ___ of the main characters can use magic:
A. All
B. Some
C. None
D. All but the protagonist

4.) Do you prefer it when:
A. The Protagonist has more powerful magic than the other characters
B. The Antagonist has more powerful magic than the other characters
C. The Protagonist and the Antagonist both have equally powerful magic, but their magic power separately is still stronger than the rest of the characters.
D. All of the characters have equally powerful magic.
E. The protagonist has no magical power, but other characters do.

5.) Your favorite kind of magic is:
A. Witchcraft
B. Wizardry or Sorcery
C. Dark Magic
D. Light Magic
E. Elementals
F. None of the above (if you chose this one, what kind of magic IS your favorite?)

6.) What is your favorite kind of magical accessory?
A. Wands
B. Broomsticks
C. Fairy Dust
D. A piece of jewelry or a gemstone
E. Something abstract (a dream, a thought, a memory, a wish, a voice, etc...)
F. A certain area (magical fountain, meditation room, etc...)

Thanks!

Answer 1

1.) Do you prefer:

A. Magic explained. As in, the reason of how magic is possible is explained in the book. You have good reasoning for it to be possible in the fantasy world or on Earth.



2.) Do you like it when a book has:

A. More than one type of magic present. (By "magic types" I mean: Dark magic, Light magic, Elementals, Witchcraft, Wizardry, etc...)





3.) ___ of the main characters can use magic:

B. Some





4.) Do you prefer it when:



B. The Antagonist has more powerful magic than the other characters



5.) Your favorite kind of magic is:



B. Wizardry or Sorcery





6.) What is your favorite kind of magical accessory?



D. A piece of jewelry or a gemstone

Answer 2

1) A. Explained as to how it works--how one uses it--but not taking a scientific analysis of it.



2) A. The more magic, the more creative. Just as there are many people so will there be many uses for magic.



3) Sometimes A, mostly B. Not everyone would need or necessarily want magic.



4) Usually B, but E also works. It doesn't make it easy if the protagonist is more powerful than the antagonist, but usually they have their own strengths.



5) All of the above. The more creative, the better, as always.



6) All of the above, save for B. Broomsticks would not be a comfortable flight.

Answer 3

-1. If this is for a book you're writing or planning to write, it doesn't matter what we think is cool. Write about a magic system or systems that interests you. It'll take months or years to finish a book. There's no point in spending all that time on something just because other people said they liked it.



0. And you're not going to get an accurate picture of what people want by asking here anyway. Look up "selection bias" to see why not.



1. In general, I prefer some explanation of where magic comes from and how it works. It keeps the author honest. Magic that's never explained is capable of anything and can solve any problem.



2. No preference about number of types. Just make sure all of them have a reason for being in there, and all of them are recognisably distinct from one another.



3. Who should be able to use magic? It depends on what type of story you want to tell.



4. No preference, though A usually leads to a dull and predictable story, since the protagonist can whip anybody who opposes him.



5. Most of those terms have been used so many ways by so many writers that they've all but lost their meaning. So I'm going for F, magic that the author has thought about and which forms an essential part of the story, rather than being bolted on. That is, if you took the magic out, the story wouldn't work.



6. Oh come on... now you're really writing fantasy by numbers. I'll go for E, simply because the magic in my fantasy novel is "the right thoughts in the right order."

Answer 4

1.) Do you prefer:



A. Magic explained. As in, the reason of how magic is possible is explained in the book. You have good reasoning for it to be possible in the fantasy world or on Earth.



2.) Do you like it when a book has:



A. More than one type of magic present. (By "magic types" I mean: Dark magic, Light magic, Elementals, Witchcraft, Wizardry, etc...)



3.) ___ of the main characters can use magic:



B. Some



4.) Do you prefer it when:



C. The Protagonist and the Antagonist both have equally powerful magic, but their magic power



5..) Your favorite kind of magic is:



E. Elementals



6.) What is your favorite kind of magical accessory?



A. Wands

Answer 5

1.) Do you prefer:

A. Magic explained. As in, the reason of how magic is possible is explained in the book. You have good reasoning for it to be possible in the fantasy world or on Earth.



2.) Do you like it when a book has:

B. Only one kind of magic present.



3.) ___ of the main characters can use magic:

A. All



4.) Do you prefer it when:

D. All of the characters have equally powerful magic.



5.) Your favorite kind of magic is:

C. Dark Magic



6.) What is your favorite kind of magical accessory?

E. Something abstract (a dream, a thought, a memory, a wish, a voice, etc...)

Answer 6

1) B - I always look at the example of Star Wars for this. In the original trilogy you are told about The Force - no explanation, it just exists. Then you get the prequel trilogy where they explain it, and it angered everyone to the extent that many fans just pretend it never happened. I've read many fantasy novels, most of which have magic of some kind in them. I think there is an understanding in fantasy fiction that magic exists, and thus you don't need to devote much time to explain WHY and HOW it is there. Magic is supposed to be mystical and mysterious, so I say keep some of the mystery going by not revealing everything about it. If your book has non-magic capable people, you could have them question it as they don't understand it - then it is up to you whether you decide to have any explanation follow that. Personally, I'd say unless the reasons for magic's existence is essential to the plot, keep the explanation of its origins at a minimum.



2) It depends on the story. If it is magic heavy, then it could be good to have many different types, if there are only a couple of characters who can do magic then it can work with just one type. But really, that is up to you and what you want out of your story. I like both. And I have disliked both. It just depends how it is handled.



3) Generally B. I like some variety in my stories, and I tend to like fantasy books which throw a motley group of people together, all with their own set of skills. It can get excessive when everyone can do it, but it can work. And it can be good when you have a protagonist who can't. But the whole protagonist who can't who then finds out how and discovers he is the most powerful is way too overdone in the genre.



4) Not A. Unless he has weaknesses elsewhere. I'm sick of books where the protagonist is the most powerful - or becomes the most powerful. By all means make him strong in magic ability, but make him weak elsewhere. No one is superior in every field. B can be really good, but it has also been done a lot - but as long as it's done well, I'll enjoy it. C - can't help but think this too is a little overdone. But no, I would have to go with E here. I like it when the protagonist doesn't know magic (or only little magic) and it is someone else they are with who can use magic.



5) Any of the first three, but I'm pretty easy here. I don't mind how it is done, as long as it done well and sounds convincing enough.



6) I question whether an accessory is needed. If you have the ability, why do you need an object to wield it (eg. a wand)? But same as above, as long as it is consistent and believable within the context of the story, then that is fine.

Answer 7

1) A

2) A

3) A or B (i actually prefer it when most of the characters have magic or some kind of Supernatural

power, but some are normal humans.)

4) A or C

5) I like all of them, but two favorites are A and E

6) A and B

Answer 8

1. B, adds a somewhat mysterious factor, if anyone every thinks about why magic is there. Well, this is of course if the world is all magic. You say Daxter Locke doesn't have magic right? (I do my homework haha) than you may want to explain why magic or abilities are possible in that world to give somewhat a clue as to why he can't have magic and why others do have it



2. A definitely, adds more variety



3. B



4. D and E would be a nice twist to most magical stories :D



5. C or E



6. E

Answer 9

1 A

2 A

3 B

4 C

5 C

6 D ( however I prefer stuff like staffs, relics relevant to the story line, nothing but the voice and thought power)

Answer 10

1. A

2. A

3. B

4. C or D

5. A

6. E



I can't say I read much fantasy, but when I do, these are the types of things I generally like -- I will read ANYTHING written well, though. Almost anything, even if it includes none of my preferences.

Answer 11

1. A

2. A

3. B

4.C

5.A

6. D, and A

Answer 12

1.) A

2.) A The more the merrier =)

3.) B

4.) D

5.) Ahh hard.. Can I choose all of them?! =)

6.) E Makes it less cliche



You're welcome!

Answer 13

B

A

B

C

C

E



lol....this was cool.

Answer 14

A

A

B

C

D

D