![]() ![]() ![]() Sanderson has a unique gift for mechanically complex magic systems, but in terms of spectacular I really like Jim Butcher's systems in Codex Alera and the Dresden Files. This gives gives them a massive advantage over the College of Man and it's army of mostly mundanes with a few high rankers blessed with magical equipment. ![]() Remember how I said magical items are hard to make? He teaches a couple of rebel low levels who have access to an acid spell specific English Word versions of spells (one is even bold enough to magically tattoo the writing on his arm so he can't lose it) and basically sets up a little factory where the low levels acid etch the shorthand spells into the rebels armor and weapons and once they're done, he uses his Compiler spell to switch the engravings into active "God's Language" spells, allowing every soldier and wizard of the Shadow College to have magically reinforced arms and armor. He eventually comes up with a "Compiler" spell that transforms the shorthand he's using into God's Language and weaponizes it as the Shadow College goes into open rebellion. He uses this method to break the rote spells down and learn how the God's Language works and the words interact, to the point that he can create his own complex spells. He eventually falls in with the rebellious "Shadow College" and learns just enough of the Language to first experiment and eventually comes up with the idea of creating a interpreter between God's Language words and English shorthand to get around the limitation of activating the magic just because he thought of a word. The novel follows a hacker who ends up transported to this world from modern Earth. Magical items in the world are created by engraving spells into the item, a very difficult thing to do with the level of technology, and low level members of the College are frequently tattooed with specific spells useful for their jobs. It's so dangerous that the wizardly upper class, the College of Man, teach spells by rote, not even understanding the words or how they work together to cause the spell effects of the currently hundreds of years old spells, and attempting to experiment to make new spells is a serious crime. The magic system is based on writing in the "God's Language", which has the ability to warp reality, and is so powerful that just thinking the Words is enough to tap into their power. The one in Broken Crescent is pretty interesting, both with how it's presented and how the main character abuses it. ![]()
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