Building Believable Magic in a Fantasy Book

Children have been raised to believe in fantasy – Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, and fairy tales galore. What is the attraction? Why do we enjoy the fantastical realm? I think one reason is the fairy tale ending, “they lived happily ever after”. These five little words bring a warm cozy, safe feeling. After all, don’t we strive to find our very own “happily ever after” in real life?

In most fantasy stories, there is not an easy magical answer to every trivial problem – true magic needs what all good stories need…conflict. There also needs to be a real chance for the hero of the story to fail, after all, if he can simply magic his problem away, where is the suspense of the story? The reader needs to feel compelled to feel the adventure as they enter the magical realm and join the hero on his magical quest. One sense the author must develop in a work of fantasy is the sense of wonder – stretching your imagination to places it may never have traveled before, then going beyond those limits to expand into the vastness of the “what if”. It stirs feelings within us, a familiar recognition of a realm where anything is possible and you must expect the unexpected. In this world logic is stretched, tested and redefined. Often, along the way the champion will have to face fantastical beings often with their own magical powers and qualities.

In my fantasy series, Kylie (the writer of the group known as the destineers) keeps a journal as a chronicle of the group’s adventures. It is filled with entries about all the magical beings they encounter. Later volumes will address their magical lessons and recounting of the legends they witness in the making. But, for now, those stories are being categorized and recorded by ghost writers in the Cybrarie. For updates about the series and new postings in the forum or book review blog, join the Destineers’ Fan Page.

The fantasy being reviewed by the Cybrarian this week is The Lost Years of Merlin the first book from T.A. Barron’s 5-part series following the wizard’s young teenage life. Why not click over and check out young Merlin’s tale?

The Enchanted Isle of Fincayra

TA Barron's Map of
The Enchanted Isle of Fincayra

"Fantasy opens the door to experiencing the magic that is in the world around us and more importantly the magic in ourselves. As a genre, fantasy is about moving from our world into the world of experiences beyond. By tapping into those experiences we come to know more about ourselves. ...In pure fantasy, readers on the journey discover truths about themselves and about their connection to humanity." ~ T.A. Barron

TA Barron is one of my favorite children’s fantasy writers. He wrote a series of books on Merlin as a young boy growing up (The Lost Years of Merlin). While most people know of Merlin, the most famous of wizards, there is very little known or written about his youth on the isle of Fincayra (an enchanted isle that lies between earth and sky). This series answers the questions “Where did Merlin come from and what happened to him for him to become this great exalted wizard?” Barron’s fantastical series imagines his youth and learning of magic and the very special way he interacts with the world around him. It addresses how he got his name. My favorite book in the series is The Seven Songs of Merlin (this is the second in the series of five books). Merlin must discover and master the Seven Songs of Wisdom that have been passed down from the great wizard Tuatha.

I’m currently re-reading this for the Cybrarian book review blog. It has a magical way of sweeping you back to days of childhood as you travel with Merlin, seeing him through more vulnerable eyes as he goes through adolescence and learning about the world around him. Barron is in the midst of another Merlin trilogy called Merlin’s Dragon which I am anxiously waiting delivery of my first installment.

With the numerous books dealing with Merlin, it is refreshing to see a different viewpoint, his early years.

As writers the question remains, how do we keep stories fresh – go beyond the normal storylines to keep the unique? Face it, there are clichéd storylines in virtually every genre – romance, fantasy, mystery…what do you do to have your book stand apart from the rest? Perhaps you use a different viewpoint as Barron did. Perhaps it is a unique and engaging character that sets your book ahead of others in the genre. What is that special X factor the reader looks for and, more importantly, how do we deliver?

Just a thought…