I read fantasy, though less so now, mainly because it is groups of people banding together to achieve a goal they knew was just or worthwhile (generally saving the world, defeating the evil forces). The actual magic was just a spice that leant an air of mystery, and unpredictability (so I am more a fan of George Martin, David Gemmell and Guy Gavriel Kay rather than Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings. Robert Jordan lost me when the good guys split up into bickering factions).
I’m just disappointed that AI is at the herding cats stage (myself included), when trying achieve consensus on how to actually proceed. No party of merry adventurers are we.
With regards to the allure of magic compared to science, magic tends to need a lot less in terms of support mechanisms. The inability to get precisely machined parts would hamper your attempts to build a transportation device, where magic, depending upon the sub-genre, can do just about anything with anything, so is much more empowering and self-sufficient.
I read fantasy, though less so now, mainly because it is groups of people banding together to achieve a goal they knew was just or worthwhile (generally saving the world, defeating the evil forces). The actual magic was just a spice that leant an air of mystery, and unpredictability (so I am more a fan of George Martin, David Gemmell and Guy Gavriel Kay rather than Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings. Robert Jordan lost me when the good guys split up into bickering factions).
I’m just disappointed that AI is at the herding cats stage (myself included), when trying achieve consensus on how to actually proceed. No party of merry adventurers are we.
With regards to the allure of magic compared to science, magic tends to need a lot less in terms of support mechanisms. The inability to get precisely machined parts would hamper your attempts to build a transportation device, where magic, depending upon the sub-genre, can do just about anything with anything, so is much more empowering and self-sufficient.