Magic in the Future

Check out Stealing the Elf-King's Roses. IIRC, it starts on one of the Jovian moons. It's genuinely a great book.

In general, I think futurism and Sci-Fi tend to be set in worlds where stuff is and can be explained, so even though there is definitely magic--think Star Trek's transporter, or plasma rifles, or FTL communication & travel--that magic has been explained and fully understand by the participants in the world. Geordi LaForge is as much a wizard as he is an Engineer, but he knows most of the rules for his magic, and needs special materials to make it happen.

Dumb, honest question: What do you imply by "future"? Our present reality and physics but with more advanced technology?

Dumber question: What do you imply by "magic"? Recall the famous Arthur C. Clarke quote about sufficiently advanced science...

Star Wars. I don't care about midichlorians. The Force is magic.

I'd actually like to write some futuristic fantasy myself. I've been switching it up with settings lately. I find it helps keep me fresh.

Well, there's Drowtales: Space Age, but that is mostly porn...

I swear that there was another book with magic and the future, but it has completely slipped my mind. I remember there were dragons and elves, but they were the product of highly advanced technology...and the cover was shiny and reflective!

Well, the first one I thought of was an eBook novella series, Arcana Unversalis, about an interstellar empire whose ships run on magic.

I also contend that Frank Herbert's classic Dune is essentially epic fantasy with sci-fi trappings.

Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos series is fantasy with plenty of magic, but with sci-fi touches; it's implied that the world, its "gods," and the inhuman Dragaeran race are the results of alien experimentation.

Terry Brooks's Shannara series is fantasy, but apparently takes place in our distant future; the characters stumble across "modern" ruins and a few other relics of our time.

Likewise, the Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, is implied (by one character, at least) to be a future Earth split into seven Realms by a powerful race of wizards.

Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series is set in a post-apocalyptic future where there is magic, but also relics of technology.

Moorcock's Runestaff cycle even more so (I think it's fair to say Moorcock was a big influence on Lawrence) although they're a bit hard work these days.

Magic in science fiction can often be portrayed as one race's innate abilities. Star Wars had the force. Star Trek had Q, races of telepaths, Deanna Troi's empathic abilities, Wesley Crusher ...

The difference between sci fi magic and fantasy magic is possibly that sci fi at least tries to explain it, even if it is only to say that Q can do amazing things because he comes from a race of omnipotent beings.

rwm4768 said:

Star Wars. I don't care about midichlorians. The Force is magic.

I'd actually like to write some futuristic fantasy myself. I've been switching it up with settings lately. I find it helps keep me fresh.

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Strictly speaking, Star Wars takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far away.

Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories are set in the very distant future and feature magic.

As for challenges, the biggest issue I see is the newness factor. In past-based fantasy, you have your magic and kingdoms and fantasy races for the reader to keep track of. When you take it into a future-based setting, you also have to deal with the introduction of advanced technology. If you're not careful, you might be throwing too much worldbuilding at the reader.

If you're putting magic in a high-tech future, I'd ask where you draw the line between magic and science. If magic works predictably, it's another natural phenomenon that science would study, and there's no reason to separate it from the rest of science. Scientific disciplines would include physics, chemistry, biology, and magic. If magic is separate from the rest of science, I'd want a good reason why.

Spy_on_the_Inside said:

Can anyone recommend any good fantasy stories that take place in the future and involve magic? I need some material to study for an upcoming project.

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Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman, Book I of the Coldfire Trilogy.

A Game of Universe. It was published as fantasy, but takes place in the future. The main character is an assassin who can devour people's souls or something and gain their abilities. It's been a while since I read it, so I don't remember the details.

I'm writing what started as an urban fantasy novel, but set in the distant future. It takes place in a type III civilization. For the most part, people don't believe in magic (same as many urban fantasy novels), but my main character is a fox shapeshifter. Of course, she wants to steer clear of any medical facilities, in case they want to study her non-human DNA. I also have a couple psychic characters and a mage.

When creating the world, I treated it like world building for urban fantasy. For the most part, people don't seem to have an issue with magic in the modern day. Sometimes magic interacts with technology, sometimes it doesn't. So I just fast forwarded the technology and I've tried to draw very clear lines between what's magic, what's science, and what happens when they interact.

Locke said:

Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman, Book I of the Coldfire Trilogy.

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Forgot about that one... interesting take on "magic" as a natural force on a distant planet, though I thought the trilogy itself fizzled out at the end.