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Until I read your post I didn't even realize that I have been doing this subconsciously for years. My favorite book, while a bit childish, is the omnibus editio

Until I read your post I didn't even realize that I have been doing this subconsciously for years. My favorite book, while a bit childish, is the omnibus edition of the first three novels in the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I like it for the world building, the characters are simple but evolve over time, the settings are banal but made intriguing by the characters' presence in them, the basic idea that absolute truth is literally magic, that the fundamental language of the universe is truth and that by speaking it you can cause the universe itself to change, and that some people are given that power, and that you the reader is essentially the Wizard of Oz, peeking into the grand events from behind your curtain. But I never stopped to wonder why did Diane Duane write these novels? What was her motivation to write these stories? Mayhaps it is wish fulfillment. Wanting something to be true enough to imagine a story about it and how it would play out is likely the essence of sci-fi and fantasy writing. Taking that wish, the ability to change the universe with words alone, and finding a milieu to fit it into, a viewpoint character, and a series of events that would justify that character being trusted to hold onto such a power and use it as they saw fit would be a tall order for anyone, but if you can do it you should, right? This theme of being given power and having to show that you are worthy of keeping it also appears in some of her other stories. The Door Into Fire has essentially the same thematic concept but in a different universe full of strange and wonderful things. I just realized this is a full rant so I will stop here, but I'll keep in mind to think of asking Why the events in the stories that I consume in the future.

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
> absolute truth is literally magic That's an interesting thing to build a fantasy universe around. It makes me wonder about the author's metaphysics. Perhaps one of: -Duane thinks that absolute truth is difficult to come by. A skeptic or a fact relativist perhaps. And wonders what things would be like if it were more accessible (magic being your litmus paper for having accessed Truth). -Duane thinks that Truth is both accessible and powerful, and wants to show how important it is to take its pursuit seriously. If she is skillful, she won't be pulling an Ayn Rand and bashing the reader over the head with her philosophy--a story should be enjoyable whether or not you agree with the author--but I bet she leaves enough hints for the discerning reader to figure out where she stands. Of course I'm talking out of my ass here, not having read the books, but that's the kind of thing my wife and I debate over dinner. It's usually easy to tell which themes an author has chosen to play with, but if they're good (i.e. their story is not full of straw men for the positions they disagree with) then it can be hard to tell if they're making a stand. I'm a Wheel of Time fan. In the later books the biblical allegory comes across pretty strong. But there are things about the ending and the world building that feel very Buddhist. The author died while writing it, it was his life's work. While reading it I always wonder whether he achieved a coherent Buddhist/Christian synthesis towards the end, or if his feelings about afterlives ended up flopping one way or the other.
- BizarroLand 4y ago
  She has definitely aimed the books at the 9-13 crowd, which is probably about when I stumbled into it, so there's no Randian overtones, although there are a few hints of a gradual thematic slide away from a Hellenic polytheism towards a pan-monotheism it's never blatant or strictly wedged into a specific religion. It's a surprisingly complex piece of literature for a kids book. There are sentient White Holes and predatory Supercars becoming loving pets, polymorphing into a whale and swimming with sharks, traveling to other dimensions and planets, computers that evolve into turtles to fight the devil, who while bad (as in, destroys stars to enjoy the looks of terror on the faces of the frozen inhabitants of that star's planets isn't all bad, a never ending battle against the heat death of the universe... It's imaginative and entertaining and it hit me just the right way. There are very few books I can read more than once. I get about 3 pages in, realize I've read the book before, and then immediately grow bored of it. The "Support Your Local Wizard" Omnibus edition (Containing "So, You Want to be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, and High Wizardry) and the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Decalogue are the only 2 series I have been able to read more than once. I do have the Wheel of Time complete series in my to read group, they take up a whole shelf so it's daunting but I'll get to it soon.

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago

> absolute truth is literally magic That's an interesting thing to build a fantasy universe around. It makes me wonder about the author's metaphysics. Perhaps one of: -Duane thinks that absolute truth is difficult to come by. A skeptic or a fact relativist perhaps. And wonders what things would be like if it were more accessible (magic being your litmus paper for having accessed Truth). -Duane thinks that Truth is both accessible and powerful, and wants to show how important it is to take its pursuit seriously. If she is skillful, she won't be pulling an Ayn Rand and bashing the reader over the head with her philosophy--a story should be enjoyable whether or not you agree with the author--but I bet she leaves enough hints for the discerning reader to figure out where she stands. Of course I'm talking out of my ass here, not having read the books, but that's the kind of thing my wife and I debate over dinner. It's usually easy to tell which themes an author has chosen to play with, but if they're good (i.e. their story is not full of straw men for the positions they disagree with) then it can be hard to tell if they're making a stand. I'm a Wheel of Time fan. In the later books the biblical allegory comes across pretty strong. But there are things about the ending and the world building that feel very Buddhist. The author died while writing it, it was his life's work. While reading it I always wonder whether he achieved a coherent Buddhist/Christian synthesis towards the end, or if his feelings about afterlives ended up flopping one way or the other.

BizarroLand 4y ago
She has definitely aimed the books at the 9-13 crowd, which is probably about when I stumbled into it, so there's no Randian overtones, although there are a few hints of a gradual thematic slide away from a Hellenic polytheism towards a pan-monotheism it's never blatant or strictly wedged into a specific religion. It's a surprisingly complex piece of literature for a kids book. There are sentient White Holes and predatory Supercars becoming loving pets, polymorphing into a whale and swimming with sharks, traveling to other dimensions and planets, computers that evolve into turtles to fight the devil, who while bad (as in, destroys stars to enjoy the looks of terror on the faces of the frozen inhabitants of that star's planets isn't all bad, a never ending battle against the heat death of the universe... It's imaginative and entertaining and it hit me just the right way. There are very few books I can read more than once. I get about 3 pages in, realize I've read the book before, and then immediately grow bored of it. The "Support Your Local Wizard" Omnibus edition (Containing "So, You Want to be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, and High Wizardry) and the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Decalogue are the only 2 series I have been able to read more than once. I do have the Wheel of Time complete series in my to read group, they take up a whole shelf so it's daunting but I'll get to it soon.