On an earlier post I used this term to describe an idea about a future fantasy novel, meaning set in a future time, not in my future. This weekend I spent some time thinking about the idea, mostly while driving from one place to another, or in the shower, or other down times like that. The idea went something like, what if a civilization developed which used magic instead of technology? I know, this has been done a million times, in just about every High Fantasy ever written. But has it been done in a future sort of way. As in Interstellar exploration and war sort of way. As in massive organic starships that are worked, propelled, and defended through the ritual manipulation of energy, otherwise known as magic. Instead of teleporters we have teleport spells. Instead of force fields we have magical fields of negation. Fireballs and lightning bolts for offensive weaponry, or maybe something else. Rings of protection instead of space suits. All kinds of possibilities here. Today in the shower, getting ready for a basketball game, I solidified the idea. What about two races, one evil, one good. The evil could visit the Earth of now or the near future, looking for their major power source, souls. Of course we would have to believe they are using some sort of advanced tech, in the Arthur C Clarke definition, that only seems like magic to us. Of course the real magic uses on Earth, who are shunned and disbelieved by the majority, will know what is going on. They might even be able to resist, a little. But we are essentially doomed, destined to be swept away as a civilization, used for our fast reproduction rate and the souls it grants our conquerors.
Enter the good guys, who also use magic to traverse space, the natural enemies of our bad guys. They don’t harvest souls for energy, instead tapping directly into the soul of the Universe. And why don’t the bad guys do this? Because they are evil, and the soul of the Universe isn’t in a giving mood as far as they are concerned, or something like that. Would this idea take off? Or would the scifi types be turned off when the M word is mentioned, even though many popular scifi series and movies use philosophies akin to magic. The Force anyone? And would the High Fantasy types be turned off by the use of space travel and star spanning empires? Or would a demand develop for this type of tale? Maybe it has already been done. I am very well read in the genres. Meaning I have read and digested a very small percent of what it out there. Want to steal the idea? Go ahead. I am sure I will do it better when my turn comes, after I have finished the many novels I haven’t competed, and sent off the many that I have.
