Hi guys,
People often ask
me where as a writer I get my ideas from. Usually I resist saying something
like the bottom of a packet of cornflakes and try to give them some sort of
vaguely intelligent answer. But the truth is I often don't know. This is one reason I seldom tell people in the offline world that I'm a writer. In the case of
the Arcanist I do actually know where the idea came from though. The Arcanist and a companion book which
has yet to be finished were written as a response to one of my favourite
computer games of all time – Arcanum. A game which sadly doesn't seem to run on
either Vista or Seven – at least not for me.
Arcanum was a
fun role play game which I spent uncounted hours playing before finally
retiring that computer due to advanced old age and worn out keys! And while it
was similar to many other role play games of the time it had one aspect that I
found fascinating. The interaction between technology and magic.
In Arcanum magic
and technology oppose one another, with each the downfall of the other. So for
example wizards had to ride in the back of trains, as far from the engine as
possible, because their mere magical presence might upset the delicate workings
of the steam engine. Meanwhile the presence of technology might upset the
ethereal balance of spells.
This dynamic
also impacted directly on how you designed your character. If you wanted a
spell caster to run around and zap people, you needed to make sure that he
didn't learn any technological skills and only grew in certain attributes.
Otherwise you'd end up with a weak character – which was never good when it
came to fighting the big bad and winning the game. Similarly if you wanted a
technologist as your character, you had to advance only certain technological
skills and attributes or risk having his guns misfire etc.
That dialectic
between magic and technology stuck with me for many years, not least because I
realised that it is a tension that exists in the real world of the twenty first
century. One that began in my view with the age of enlightenment and reason.
Because science and magic are both aspects of two opposing world views.
Science is part
of what is often called the materialist world view. The belief – and I use that
word intentionally – that the universe can be understood. That it is all nuts
and bolts, atoms and forces. And that if only we have enough time and knowledge
we will eventually be able to weigh and measure, name and put to work
everything there is. Nothing is beyond logic and reason.
Standing against
this is the world view of the idealist. A view that says yes hey, science is
wonderful and all, but it's not everything. There is more to this universe than
those things that can be weighed and measured. That there are things called
souls and true free will. That there is an actual right and wrong and life has
a purpose. And that those who attempt to put everything in little rational
boxes are actually cheapening the whole meaning of what it is to be human.
As you can see
these two world views oppose one another directly and so for those who are
firmly stuck in one camp the other is a complete load of twaddle.
Enough said
about the philosophical side of things. I could waffle about this stuff for
hours and bore the pants off you – please check that your belts are still done up(!)
– but instead what fascinates me about this as a writer is the practical side
of this debate. And despite the fact that all this sounds dry and academic
there is a practical side.
What occurred to
me is that for the past few centuries the world view of materialism has been in
the ascendant. Ever since science started uncovering the explanations for many
things that formerly seemed mysterious, the materialist has been crowing.
Believing more and more strongly that everything is pure nuts and bolts.
But – and this
is what mattered to me – as belief in the materialist world view strengthens it
necessarily means that belief in the idealist world view weakens. That those
who believe in magic and spirits and whatever else, are little by little
relegated to the category of fools and madmen. They are considered delusional and
sometimes even called liars and con men.
As a writer the
question that struck me was what does any of this mean for magic and the
unexplained? Especially if as many claim, magic is dependant in part upon
belief? Does magic work but we simply refuse to believe it? Does it not work
because the collective will is so anti-magic that it can't? And perhaps even
more strangely – does science itself work in part because we believe in it?
It was this
understanding that led me to start writing two books last year based on the
opposite interactions between magic and technology. Both books began with the
same character in the same social position; a man with a knowledge of
technology and the gift of magic, but living in two completely opposite worlds.
Superhero fans will probably think bizarro worlds here!
The first book
was one in which magic and technology complimented one another. This is the
book that became The Arcanist. The second world was one in which magic and
technology interfered with one another as in Arcanum. That book, which may yet
be finished one day, is tentatively called Wings.
Both books
became in part an exploration of what it would mean for the worlds to have
magic and technology both and for these forces and understandings to either
work together or at cross purposes. They were also an exploration of what it
would mean for a technologically minded man to have magic.
In one world for
a technologist to have magic would be a complete disaster as it would undo
everything he strived to achieve. Imagine him building a flying machine and
have it fall out of the skies because there was wild magic in his bones.
Equally for the world itself it would be a disaster as societies could not
advance. Technological advances would be undercut by magic. Magical advances
would be undercut by technology.
Given this, and
the desire of all societies to advance, my thought was that this sort of world
would swiftly become divided and isolationist. The natural inclination would be
to isolate magic and technology with some cities and lands embracing
technology, some embracing magic. In time those with one or other of the
particular arts would find themselves forced to live in the appropriate land.
That is the
world of Wings, where a died in the wool technologist suddenly finds his world
turned completely upside down as he discovers he has magic – at the same time
as all the technological devices around him start failing!
In the other
world of course a technologist would welcome magic. Just imagine how much
better his inventions would work with a spark of magic to boost them. Consider
a gun built with both the best metallurgy and chemistry known and then boosted
with a spark of magic. That would be a weapon to fear! Or how about spells
enhanced by wizards who apply technological principles to them.
This is the
world of The Arcanist where our hero has had both the aptitude for technology
and the spark of magic for his entire life. And where he uses both to win his
battle.
Anyway, enough
rambling from me. Now you can all go rushing out to second hand stores and
start hunting down old computer games!
Cheers, Greg.
