So had a some fun for the last few days with one of Larry Niven's fantasy titles, this one is part of his Magic Goes Away series, which also the first novel (actually a novella) called, obviously, "The Magic Goes Away".
In the world there was magic, but then the mana that moved the world ended up being used by masses of very selfish and short-sighted magicians, and it causes the magic to go away. Powerful spells become futile, and an Achaean named Orolandes who, with only half a sword, goes on a quest to search for the lost power.
But the gods and Atlantis are now dead. Creatures of the spirit, even the centaurs and unicorns are dying. And every sparkling thing will soon be gone from the entire where only the clay will remain. And the dumb barbarians will win after all.
I've read a few of these stories from at least a few of his collections (with some of them overlapping of course) but I never read the three books of the series. And now I've finished one of those books, and I really liked it!
It's a novella, so not a very long book. But the story is really good, a pretty simple adventure for the most part, but really enjoyable, and even funny at times too! In this, and the other stories in the series, Niven treats magic as a finite resource, or the mana responsible for the existence of magic, and what happens when it all gets used up.
The version of it that I now have is the 1978 illustrated edition. And my is it gorgeously illustrated! From the cover illustration to the black and white drawings that are included in the pages. There are still two other books, "The Magic May Return" and "More Magic". Now those I may have to keep an eye. Don't know how good they'll be once I eventually get them, but I've been surprised before!
by i-the-muso-1968