Author: z***5
Date:
Review: So, as magic is already confined (and defined) by the ideas and structure the story, I don't see a reason to place a second, arbitrary structure over that--if an author is having trouble with their magic getting out of control and undermining their story, then they need to spend more time tightening up their plot and character arcs, thinking about the symbols they want to use, and how their magic can serve those goals - - instead of producing an artificial set of rules that has nothing to do with the themes they are trying to explore. Sanderson's 'solution' addresses the symptom (an author trying to conveniently solve their plot conflicts) rather than the actual problem (the plot conflicts are so meaningless and randomly-placed that the author sees them as obstacles to overcome, rather than opportunities to have their characters grow and change). As a result, I often find that many of the writers Sanderson labels as practicing 'soft magic' actually have much more meaningful and solid s
Color: Black and White
Size: S