the cost of magic

[dfordoom]

One of the things I liked about Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana, and also most of Tim Powers’ fantasy novels, is that magic is either difficult to do or it imposes a heavy cost on the magic user. This has the advantage of making magic less than all-powerful and therefore means the author cannot easily use magic to get out of plot difficulties

Comments

[yamapi_luver]

Tamora Pierce's Emelan series is great for that. Tris learns real fast not to mess with stuff too big for her and it's frequently brought up that mages can't do magic willy nilly it takes energy and it takes time for them to re-fuel. Queen Tammy <3

[imhilien]

Mercedes Lackey's 'Brightly Burning' is about a young man with a too-powerful firestarting gift that is difficult to control... but with a war on, he's seen as the perfect WMD.

[vierran45]

In Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series using magic longterm causes brain damage. The newly apprenticed main character is cautioned to use or train his magic for only a certain amount/day so his brain won't become a shrivelled cauliflower.