One of the astir breathtaking aspects of worldbuilding successful phantasy books is undoubtedly its magic system. It helps the satellite marque sense, gives a bounds to what powerfulness tin do, and brings immoderate of the astir heart-pounding moments to the table, particularly erstwhile 2 magic powers look against each other. But I digress. There are respective basal types of magic systems you tin spot successful a phantasy world, but I privation to speech astir 1 of the lesser-known ones. Today, we’re looking astatine books with magic systems based connected art!
The quality of these magic systems is that so galore things are art. It’s a precise subjective area. For astatine its core, creation is simply a originative enactment that evokes feelings — and that tin travel successful galore shapes. Classically, determination are the seven large creation types: painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, music, cinema, and theater. But different things are creation too. Like dance, weaving — and heck, adjacent tea-making tin beryllium considered an art. Therefore, you tin accidental that determination are galore types of magic systems based connected art, depending connected the creation form. So for today’s list, not each books volition acceptable a classical creation type. But they volition each decidedly beryllium artful.
So without further ado, let’s look astatine 8 large phantasy books with magic systems based connected art.
8 Books With Magic Systems Based connected Art
A Magic Steeped successful Poison by Judy I. Lin
Art type: Tea-making
This publication has specified a unsocial magic system. In it, the characters brew beverage to get antithetic magical effects. Brewing beverage became a good creation successful China during the Qing Dynasty, truthful I decidedly consciousness similar A Magic Steeped successful Poison deserves its spot connected this list! The communicative follows a miss named Ning, who accidentally killed her parent by brewing a poison tea. The aforesaid beverage is present threatening to termination her sister. So Ning travels to the imperial metropolis for a accidental astatine winning a tea-making contention successful which the reward could prevention her sister’s life.
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
Art type: General art
Shadowshaper is the cleanable publication for this taxable due to the fact that those who usage magic tin link with spirits via creation — beryllium it a painting, music, oregon adjacent stories. They tin besides bring that creation to life. The communicative follows a miss named Sierra Santiago, who was looking guardant to a fun, artsy summer. But everything changes erstwhile a zombie-like carnal appears astatine a party, and her comatose gramps starts apologizing implicit and implicit again. That’s however she discovers she’s a Shadowshaper, and tin link with spirits done making art. The lone problem? Someone is trying to get escaped of each the Shadowshapers — and it’s up to Sierra to prevention them earlier it’s excessively late.
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Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Art type: Pigments and painting
The creation phantasy elements are much low-key successful Phoenix Extravagant, but it inactive precise overmuch deserves its spot connected this list. That’s due to the fact that it really uses a magical pigment that you tin overgarment connected automatons to animate them successful immoderate way. The communicative follows Jebi, who conscionable wants to paint. But destiny has different plans: they are drafted by the Ministry of Armor to overgarment mystical sigils that animate their automaton soldiers. But this magical pigment has nefarious origins, and the Razanei authorities is hiding an water of horrifying crimes. So naturally, erstwhile Jebi finds out, they flight with a mighty mechanical dragon and plans to instrumentality the combat close to the government’s doorstep.
Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce
Art type: Dance & weaving
Not each magic comes from creation successful this phantasy series. But erstwhile it does, it’s beauteous amazing. The main quality weaves magic similar a thread, portion her caller pupil tin formed spells done dance. We travel Lady Sandrilene aft she discovers a young lad utilizing creation magic. She present has to go his teacher. But her lessons are much important than she ever thought, due to the fact that lone by combining their 2 powers tin they decision a mysterious and magical murderer that reduces a person’s essence to nothingness.
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Art type: Drawing
Brandon Sanderson is simply a fashionable phantasy author, and his magic systems ever basal out. This is 1 of his lesser-known books, but it has a amusive magic strategy based connected art! More specifically, The Rithmatist features radical who tin respire beingness into chalk drawings. The communicative follows Joel, a lad who wants thing much than to go a Rithmatist but tin lone ticker from the sidelines. That is, until students astatine the Armedius Academy commencement to vanish — and Joel and his person Melody are assigned to assistance a prof investigate. But what they find volition alteration the aboriginal of Rithmatics forever.
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Art type: Music
Silvia Moreno-García’s debut is being released again, implicit with a gorgeous caller cover. In Signal to Noise, characters formed magic spells utilizing 1 of my favourite creation forms — music! The communicative follows Meche successful 2 timelines. The archetypal is successful 1988, erstwhile she finds retired she tin formed spells utilizing vinyl records. She and her friends usage this caller magic to alteration their lives. Then it jumps 21 years into the future, wherever we spot Meche instrumentality location for her father’s ceremonial and memories of her past emergence backmost to the surface.
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
Art type: Painting
Bitter is simply a beauteous prequel for Emezi’s Pet, and it besides has a magic strategy based connected art! In it, the main quality tin animate her drawings with a driblet of her ain blood. The communicative follows the titular Bitter, who is attending a schoolhouse named Eucalyptus. It’s similar a harmless haven for her, adjacent if injustice plagues the streets extracurricular of it. Bitter wants to enactment harmless wrong Eucalyptus’s walls, but her friends aren’t consenting to support quiet. So Bitter indispensable determine wherever she belongs, and if she’s consenting to wage the outgo for helping the revolution.
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
Art type: Weaving
Last but not least, weaving is simply a beauteous creation form, and I emotion that this novella uses it to make specified a unsocial magic strategy that has characters weaving antithetic materials similar soil and bony arsenic if they were cloth. The Four Profound Weaves follows a weaver named Uiziya, who is looking for the maestro weaver to larn the last weave. Then there’s a nameless antheral who struggles to find wherever helium belongs. The 2 question unneurotic to find Benesret — but there’s a terms for what they privation retired of Benesret, and it whitethorn beryllium excessively precocious for them to pay.
Looking for much fantastical stories? Head implicit to our SFF archives to find each kinds of lists, quizzes, and essays afloat of magic.