The Magic Goes Away
The Magic Goes Away is a fantasy short story written by Larry Niven in 1976, and later expanded to a novella of the same name which was published in 1978. While these works were not the first in the "Magic Universe" or "Warlock" series, they marked a turning point after the 1973 oil crisis and Niven's subsequent transformation of the series into an allegory for a modern-day energy crisis. The setting was later used as a backdrop for the Golden Road series of novels The Burning City and Burning Tower, co-written with Jerry Pournelle, and the novel The Seascape Tattoo co-written with Steven Barnes.
List of works in the series
This is a list of publications based on the setting of The Magic Goes Away.| Title | Sub-series | Published | Original publication |
| "Not Long before the End" | Warlock | 1969 | Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1969 |
| "Unfinished Story" | Warlock | 1969 | Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1969 |
| "What Good Is a Glass Dagger?" | Warlock | 1972 | Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1972 |
| "The Magic Goes Away" | Warlock | 1976 | Odyssey, summer 1976 |
| "The Magic Goes Away" | Warlock | 1978 | Trade paperback, Ace Books |
| The Magic May Return | 1981 | Trade paperback, Ace Books | |
| "Talisman" | 1981 | Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1981 | |
| "The Lion in His Attic" | 1982 | Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1982 | |
| "The Wishing Game" | Warlock | 1989 | Aboriginal Science Fiction, May/June 1989 |
| "The Portrait of Daryanree the King" | 1989 | Aboriginal Science Fiction, September/October 1989 | |
| The Burning City | Golden Road | 2000 | Hardcover, Pocket Books |
| "Chicxulub" | 2004 | Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2004 | |
| Boomerang | 2004 | ||
| Rhinemaidens | 2005 | Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2005 | |
| Burning Tower | Golden Road | 2005 | Hardcover, Pocket Books |
| Burning Mountain | Golden Road | in progress | in progress |
| The Seascape Tattoo | 2016 | Hardcover, Tor Books; 1st edition |
Plot summary
The Warlock, whose actual name is both unknown and unpronounceable, is a powerful sorcerer in excess of 200 years of age. He observes that when he stays in one place too long, his powers dwindle and will return only when he leaves that place. Experimentation leads him to create an apparatus consisting of a metal disc enchanted to spin perpetually. The enchantment eventually consumes all the mana in the vicinity, causing a localized failure in all magic. The Warlock realizes that magic is fueled by a non-renewable resource, which would cause great concern among the magicians, as it was through their magic that nations enforced their wills both internally and abroad. The widespread diminishing of magical power in The Magic Goes Away triggered a quest on the part of the most powerful of the magicians of the time to harness a new source of magic, resulting in the events described in the book.It was eventually discovered that mana was originally carried to Earth and the other bodies of the solar system on the solar wind, replenishing mana slowly over time. However, at some point in the "recent" past a god created an invisible shield between Earth and Sun that intercepted the solar mana and caused the eventual decline of magic on Earth.
Traditional fantasy creatures inhabit Niven's Magic universe, but devolve to normal animals when deprived of mana. For example, a unicorn becomes a simple horse.
Main characters
- The Warlock – One of the world's foremost magicians. He devised a simple experiment to explain why a magician's power would fade over time, a device called the Warlock's Wheel.
- Clubfoot – The Warlock's apprentice. A Native American named after a deformity of his foot that he could have cured long ago but it would have cost him half his power.
- Wavyhill – The first Necromancer. Exploiting the mana inherent in murder, he invented necromancy. His name comes from his practice of building his houses under magically supported overhangs; when the local mana is depleted by a battle, the hillside collapses, trapping his foe and eliminating the evidence at the same time.
Minor characters
- Orolandes – A Greek soldier, survivor of the sinking of Atlantis.
- Mirandee – A powerful witch, formerly Warlock's lover.
- The World Worm – Its spine composes all the world's mountain chains, the Andes, Himalayas, Rockies, etc. It consumes its own tail, along with anything that might be living on it.
Reception
Influences
In her afterword to the novella, Sandra Miesel identified a number of influences on the setting: "The Wheels of If", The Incomplete Enchanter, The Blue Star, Operation Chaos, Too Many Magicians, The Dragon and the George, as well as Niven's earlier works, "All the Myriad Ways" and the Svetz series.There are also several references to the works of H. P. Lovecraft, such as the reference of a mad magician named Alhazred and an amorphous god called the Crawling Chaos.
Graphic novel adaptation
The Magic Goes Away was adapted as a graphic novel, the sixth in the DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel series, by Paul Kupperberg and Jan Duursema in 1986.In popular culture
These card games use a card called 'Nevinyrral' :- The collectible card game has a card called Nevinyrral's Disk, which is a reference to the Warlock's Wheel. This card roughly has the effect of removing the effects of players' spells from play, while leaving their lands intact.
- The collectible card game Netrunner has a card called Nevinyrral, which is a reference to the writer Larry Niven. This card roughly has the effect of giving the Corporate player an extra action each turn, but if this card goes away the Corporate player loses.