How deep should "magic" be explained?

[The Rivan King]

I'm new here so don't take anything I say as meaningful or world changing knowledge. Magic is a science and all sciences follow predefined laws, no wizard should be able to bring someone back from the dead or the change a whole world with a click of his fingers. I usually right magic as a parallel with science in my worlds, they work in harmony to get further than either could on there own. Just my opinion.

 

[Malik]

The trick, which I still have trouble with, is delineating the rules of the magic system without boring the reader to tears via a massive info-dump. A consistent use of one type of powerful magic in particular (I still don't think of them as spells) occurs throughout my first book, and toward the end I use it to accomplish a major scene, but the MC's argue over why they can't just use the trick to make the whole process simpler. As they're arguing, they figure it out on their own, and we learn there are limits. Those limits, looking back, are consistent throughout the story. So I leave it at that.

I never once have a sorcerer say, "Well, as you know . . . ." Because frankly, I don't think the sorcerers quite know.

Some sorcerers are powerful. Some aren't. There are levels of ability, and I hint at study and talent but I never, ever, get into the mechanics other than to show that it's physically grueling. One of the MC's concludes that the reason some powerful sorcerers are gimpy and cachexic is that big magic wrecks their bodies.

I think of it like having massive amounts of energy running through your body -- think about the energy/mass relationship (physics is physics), and then imagine the stress on your tissues and bioelectric system from channeling that kind of power. Part of wielding big magic is learning how to protect yourself from the damage it causes. Again, I don't mention this, but that's why my world doesn't have 10-year-old kids calling lightning or teleporting across the country on a whim; that amount of energy would kill them outright.

Some people with magical talents are scared of big magic, so they never go there. They become healers, they learn to speak with animals, they become telepaths (my MC's learn to speak the local language by having a telepath with them at all times for the first few months), they might find a trade or career where they can quietly use their gift without getting themselves into trouble.

The villain is a sorcerer in his forties, but he spent his youth on Earth doing what amounted to parlor tricks compared to what he can do in the world where the book happens. One of the sorcerers says that there's a mystic power that they tap into, and it's weak on Earth but plentiful in their world. Because of this, the sorcerer from Earth hasn't had the really hard mileage put on him, yet. He's still very fit. And very powerful.

I can leave it at that without getting into midichlorians or what have you. In fact, there's more about magic in this post than I explain in the entire first book.

Because if you explain magic, it's not magic anymore.

 

[Addison]

You don't have to explain the magic to a T. Just make it clear that magic isn't free and the basics of the who, how and what's so it's realistic to the readers.

 

[DassaultMirage]

Much thanks to everyone. However, I may be pushing my luck but I would totally love y'all if you gaze your eyes on this: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/world-building/10232-divine-arts-concrete-ish-summary.html

 

[Shaggy-Donahugh]

The Laws of Magic...
Hmm. I suppose it really depends on the story doesn't it?
For example, In the HP universe, it accomplishes all sorts of things and is basically limited by the user's imagination (there are a few basic laws, but they are never really explained because they never become truly relevant to the plot).
In the Eldest series magical practitioners are limited by the amount of energy in both their own bodies and the bodies of those that they could potentially draw their energy from (anything beyond that ends up killing them).
One of these author's goes into great detail in what kind of magic is possible or not possible, and the other establishes her rules throughout the course of seven books. So, in the end, it all just really depends on how much of a role the rules of magic in your universe effect the characters of your universe. Is it a pretty easily understood thing that just comes naturally? Then the reader will understand the rules through the story (barring any gaping plot holes), and if it's something that must be learned from the beginning then take the time to really flesh it out.