A confusion glyph. A symbol that said “Look away.” New York City magic. Sometimes it worked.
T Thorn Coyle, Alighting on His Shoulders: Ten Tales From Sideways Worlds [Amazon, T Thorn Coyle]
A confusion glyph. A symbol that said “Look away.” New York City magic. Sometimes it worked.
T Thorn Coyle, Alighting on His Shoulders: Ten Tales From Sideways Worlds [Amazon, T Thorn Coyle]
then it hit him, a sensation that would have been familiar to any aspirant ever graduated from the High University. The inherent magic of all undergraduates— the magic of the last minute. The power to embrace any solution, no matter how insane or desperate.
Scott Lynch, In the Stacks [Amazon]
If you held the belief, child, that I knew everything that hid under every stone and leaf, I must disappoint you. I may have my own understanding of how the art works, sharpened by long years of memory, but I do not know how it will work for you. There is a reason I call magic an art, rather than a science. I might guess, but in guessing too hastily I might influence, or even diminish, your talents—taint you with my predictions.
J Kelley Anderson, Casting Shadows [Amazon]
Even when the magic goes away, the world moves relentlessly. It’s Life, the cycle of living and dying.
J Damask, Wolf at the Door
Magic was just something people liked to believe in, something they thought they could feel or sense, something that made everything more than just mechanical certainty. Something that made them more than flesh and bone.
C Robert Cargill, Sea of Rust
“Is Jane magic?” Martha whispered to Katharine. “I don’t know. I think so,” Katharine whispered back. Jane glared at them. They went for two blocks in silence. “Are we magic, too?” “I don’t know. I’m scared to find out.”
Edward Eager, Half Magic
In magic—and in life—there is only the present moment, the now. You can’t measure time the way you measure the distance between two points.
Paulo Coelho, Aleph
This is not magic. This is the way the world is, only very few people take the time to stop and note it.
Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
Banner: Are you going to give me the old magic is science we don’t understand yet?
Strange: Has it occurred to you that science is magic we don’t understand yet?
dir. Mitch Schauer, Marvel’s Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell
Young wizards are always surprised to discover that magic doesn’t solve most of their problems.
Bill Kieffer, The Goat