The Magic Goes Away is a fantasy novella written by Larry Niven in 1976 and published in book form in 1978 with illustrations by Esteban Moroto. The name is also used to refer to the series containing this story. Written after the 1973 oil crisis, the series is an allegory for the modern-day energy crisis.[citation needed]
In "Not Long Before the End", the Warlock, a very powerful sorcerer at least 200 years old,[1] observes that when he stays in one place too long, his powers dwindle, and they return only when he leaves that place.[2] Experimentation leads him to create an apparatus consisting of a metal disc enchanted to spin perpetually.[3] The enchantment eventually consumes all of the mana in the vicinity, which causes a localized failure in all magic.[4] The Warlock realizes that magic is fueled by a non-renewable resource, which would cause great concern among the magicians.
In The Magic Goes Away, the widespread diminishing of magical power triggers a quest on the part of the most powerful of the magicians of the time to harness a new source of magic, the Moon.
In The Magic May Return, it is discovered that mana was originally carried to Earth and the other bodies of the solar system on the solar wind, which replenishes mana slowly over time. At some point, a god created an invisible shield between Earth and Sun that intercepted the solar mana and caused the eventual decline of magic on Earth.
Reception
Richard A. Lupoff reviewed the 1978 novella unfavorably, saying that although the story "bristles with amusing devices", the writing itself was unsatisfactory; he felt that there was not a spark of humanity in the book, and that the writer used "flat", "dull", "sterile" narrative prose.[5]
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.
These card games use a card called "Nevinyrral" ("Larry Niven" spelled backwards), which reference elements from The Magic Goes Away:
The collectible card gameMagic: The Gathering (by Richard Garfield) has a card called "Nevinyrral's Disk", which is a reference to the Warlock's spinning metal disk. 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 (also by Richard Garfield) has a card called "Nevinyrral" which has the effect of giving the Corporate player an extra action each turn, but if this card goes away the Corporate player loses.
References
↑ Niven, Larry (2005). The Magic Goes Away Collection. New York: Pocket Books. p.102. ISBN0-7434-1693-7. 'Everyone in the village knows your age', said Hap. 'You're two hundred years old, if not more'.
↑ Niven, Larry (2005). The Magic Goes Away Collection. New York: Pocket Books. p.98. ISBN0-7434-1693-7. He found that when he had been ten to fifteen years in a place, using his magic as whim dictated, his powers would weaken. If he moved away, they returned.
↑ Niven, Larry (2005). The Magic Goes Away Collection. New York: Pocket Books. p.99. ISBN0-7434-1693-7. His last experiment involved a simple kinetic sorcery set to spin a metal disc in midair.
↑ Niven, Larry (2005). The Magic Goes Away Collection. New York: Pocket Books. p.107. ISBN0-7434-1693-7. 'The disc? I told you. A kinetic sorcery with no upper limit. The disc keeps accelerating until all the mana in the locality has been used up'.
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