• iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
        111·
        20 days ago

        Tbf, in Dune all the “magic-y” bits get “scientific” explanations. I suppose you could argue the same with Star Wars and midichlorians.

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
          4·
          19 days ago

          Most magic books have a magic system that seems to be backed up by sciencey like explanations for their universe.

          I can only think of a few that don’t, like Harry Potter.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    162·
    20 days ago

    Super advanced technology is magic. Hell, regular advanced technology is magic. Just run with it.

  • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    19 days ago

    I think you inevitably face the whole “magic IS advanced technology” thing. If you actually want them to be different things, you have to have some answer to this.

    • okamiueru@lemmy.world
      1·
      18 days ago

      Isn’t it always different things? “Magic” being a different set of rules for how the world works. Technology being the things that can be achieved given the rules. And, whether advanced technology is influenced and how, depend on those rules, lore and culture.

      If for example magic is only available to some people with the ability or what not. Technology will always be available regardless.

      • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        17 days ago

        Stargate SG-1 is a great example where no matter what the magic is, it’s eventually revealed to be technology underneath - just really advanced technology. If you take all limits off science, it’s easy for the two to begin blending. They even do the “only available to some people” thing as technology: certain people share a gene with the ancient ancestors who made the high-technology, and so it recognizes and activates for them and not others.

        • okamiueru@lemmy.world
          1·
          17 days ago

          Hm. I was thinking of the problem in terms of “what is”, and not so much “what it looks like”. SG-1 is a good example, where the argument is that there is no actual magic. Its “sufficiently advanced = looks like magic” not “… = magic”.

          I interpreted the question to consider actual existence of magic. So, I suppose it hinges on how “magic” is actually defined. Where I thought it would be some kind of forces / energy that is manipulated by will or tools. Hm… I suppose this is a lot more nuanced.

  • Mikina@programming.dev
    8·
    20 days ago

    Shadowrun kind of does the same. It’s not really super-advanced, since it’s cyberpunk, but it’s cyberpunk with magic. And it’s my favorite setting, it’s such a cool idea.

  • theTarrasque@lemmy.world
    7·
    18 days ago

    Shadowrun… yeah it works

    Edit: I just noticed somebody else mentioned shadowrun aswell, well: I second that.

    • slingstone@lemmy.world
      5·
      19 days ago

      “I do think there are some things we don’t understand. If we’d be back in time a thousand years, trying to explain this place to people, they could only accept it in terms of magic.”

      “Then perhaps it is magic. The magic of the human heart, focused and made manifest by technology. Every day you here create greater miracles than a burning bush.”

      And then…

      “We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations of equations. These are the tools we employ and we know many things.”

      I love B5 so much.

  • Bhaelfur@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    20 days ago

    The second Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson gets close. It’s a setting where magic meets wild west tech, including guns, cars, and electricity.

    I’ve heard that his next trilogy in the setting will have more of an 1980s tech level.

    A couple of Sanderson’s short stories touch on space ships, computers, and magic.

    EDIT: I didn’t answer the question. Yes, I think it can work. I’m also a huge fan of Brian McClellan’s Powder Mage books. This mixes musket level tech and industrialization with magic.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      19 days ago

      The Sunlit Man is even more tech combined with magic. Read that one yet?

      What other books do you like in that genre? I loved Mistborn/Cosmere realm and Powder Mage series.

      • Albbi@lemmy.ca
        3·
        19 days ago

        The Sunlit Man was so good. I love books that have fast pacing right from the start, and trying to figure out how the world worked was so much fun.

  • Nibodhika@lemmy.world
    5·
    19 days ago

    Absolutely, there are lots of examples, but the first that comes to mind is Warhammer 40k, they have super advanced technology and magic coexisting and sometimes intermingling.

  • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
    4·
    19 days ago

    This was super common in the 1960s and 70s when hippies where the ones writing sci fi and the thought was that technological advancement would also come along with spiritual advancement to the point of supernatural powers. Star Wars, Dune, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and many others freely blend the supernatural with the technological. Sure it’s not D&D magic with fireballs and shit but it’s still magic. Further, if you want to look at a modern IP with this vibe look at World of Warcraft, where there are aliens from space with spaceships and shit with one of the most stereotypical fantasy settings you can imagine.

  • Jarix@lemmy.world
    4·
    18 days ago

    Yes. Many wireless already exist.

    Comic books do this all the time.

    And Wandavision is about as nail on head as you are going to get

    Magic is Supermans only real weakness aside from kryptonite

    Warhamer 40k

    Starcraft

    League of Legends

    Final fantasy

    The Palladium Rifts RPG

    Dune

    Starwars