The Retreat of Magic
Rather than creating their own fantasy world, many authors choose to set their novels in Earth's past. In order to explain the absence of miraculous elements, authors may introduce "a retreat of magic" (sometimes called "thinning") that explains why the magic and other fantastic elements no longer appear: For example, in The Lord of the Rings, the destruction of the One Ring not only defeated Sauron, but destroyed the power of the Three Rings of the elves, resulting in their sailing into the West at the end of the story. Larry Niven details the idea in The Magic Goes Away, as an allegory for a modern-day energy crisis. A retreat can also be used as a plot device in a non-Earth setting, such as the diminishing of the Spirit-skills in Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy.
A contemporary fantasy necessarily takes place in what purports to be the real world, and not a fantasy world. It may, however, include references to such a retreat. J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them explains that wizards eventually decided to conceal all magic creatures and artifacts from non-magic users.
Read more about this topic: Fantasy World
Famous quotes containing the words retreat and/or magic:
“I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard!”
—William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879)
“You become a reader because you saw and heard someone you admired enjoying the experience, someone led you to the world of books even before you could read, let you taste the magic of stories, took you to the library, and allowed you to stay up later at night to read in bed.”
—Jim Trelease (20th century)