World Building

[Minion #6]

A few friends and I are working on a sort of collaborative writing thing, and I've been tasked with the basic concept and world building. I figured I needed the frank, impartial opinions only total strangers can give. So, without further ado...

Magic is real. It's not any of this witches and wizards business, nor has it got vampires or werewolves. Just normal people, who have learned to percieve the world as it really is. For the Discworld readers out there, think of it as knurdness as a power source. By interacting with the Real World, they can affect the Visible World. If you can percieve the Real World, you can see it anywhere - photos, stock footage, movies.

Example
A good example would be what could be seen in the Real World during a certain German leader's WWII speeches at the Reichstag. In the Visible World, we have the image that's familiar to history students around the world. In the Real World, we see a cloudy vortex, occasionally showing dark red flashes of lightning, and a low rumbling sound permeates anything.
(Note that this is only an example, rather than anything plot critical)

The Real World is strongly effected by the mental state of the humans in the area, making some places dangerous, and occasionally certain areas that pass a threshold start to leak into the Visible World - whether it's called a ghost, UFO, chupacabra, or what have you. The characters will be part of an agency dedicated to patching these leaks, and monitoring overall activity in the Real World.

Any comments?

[leakingpen]

Its been done? For one, take a look at Heinlein's Magic Inc. As well as Waldo. Theres dozens of shorts with a similar skein. calling it the hidden world, the spirit world, the astral plane, ect. Now, theres nothing wrong with it, its a good setting, just don't go intoit thinking its NEW.

Hmm, also, check out License: Invoked.

[Minion #6]

Everything's been done, but doing things well never gets old. Nor, judging by the quality of your average book, does doing things badly. But my point is that (people such as yourself excepted) it isn't something that has reached a huge readership. That, and it's not really for any serious purpose. It's 'cos we felt like doing something.

[leakingpen]

well, not the CURRENT readership. Several of the novels and stories mentioned are hugo and nebula award winners. Waldo and Magic inc (two novellas that were packaged together) sold better than stranger in a strange land, in their day. But you have a point. Mine was just, don't treat it as a brand new idea, and read where other people went before with it, so you can avoid mistakes they made.

From the sounds of things, just how widely known is it that magic is real? it impacts people a small amount daily, or people know about it the way they know about atomic bombs, as a concept? how likely would an average person be to do what a member of this group says (do the public even know they exist, or are they mib like)

[Minion #6]

I'll be sure to read those ones you recommended. Never read a Hugo winner I didn't like.

In terms of general public knowledge, I'd say that few uninvolved people are aware, and the groups that are aware have no overall societal influence yet. Basically, even those who know what's going on don't understand 90% of it yet, and your average person just blocks it out with their weirdness censor.