If you’re looking to explore worlds where math is magic, the 10 books below are a great place to start. In the following novels and novellas, you’ll find everything from mathematical ideas shaping how time travel is possible, to stories that explore the nature of infinity. It might be the math scholars of Neal Stephenson’s work, or the computer science codes of Alechia Dow’s writing each of these books uses the principles of mathematics and its applications to shape magic in their world. It is almost impossible to summarize Anathem it’s 930 pages, plus an extensive glossary, three appendices, and a web page full of acknowledgments and. When members of one of these maths make a surprising discovery, it's up to them to re-enter the 'scular world' and use their skills to investigate and deal with. The books here all have magic systems that depend on a branch of mathematics. Anathem is a novel by Neal Stephenson about a world where monastic orders called 'maths' isolate themselves from the rest of the world to study science, mathematics, and philosophy. What makes fantasy such a fascinating genre is not just the plotlines and characters in fantasy books, but also getting to escape into an intricately crafted system where the author has spent time perfecting what magic looks like in the world of their story. I loved the book, but I felt it ended rather abruptly, and I'm left with questions as to what was going on toward the end.

These systems might draw upon magic found in nature, magic revealed through ancient texts, or magic conjured up through the laws of math and physics. Discussion: Anathem, by Neal Stephenson (spoiler heavy) I'd like to discuss the ending of Anathem. While the settings of these books may be fantastical, there is often a logic and system of rules upon which magical powers are built. How do you conjure magic? What underlies a magical world? These are the questions authors of fantasy novels are challenged to answer when building their fictional worlds. A 1 New York Times Bestseller, Anathem is perhaps the most brilliant literary invention to date from the incomparable Neal Stephenson, who rocked the world with Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and The Baroque Cycle.

Anathem stephenson