The Magic Goes Away

In The Magic Goes Away (1978), the world's mana is dwindling, magic is failing, and a group of sorcerers (and one Greek soldier) bands together to carry out an audacious plan to find a new source of this magic-fueling resource. I am most familiar with author Larry Niven as a writer of hard science-fiction, so it was interesting to read a story of his set firmly in the realm of fantasy. The tale is an interesting and quick read, and while it is a fantasy tale, Niven does not adhere to all of fantasy's standard tropes; indeed, he subverts some of them, and there is evidence of a more rational mode of thinking bleeding into the story, despite all of the magic, gods, and monsters. The 1978 Ace trade paperback that I read is gorgeously and profusely illustrated by Estaban Maroto, one of my all-time favorite illustrators, which made the experience all the more enjoyable.