Meshing magic and technology?

[Sacred.Stone]

In the game Icewind Dale II there is a hot air balloon. Now this is a sophisticated piece of technology and demonstrates a very deep understanding of the physical forces of nature (isn't that all science is? Understanding the laws and forces of nature, and technology is the implementation of those laws?). Icewind Dale II uses a d20 system based on Dungeons and Dragons and the setting is based out of Forgotten Realms. There is magic in it, but also technology. After all, isn't smithing a form of technology? And building castle walls?

So what about mixing magic/science/technology... in a future setting? Magic seems to be used mostly in a medieval/fantasy setting, which is set in the past, when technology and science are primitive. But in future settings, it's technology sans magic.

Well what about a world where technology was left behind and magic adopted, rather than the reversal that we see?

Or a world where magic was DISCOVERED scientifically?

Now, apart from plausibility, would this make an interesting read? Would a future that is advanced technologically but also has magic be appealing to many readers?

[Sacred.Stone]

For instance, Star Wars uses magic ("The Force"; based on Buddhiyogic ideas) and technology (hyperdrive, lightsabre, etc)

[Tangential]

Any chance you could ask all these things in one place? I'm having trouble keeping track, and I suspect the bandwidth-fairy hates you. :P

As for hot air ballons, it is speculated that primitive ones existed as early as the 3rd century BC in China. The basic princilpes used in hot air ballons are pretty fundamental along a natural path of discovery. And I'd daresay that Faerun (if not all of Abeir-Toril) has a much for sophisticated society than those mentioned above.

Several settings have explored modern or futuristic settings filled with magic. Literally tons. Make friends with the Internet.

While certainly tentatively plausible, a world where magic completely outpaces technology seems improbable to me for practical reasons.

I think that it most cases a story taking this assumption would suffer from the "different for the sake of being different" flaw.

[Ghost]

I'm using this a similar concept in my main setting.

The way it works in my setting is that Humans discover that the laws of the universe are weaker in some areas of the universe, effectively allowing objects of great energy to warp space and time, producing strange effects. Oddly, this includes some mental activity by sentient beings.

In most planets that the Humans colonize in my setting, they do not abandon technology in favor of this 'magic'. Technology has become ingrained into society (it's about the year 3000 by the time they reach the namesake planet of my setting, which is located at the edge of the Andromeda galaxy), and they don't want to give up their luxuries. Instead, they use this 'magic' to make their technology better. Why limit yourself to ion or nuclear engines, when you can use magic and run your ship on a few rocks? Instead of millennia, it might only take you a few weeks to drag a star someplace else.

Of course, over the course of a hundred thousand years, thousands more civilizations have come and gone on the planet, and the current one is only now discovering how to combine the two.

[beejazz]

I also use a sort of "magic" in my scifi... itself a technological relic of another species.

It's actually more common than you think. Dune. Childhood's End. Glory Road. Wrinkle in Time. All use magic or something like it, and most fuse with technology wherever it's convenient.

[Sacred.Stone]

Awesome. Now the only question left is how to incorporate magic as masterfully as, say, Frank Herbert did.

(I think that's my problem. I read all these great authors, get inspired, and then realize that I'm standing in titanic shoes).

[Matt Larkin (author)]

In terms of games, check out Shadowrun.  It's a cyberpunk 2070ish setting where magic returned to the world in 2011, along with supernatural creatures.