I agree with you here. I couldn't quite place what this book reminded me of until your description. It has been a long time since I played Dungeons & Dragons. However, you are absolutely right about how everything sort of mimics. It even has its own Spirit World. It was between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane back when I played. I do like the cohesiveness. Thank you for the brain smack so to speak. It helped to jog my memory on something which has been driving me crazy since I finished the book.a_r_egerton wrote: ↑05 Oct 2020, 09:02 There are also different types of magics, and I find the division to be roughly analogous to that used in some of the Dungeons and Dragons games. Tysz describes three worlds: Caromentis, Cosmos (the physical or "real world"), and Alitheia (the spiritual world). Most of the magic-users are mages who get their powers by somehow tapping into the energies from Caromentis. Cosmites are people who can magically tap into the energies of the physical world, much as a mage can tap into Caromentis. They're described as being extremely rare, and they may be comparable to D & D's psionicists. At least some of the priests, including the Eiodi, have magical abilities, and I see them as being akin to D & D's clerics.
As for the magic vs science game, I don't feel they are battling here. I do think magic is a little more prominent and "in your face" more throughout the book. I see the science side of Voulhire as more akin to just professions.