In my debut novel, Fantastic America, sorcery is magic of the mind. Like most kinds or schools of magic, it has two branches. Sorcerers specialize in illusions or in battle magic. Both share some common abilities, spells and rituals.
As magic has just returned to the Earth after thousands of years, few people have any grasp of how any magic works. Sorcerers do have one advantage over other magic users. When sorcerers sleep, their mind inhabits a dreamlike version of the real world.
This is the Sorcerers’ Realm, an imperfect reflection of the waking world. It is a place for sorcerers to practice their abilities and strengthen their mental endurance. Sorcerers are not the only people who visit the Realm, dreamers with strong creativity sometimes appear in it’s perpetual night. A sorcerer can pull a sleeper into the Realm, to see into their mind or listen to their thoughts.
Illusionists learn to create stunningly intricate images that move and seem real. With enough practice, adept sorcerers can fool all five human senses. They can hide dangers from plain view, control people with creations of their imagination, or confound their enemies with projections of pure fantasy. The only limit to their illusory power is their creativity.
Battle Sorcerers use the stormy powers at their disposal to disrupt their enemies directly. Their primary weapon is electricity, and they have many ways to employ it. Calling lightning from a clear sky, infusing people and weapons with powerful electric charges, and directing bolts of electricity at their foes are just a few of their abilities.
Readers of my Magic Unleashed series will meet Alex DeLuna in the second book in the series, Midwestern Magicians. He is a newly empowered sorcerer, who has to figure out how to use his abilities. Magic changes the Earth day by day. Alex has no idea what the Sorcerers Realm is, let alone what it has in store for him. He will have to learn all he can to confront the dangers he is reluctantly drawn to face.