Help me remember a book!

February 20, 2006 7:35 PM

NameThatBookFilter: Sci-Fi/Fantasy with an interesting way of gaining magical powers (not safe for the easily squeamish inside).

On this planet (for some reason I think it was specific to a planet, but I may be wrong) individuals gained power by sacrificing things that are dear to them. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power. In the (distant?) past on this planet one man sacrificed his family that he loved dearly by vivisecting them and thus gained great power. Unfortunately I can't remember any more than that ...
Anyone with any clue to the book? Its driving me nuts!

posted by forforf to media & arts (8 comments total)

This is a long shot, because I don't have the book handy to check and the specifics of sacrifice to gain magical powers aren't mentioned in the reviews I just googled, but could it be When True Night Falls, by C.S. Friedman?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 7:49 PM on February 20, 2006

Almost sounds like Full Metal Alchemist in a way, but I doubt that was based on a book ;)
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:55 PM on February 20, 2006

It's the C.S. Friedman trilogy that includes Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, and Crown of Shadows.
posted by jsteward at 8:08 PM on February 20, 2006

Yeah, Black Sun Rising was the first book. I was sooooo close.....
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:19 PM on February 20, 2006

Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:27 PM on February 20, 2006

I haven't read whatever story this is, but I do remember reading a book years ago about writing SF written by Orson Scott Card in which he describes a theoretical system of magic that works exactly like this.
posted by camcgee at 10:56 PM on February 20, 2006

Yeah, Card describes coming up with the idea in a class, and then using it as the basis for Hart's Hope.

But my students were just as perverse as I was. Wouldn't you get even more power if you killed a child?

posted by Astro Zombie at 11:20 PM on February 20, 2006

Awesome, that was the book, and BoP you still get kudos because you were close enough so google came back with something useful.

And a consolation prize to Astro and cam ... as a fan of Card's writing I'll have to check out Hart's Hope now.
posted by forforf at 4:50 AM on February 21, 2006