By Jay Flood
The fantasy genre is one of the best genres to read if reading is a form of escapism for you. Leaving the real world to fly with fairies, swim with mermaids, and fight with dragons is magical. However, it can get old fast if every fantasy book has the same magic system, creatures, and world-building. There are plenty of incredible fantasy books, but there are few with unique, unheard-of magic systems. Here are four books I have read with the most unique magic systems.
1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
There are four Londons: Black London, White London, Grey London, and Red London. Magic used to exist in every London and all could travel freely between each. However, dark, evil magic consumed all of Black London, forcing the others to close off that world completely and only allow a specific type of magic to travel between the other three. The antari are blessed people who use blood magic and are the only ones who can travel between the Londons, bringing messages to each other. Grey London’s magic died out long ago, but King Georgie III loves receiving letters and proof that magic exists all the same.
Only two antari exist and one is controlled by twins who rule White London and think magic is power to possess and steal. Kell is the other antari who lives with the King, Queen, and Prince of Red London and loves to take trinkets from the other Londons, even though he is forbidden to do so. One day, Kell makes a deal with a White Londoner to bring a stone to Red London, but it is a mistake. The stone is a piece of the dark magic that destroyed Black London and is now going to destroy Red London unless Kell and Lila, a thief from Grey London, can destroy it.
2. The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
An Emperor found a way to save his people from a dangerous force long ago by using bone shards to create constructs. It has been a long time since the bone shard constructs were needed to defend his people, yet the Emperor still takes shards from people to maintain law and order and power his servants, messengers, and protectors. Using these bone shards slowly drains the lives of the people whose bone shards were taken, and the people are angry. Lin, the Emperor’s daughter, is forbidden to practice bone shard magic.
This book shows many perspectives of characters who may or may not be connected in order to show what’s happening on every island in the empire. There are strange magical creatures, a mysterious ship with blue sails stealing people from islands, rebels challenging the empire, drowning islands, and powerful amnesia. The world-building is very complex and there are many characters to explain what’s happening throughout the empire. Without spoiling anything, this book has many plot twists, character arcs, and a developing magic system, rather than a complete one.
3. The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter 
Two hundred years ago, the Omehi fled from their home to escape an evil force called the Cull. When they landed on a peninsula, they immediately began warring with the people indigenous to that land. Two hundred years later, the war has not ended and their society has revolved around war and nothing else. This African-inspired epic fantasy has a complex magic system involving dragons, a demon realm, and the Gifted, who are women with the power to call dragons, transform men into stronger and faster warriors, and other unique abilities. The Gifted access and draw power from the demon realm to fight their enemies. The caste system is based on the Gifted and military rank, they worship a Goddess, are led by Queens, and believe in a matriarchal society.
Fueled by a need for revenge, Tau, a low commoner, is determined to work his way up the military ranks to kill the three nobles who murdered the people closest to him. In order to accomplish his goal, he needs to become the best swordsman to ever live. As he trains with others in his ‘scale,’ he learns more about the demon realm and how the Gifted’s powers work. The world-building, magic system and societal structure make this revenge story so much fun to read. The Rage of Dragons is action-packed from the first page and never lets up. There are a lot of unfamiliar words and titles used, but there is a glossary and caste system diagram at the back of the book and a detailed map at the front of the book.
4. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
In a society where people with silver blood have god-like magic abilities and people with red blood have no magic abilities, the Silver are elite and rule over the Red, who are considered dispensable. But when Mare, a teenage girl with red blood who works at the palace, discovers she has powers right in front of an arena filled with Silvers, her life takes a turn. Fearful of what this means, the Silver royals lie to everyone and say that Mare is Silver and was orphaned as a baby.
The magic system in this entire series is very interesting. The Silvers pass down their powers to their children and train together from a young age. Their powers aren’t what’s unique about this story, it’s the fact that they stay in the family line and exist because they have silver blood, which we later find out was a complete anomaly. The revolution and dystopian aspect of the story also is not what makes this dystopian fantasy unique, but that there are so many other countries involved later on in the series who are crucial to the development of the plot.
What is interesting is that while Silvers can manipulate elements like fire, water, metal, etc., Mare and other Reds with Silver-like abilities can produce and manipulate elements. The group of Reds with Silver-like abilities also have a larger variety of abilities that don’t simply rely on elements, like the Silvers. This fantasy takes place in a futuristic North America where there are different kingdoms and borders and a genetic mutation occurred to produce Silver-blooded people, and then later Red-blooded people with Silver-like abilities. The elements in this book separately are not uncommon, but together they produce a unique plot that combines all of my favorite things a book can have. The magic system is unique considering how it occurred, how it’s changing, and how it works.
There are many fantasy books with unique magic systems that I have either read or am planning to read. It is so interesting to read books and wonder how the author came up with the concept. I admire authors who can create entire worlds and magic systems in their minds, but I admire authors even more when the worlds and magic systems are different than anything ever written before. Escaping to new worlds and figuring out how everything works is fun in itself, but when you add interesting characters and intense conflict, it’s a better form of escapism than dreaming.
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