Part of it is novelty- Stories where a wizard speaks faux-latin, or draws mystic sigils, can be good, but I want something new.

The second part isn't "realism," since magic isn't real, but "verisimilitude," which basically boils down to "internally consistent and makes sense in the world."

For instance, if simply speaking Latin lets you throw fireballs, why weren't all Romans mighty sorcerers? Or if it relies on some sort of inner gift, why do you need to say Latin at all? It's not like your wand studied dead languages (this is what bugs me about Harry Potter, btw).


(Sword of Truth does try to look at the magic in terms of each book's theme, which I commend Goodkind for, but unfortunately it just comes off as "Making it up as he goes along"