Blending Magic and Technology in Fiction: How War of the Umanomagi Was Born

The very first book I ever read that blended magic and technology left a mark I’ve never been able to shake. I can’t remember the title—just the image of an astronaut crashing onto a world brimming with magic. That collision of science and sorcery cracked something open in my imagination. I knew, even back then, that I wanted more of that.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that moment planted the earliest seed of what would one day become War of the Umanomagi.

The First Spark: Discovering the Magic-Tech Collision

When I first stumbled upon stories where technology and magic coexist, I was instantly hooked. The mix of these two opposing forces creates something electric—a universe where anything can happen, where logic wrestles with mystery, where the precise gears of machinery grind against the wild pulse of magic.

It’s not just a fun gimmick. Done well, it becomes a powerful storytelling engine.

But back in the 90s, I had no idea how to write any of this. I was too busy gaming, running endless campaigns as a GM. In the world of D&D, you can throw monstrous threats at players all day long… but the moment you show them the picture, they usually know exactly what they’re dealing with and how to beat it.

I needed new monsters.

Unexpected monsters.

Monsters no one had ever seen before.

So I started worldbuilding. (I didn't even know it was called that back then!)

The Six Kingdoms Are Born at the Gaming Table

That’s when I moved to the Hero/Champions system. It gave me structure—actual strengths, weaknesses, limits, and flaws. Characters became more human. More grounded. More real. The system forced me to think deeply about every creature, every hero, every villain.

And from that, the Six Kingdoms were born. A world where magic ruled. Where technology lurked on the outskirts as a dangerous, corrupting force. Where the two were never meant to coexist peacefully.

In this world, every monster my players encountered was 100% original—I drew every one of them, no guidebooks to grant spoilers, no diagrams. They had no idea if they were about to steamroll the threat or barely crawl away with the healer dragging them to safety. Usually, they survived. They were the heroes, after all. (Well… most of the time.)

The players helped me shape the world. They questioned everything—kingdom politics, divine motivations, magical laws—and through answering them, the deeper lore began to form.

Then life shifted, as it tends to. The gaming table went quiet. But the stories didn’t.

Cricket Reading War of the Umanomagi

They kept swirling in my head, so I started writing them down.

From Characters to Chronicles

My first leap into writing was The Cirque di Umanomagi, centered around the charismatic leader Michael York. I resurrected my old gaming character, Cricket, and brought him back to life in the new narrative.

Tapps came next, originally played by my friend Mike (AKA Lumpy) back in the Navy. I’ve always hoped I captured his cat-man swagger correctly.

These characters were my doorway back into the Six Kingdoms… and eventually, the idea for the Tech War blossomed.

Where many stories try to fuse magic and technology, I wanted them at each other’s throats. Not partners. Not allies. But enemies.

Opposing forces that could never coexist. And the nuclear holocaust was my way to do that.

Why Magic and Tech Fascinate Us

What makes this combination so compelling—whether the two are fused or at war—is how it balances the familiar with the fantastical. Technology gives us logic, structure, and grounding. Magic gives us wonder, mystery, and limitless possibility.

Some authors choose harmony. Others choose conflict.

And honestly, I stand humbly in the shadow of so many greats who’ve played with this dynamic long before me:

• The Stormlight Archive – where ancient magic and developing technology reshape a world in conflict

• Shadowrun – an iconic cyberpunk fusion of hackers, megacorps, and full-blown magic

• Mortal Engines – steam-powered predator cities rumbling across a world with relics of the arcane

• The Iron Druid Chronicles – modern tech colliding with old gods and druids

• The Bone Season – clairvoyance battling oppressive high-tech surveillance

• Dresden Files – magic and technology literally short-circuiting each other

These authors craft incredible worlds, and I can only hope to mirror even a fraction of their mastery.

Building a World Where Magic and Technology Coexist… or Collide

Whether blended or at war, worldbuilding is the backbone of stories like this. You need clear rules:

• Where does magic come from?

• How does technology function in its shadow?

• How does society adapt?

• Who benefits—and who suffers?

• Who fears magic? Who fears machines?

When I started shaping 500 A.H., I asked all of these questions and then tied the answers into the kingdoms, religions, classes, and cultures of the world.

And while many stories explore the seamless hybrid of magic and tech—spell-powered engines, enchanted circuitry, arcane computers—my world chose the opposite: Magic views technology as corruption. Technology views magic as unknown chaos. Both fear the other. The tension and jealousy

between them is the heart of the story.

Why Readers Love This Blend

Readers who enjoy both sci-fi and fantasy want something bold—something that stretches the imagination but feels emotionally true. Magic vs. technology (or magic + technology) does exactly that.

It lets us explore themes like:

• tradition vs. progress

• nature vs. machinery

• intuition vs. logic

• power vs. responsibility

And as I continue expanding the 500 A.H. universe, I hope readers feel the same sense of wonder I felt when I first saw science crash into sorcery on the page.

Looking Ahead: Writing in the Shadow of Giants

I’m not trying to out-do the classics, or the modern legends, or the works that shaped my imagination. If anything, I’m walking behind them humbly, hoping to contribute my own small spark to a genre I love.

War of the Umanomagi grew from:

• a forgotten book with an astronaut and magic

• late nights at gaming tables

• homemade monsters

• great friends who played great characters

• the Hero system

• and years of imagining magic and tech at war

And now, after all this time, the world finally has a place where those stories can thrive.

Because sometimes the best worlds—the ones worth writing—are born from the sparks left behind by the storytellers who came before us.