How might an Epic Fantasy play out, if the great quest was set in the streets of New York, or any other city?

Do you know of any books that really capture the grand scale of Epic Fantasy, but in the real world?

If not, what would you expect from a novel claiming to be this kind of book?

I'm a terrible driver. I nearly died on Sheppard Rd., Well it was fun and I'm glad I was there.

PS: I'm Completely fine and feel awesome!

Juggernaught gets his powers from a magic stone. Perhaps it is the Blarney Stone since Mr. Juggernaut is such an eloquent speaker.

The trap I fall into is details. The detail that has snared me today is wheather magic predates humans or not. Was there a spirt realm before hummans came along? A lot of magical creatures are based in myth and folklore. Perhapes they caused myth and folklore, or perhaps they where formed from the collecective unconcience of the humans that believe in them. It sounds like an important question, but I know the truth... IT'S A TRAP!

I can't deside on a setting, or if the magic is a secret or not.

I’m not much of a writer, as I hardly ever write, but I like to brainstorm ideas as a hobby. I don’t read as many fantasy books as I should. I imagine that generic magic systems are generic because many of the titles I choose not to read use these generic systems. The other extreme is magic systems so good I can’t Imagine magic working any other way. (the Dresden Files for example – thank you Jim.)

I would like to write in an adventure-laden magical setting, but I don’t see much need to stray from the norm. I’m just mussing on what I could do as an author to take a mostly generic system, and spice it up and give it its own identity.

A general rule about magic in my musings is that it is used to create rather than destroy. Wizards use their power to build things. Spellcraft is often referred to as building. Magic usually requires several people to work together to do anything big. (The obvious exceptions are the wizards too powerful to be main characters. i.e. Senior Council/White Council Wizards.)

So, any advice to help make a magic system stand out a little without being ground-breaking? and how to fairly use good ideas from books I love (like Dresden Files) without writing clones?

That one element thing grew on me. Everybody can bend one element, whether they know it or not. (how whould you know if you can bend einstinium? where would you get it? these people believe they have no magic.)

Also, each metal has it's own power. You can only bend one element, so you have to adapt and lern how to get the most out of your element's magic. Using the magic affect of the metal consumes it; bending its physical shape does not.

New metal comes from mines, or Dragons - if you dare!!

Dragons make their one metal by digesting everything they eat and recombining it into as much copper(for example) as possible. the rest is ejected as radioactive slag. Yeah... they're dangerous. Did I mention radioactive breath?

I don't know if anyone is interested in giving me advise, or if I asked a hard question. I'll continue 'cause I feel like it.

I have done some more brainstorming and decided that the magic I want and the characters I want would work best with the folowing system:

The only magic is people who can bend metal. Metal does not have magical properties. People with the ability to bend metal study the physical properties of metals. So the magic people bend metal and stab people, then go home and invent AA Batteries and transistor radios. The only thing the bending does is change the shape of the metal. One detail that is missing is the hierarchy of which metals are hardest and easiest to bend with this power.

I don't think this information makes the question any easier, so I’ll ask a deferent one.

Which would work better in this Metal Magic World?

         A) Giant golems made of copper, or tungsten etc.
         B) Normal organic animals that grow metal plates or horns.

Metal animals would blend in easier, but the titans would go a long way to make the location more magical. OR!!! Mythical creatures with metal powers like dragons that breathe magnesium flames or gorgons that spit mercury from their eyes! This last one is kind one weird but it could pan out.

If have a story idea and a title that only works if the plot is about an Endless Night. The cause of the darkness isn't as important as the darkness itself. So I need help deciding how the dark happens. It is a high fantasy, so there are wizards on the outside of this event, if there is an outside, tring to undue it.

So how do you put a city in the dark in such a way that even wizards would be stumped?