A while back I was reading a fantasy novel that suddenly took a turn for the deeply lame. So lame that I wound up throwing it across the room. Here's what caused the book hurlage: "I am in trouble!" quoth the hero. "Fortunately I have a magic pill of trouble-destroying properties! I will swallow it! All will be well."

This reader couldn't swallow it. I was so cranky I started writing a book of my own. One where the magic wasn't there to fix every problem the hero (or author) encounters; a book where, indeed, magic is the problem. That book became The Magic of Reason. Hope it doesn't make you hurl.