Somehow fantasy got to be a hangout for lazy writers who use “magic” to get things done in the story, instead of work–and that’s the most charitable view of it. There are also those writers who use magic because they believe in it. Worse, there are writers who use it because they want the reader to believe in it.
https://leeduigon.com/2014/02/11/why-i-dont-use-magic/
There’s fantasy that’s bad simply because it’s unoriginal. And there’s also fantasy that’s worse.
Here’s another good reason not to use magic –
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43928318
For pity’s sake!
In Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “The Master Mind of Mars,” the warped genius, Ras Thavas, has quite a lucrative business, transplanting the brains of rich and powerful individuals, who are growing old or sick or injured, into the bodies of young, healthy people. Do you think George Soros would like to receive one of those transplants?
I don’t know about old George, but I’m inclined to let him have a pig brain. He’s already pig-headed!
The point ERB was making was, what about the poor people whose brains got transplanted into old, used-up bodies?