Well, I was able to catch that little error the first time I read it. It might be because I have some knowledgable about books and bookmaking.
The amount of gold in Smaug’s room was just ridiculous. It might have been more of an artistic licence (an extreme one) than reality. The movie makers might just want to impress the audience with computer generated glitters, even if it is extremely absurd.
[quote]And thus…in Astlan, while gold is valuable, it’s not anywhere near as valuable as it really was. This is because it isn’t that valuable in fantasy worlds.[/quote]
But there are tales of these “golden fleece,” “golden apples,” “piles of gold” and what not is typical to fantasy fare.
Also even if gold isn’t really that valuable as you say, it is still valuable. It is still isn’t cheap.
Also my point is that Jenn uses an expensive decoration for something so wasteful even if gold is valuable but isn’t that valuable. No one for example would… say… wear tuxedo when farming, or install bulletproof glass on the garden shed windows.
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So the glass. As I just said, the problem is with mental concentration.
I made a comment to Tizzy about Astlan magic not really adapted to mass production. The reason is simple, Astlan magic requires a great deal of concentration. Even just using a wand, like when Jehanna paralyzes the horses, requires them to focus and concentrate.
I bring back your comment about using magic to essentiall photo copy/zerox the books pages. That isn’t really true. The difference? Concentration. No one could actually concentrate for very long because concentrating isn’t a very exhausting mental process. Sooner or later your mind would wander or get exhausted. That is my problem with these task as copying books, weaving, and making the large glass table. They just require immense and long periods of concentration if they are really done with magic.
Using a zerox machine to copy a 300 page book might just be boring, but concentrating on copying a 300 page book is damn mentally exhausting. It isn’t really that much different kind of mental task as copying the book by hand. Weaving is the same thing. So essentially with these tasks, the drudgery still exist and doesn’t actually change, which means, they aren’t really much of an improvement as to make anything that cheap as suggested by the book.
The glass table is a bit different. It also requires you to essentially concentrate on two task at once. The first task is to keep the glass liquid (by using a magic furnace) and the other task is to mold the liquid glass flat. And you know about multitasking, people just can’t do that. Maybe that can be resolved when there are actually two or more wizard who works on the glass. Do, there is also the problem of concentrating for the whole time the task is done.
Even with preconfigured spells and tools, the need for concentration is a great barrier for doing many task. At least with machines and automation, the mental drudgery is avoided, with magic it is required and actually multiplied in some task.
This is what I keep mentioning that you seem not to pay attention to. I repeat. The problem is with the mental concentration required for these magical tasks. Our mental concentration isn’t really very reliable. Even just doing meditiation is difficult.
So you must realize the problem of the molten glass not going balistic by just concentrating on it? How long could you hold it?