MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Your Magic or Mine (2008)
Ann Macela
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A math professor and botany professor, who happen to be a wizard and a witch, have an academic disagreement regarding the nature of magic. They also happen to be soulmates, though neither of them likes the thought of that.

The mathematician discovers a formula for the strength of a spell. That formula is:

(sT + Ls + LP) * Ep * R * I=S
The formula supposedly gives the strength S of the spell being cast in terms of things like "the spell and the talent of the caster" (the first term), the level of the spell (second term), etc. Even if these things were quantifiable, the usefulness of the equation is destroyed by the fact that the asterisks are not multiplication, but something else that he cannot identify. (Great!)

In any case, we are supposed to believe that this formula revolutionizes spell casting. Of course, this is the "male" approach to magic, in contrast with the more "artistic" female approach.

(quoted from Your Magic or Mine)

Their magics were totally opposite. Hers, the ancient, female, basic enchantments the witches of old must have used, literally grounded in the earth. His, the new, predominantly warlock, cerebral, flying in the stratosphere of the mind. They had nothing in common.

These cliches do not surprise me, and neither does the fact that they end up facing adversity together and fall in love. Many readers seem to really like this book, and so I cannot say it is not well written. But, I would suspect that it will appeal more to those who do not appreciate mathematics than to those who do.

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Your Magic or Mine
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Threshold by Sara Douglass
  2. Two by Zero by Garth Upshaw
  3. Mathemagics by Margaret Ball
  4. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
  5. Counting the Shapes by Yoon Ha Lee
  6. Mathemagics by Patricia Duffy Novak
  7. Phantom by Terry Goodkind
  8. The Last Page by Anthony Huso
  9. Coyote Moon by John A. Miller
  10. An Angel of Obedience by John Giessmann
Ratings for Your Magic or Mine:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
2.5/5 (2 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
2.5/5 (2 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreFantasy,
MotifRomance,
Topic
MediumNovels,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)