History PsychicPowers / Literature

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Magic is ''occasionally'' treated like psychic powers, especially subtle and mental witch magic such as Borrowing, by contrast with wizard magic, which involves memorised spells and occult implements and usually has direct physical effects (although wizards are fonder of pseudoscientific terminology, calling Borrowing ''psychoproicio''). Witches are called "the psychically inclined" in ''Literature/WyrdSisters''. Most witches, however, prefer messing with people's minds ''without'' using supernatural abilities. The first edition ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'' considers both options (and gives Granny Weatherwax in particular some powerful psi ''and'' a range of spells) and also uses ''GURPS Psionics'' to model TheFairFolk's mental abilities, noting that there's no real MagicOrPsychic distinction in the setting.

* Over the course of the series, the emphasis in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' moves, inexorably, from magic to science and technology. It is interesting to observe how the established force of magic shifts from applied magic to dealing with concepts of science: the wizards of Unseen University shift their focus from dealing with things like the Dungeon Dimensions (who are never heard of again as a plausible threat after about the tenth book in the series). "Pure" magic and all this implies shifts to dealing with more scientific concepts as a "Steampunk" ethos takes over. Even the witches discover that the more mystic and psychic elements of their craft take a backseat to applied psychology, people-skills and concepts such as pharmacology and common-sense medicine. Technomancy means magic and the psychic take a back seat and a lower priority. Even the Elves, in the last book, ''Literature/TheShepherdsCrown'', are defeated not by magic but by human strength supported by science and industry (weapons and the use of industrial waste -- iron shavings -- as weaponry).

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/DoesABeeCare": Kane has an innate ability to inspire the people around him. This inspiration works better if the person is smarter, and he doesn't have a way to consciously control it. It should be noted that the word 'psychic' never appears in the story. [[spoiler:This ability is a racial trait that helps him to encourage humanity to develop space travel, where he can {{Metamorphos|is}}e into his adult form.]]

** ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'': The protagonist has mindspeech with his enhanced animal companions, without technological assistance (unlike the handlers from whom he rescues them).

** ''Literature/ForerunnerForay'': The protagonist, Ziantha, was taken into [[ThievesGuild the Guild]] as a child because her sponsor saw her playing guessing games while begging for money, and realized that she must have psychic ability to do so well. Ziantha has psychometry, which she uses in the first foray in the book to steal information from a target without physically touching his physically isolated storage devices. She later (with the help of an alien friend) uses teleportation to steal the story's MacGuffin. She can also use mindspeech, at least with other psychics.

** ''Literature/StormOverWarlock'' and ''Literature/OrdealInOtherwhere'': The female Wyverns of Warlock are mistresses of illusion (a GenderRestrictedAbility) and have mindspeech.
** ''Literature/TheZeroStone'' and ''Literature/UnchartedStars'': Eet communicates through mindspeech and is a master of illusion, and teaches some of these skills to the human protagonist, who is effectively Eet's [[TheSidekick Human Sidekick]] once Eet enters the first book.

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* They're present as well, on a lower level, in [=McCaffrey's=] ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' books -- at least as far as humans go. Lessa is never explicitly called telepathic, but she is actually a ''true telepath'', given her ability to "lean" on people and influence their behavior. The dragons themselves are telepathic, able to teleport, and, revealed in later books, telekinetic. Dragons can sense humans with high psychic potential — this is how they aid their riders in Searches for suitable Impression candidates. People like Lessa who explicitly have actual telepathic abilities such as being able to hear all dragons' thought-speech are rare.

** More generally, telekinesis in the form of Force Magic and pure Will is present among most magically capable beings, as are various forms of telepathy — however, even lightly invasive forms of telepathy are very definitely BlackMagic, with two of the seven Laws of Magic banning them, and it is universally depicted as absolutely terrifying, with the effects lingering for months, even years, afterwards. Accordingly, the books place a massive emphasis on how terrifying mind control is. The villains of books [[Literature/BloodRites 6]], [[Literature/ProvenGuilty 8]] and [[Literature/WhiteNight 9]], [[spoiler:Lord Raith and Mavra, Eldest Fetch and Vittorio Malvora respectively, with appearances by Madrigal Raith in the latter two]] are all psychic predators. One of the villains of [[Literature/DeadBeat Book 7]], Corpsetaker, is fond of using MindRape [[spoiler: and BodySurf]] as combat tactics, the ManBehindTheMan villain of Book 11, [[spoiler:Peabody, is revealed as a member of the Black Council and as having exploited his position as the most senior functionary on the Council to use his alchemical formulae in ink to open the minds of the most senior members of the Council to manipulation, something he had been doing for ''years'', creating brainwashed sleeper agents and implanting trigger words into pretty much the ''entire'' younger generation of Wardens, leading to the assassination of a Senior Council Member, the death and discrediting of one of the staunchest Council loyalists — even if he was an enormous dick — and the deaths of over fifty wizards when he was made and unleashed a Mistfiend into the packed Council auditorium,]] the villain of [[Literature/GhostStory Book 13]] [[spoiler: is Corpsetaker and even more fond of MindRape as a ghost than as a member of the living]], while TheHeavy well back in [[Literature/GravePeril Book 3]] uses MindRape as a standard combat tactic. Hell, even [[spoiler:Aurora]], the villain of [[Literature/SummerKnight Book 4]], had some mind magic game. All breeds of vampire and most faeries do too, and one of the most terrifying aspects of the recurring Denarians is their ability to manipulate their hosts. And [[spoiler: the BigBad of the MythArc is Nemesis, the psychic infection of the Outsiders which takes over the host and twists them ever so slightly, making them into often unaware puppets of the Outsiders, and which has been implied to have been screwing around with people and entire supernatural nations from the start of the series, if not before.]]

** Various beings have some degree of precognitive ability, while all Wizards develop the Sight as they age, something that mostly manifests as intuitions and vague senses that someone or some place might be important — though they generally aren't told about this until it starts coming in, because apparently there's otherwise something of a problem with young Wizards "labelling their more appealing fantasies" as precognition. Some apparently develop a particular talent for it, the Gatekeeper in particular — who, it is implied, can read probabilities.

* The ''Literature/TowerAndTheHive'' series by Creator/AnneMcCaffrey revolves around the [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Talents]], the world's first real, proven psychics who quickly become the cornerstone of the world's economy, and later the foundation of a galactic civilization. Their powers run the gamut of those listed here, and are [[SuperPowerfulGenetics inheritable]].

* The ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' series by Creator/Stephanie Meyer has several examples of psychic powers: