Behind the Curtain - Writing Advice
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While I was reading a synopsis of a series of books on wikipedia I learned a new term. I'd heard of Deus Ex Machina, or God in the machine, before, but never in a literary sense. My understanding is that this is generally used as a criticism when someone feels that the author solved the key conflict in the book by the introduction of a new technology that appears without warning in the book.
Occasionally the same thing happens in a fantasy book, but there it's usually the development of a new power that comes in and short circuits the conflict. At the time I read the synopsis I instinctively disagreed with what was said, but it wasn't until quite a while later that I understood why.
The first step in understanding whether or not an author has used Deus Ex Machina is to understand why Deus Ex Machina could be considered a bad thing. I think it mostly comes back to my earlier description of the mechanism as short circuiting the conflict.
Writing, fantasy or otherwise, needs to mirror life. Granted, some of the details will be different. There may be space ships, dragons, or magic carpets, but those are just the setting for the story. People however remain the same, and that is generally what drives a story forward.
Seeing how the protagonist handles the conflict is a vital part of the experience. The introduction of some element that swoops in and solves everyone's problem without relying on the elements already present in the story is inherently unsatisfying. It doesn't reflect what our life experience has taught us to expect when the going gets tough.
In the case of the series I was reading about on wikipedia, the introduction of new powers or abilities was a fundamental piece of the story. The author gave the readers plenty of heads up that certain characters or classes of people were going to be able to obtain new powers, so when that was an inherent part of how some of the conflict was overcome it didn't leave me feeling unsatisfied.
Indeed, I think even just an appropriate amount of foreshadowing could leave the readers perfectly happy with how the conflict was resolved, and as authors who want to someday make a living doing this, that's the ultimate yardstick. If your readers are happy, you're probably not doing too poorly.