Worldbuilding
Where does animal end and monster begin? Are monsters just particularly dangerous or mysterious animals? What effect would monsters have on an ecosystem? We talk about all that and more, because this week’s topic is realistic monsters. It’s time to discuss what monsters eat, why … read more »
Most of us are familiar with the enormous complexity of fantasy worldbuilding, but there’s another beast that’s just as difficult: science fiction worldbuilding. In addition to dealing with advanced technology, scifi writers have to consider the nearly infinite number of ways that human culture might … read more »
Building new cultures from scratch is a cornerstone of speculative fiction. From the fictional nations of high fantasy, to the interstellar empires of space opera, to the shadow kiths of urban fantasy, we authors are always crafting new societies to thrill and amaze. But for … read more »
We often think of worldbuilding in terms of creating entire new worlds from the ground up, but there are other options. That’s why today we’re dissecting the worldbuilding in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Her setting doesn’t have a fancy name because it’s set on our … read more »
When building a magic system, authors are faced with a balancing act. If they restrict their magic too much, then it won’t be cool and interesting. That defeats the whole point of magic! On the other hand, if an author doesn’t put enough restrictions on … read more »
Worldbuilding is a critical component of speculative fiction no matter the genre. From constructing entire space empires in military scifi to planning a good masquerade in urban fantasy, every author will need to make choices about what to include in their world and how to … read more »
The attitude here is that writers should tread lightly with marginalised cultures that they don’t belong to: don’t try it if you’re not fully prepared to research heavily, to accept insider input, and to give credit where it’s due. I agree with all of that … read more »
Behold, it is time to discuss the taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems! That’s right, this week we’re talking about economies. That means currencies, taxes, trade, and post-scarcity utopias. We talk about how weird it is for heroes to be against payment for … read more »
If someone records a podcast about trees, and no one listens to it, does it make a sound? Hopefully we won’t have to find out, because this episode is all about our leafy friends and how they fit into our stories. We talk about trees … read more »
Is there any way to set up a divinely mandated masquerade in a setting involving deities from historical pantheons? The myths I’m going on don’t have a precedent for non-interventionism, as (for example) the Greek and Norse deities regularly got involved in mortals’ lives. I’m … read more »
