Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category
Who needs profanity?
Do you need to do research when writing fantasy?
I’ve read of the importance of research in many places and for many genres, but had naively assumed that I wouldn’t need to do any when writing fantasy. I mean, I’m making everything up. Why do I need to research, right?
Wrong!
About a year after I first started writing, I realized that there were some things that I wasn’t sure about. Yes, I’m making up the world, but I want it to be believable. The only way I can achieve that is to determine the natural laws of that world, which will be similar to ours in several ways, and then make sure I don’t break any of them! In order to understand some of these laws, I need to do some research.
I’ll be honest, science was definately not my forte in school, so I have no problem researching any time I want to double check a fact or better understand a relationship.
One of my research issues was related to weather and geography. I needed to better understand weather patterns, specifically precipitation, so that I could lay out the geography of my world realistically.
Additionally, one of the species in my novel is the tiger, but they aren’t quite the same as tigers in this world. They look the same, orange with black stripes, however these creatures are sentient beings and can speak both verbally and telepathically. They are referred to as the ‘warrior race’ within their world. They have their own personalities, and naturally have a social structure and interpersonal skills that tigers in our world don’t have. However, I still wanted to make sure that I didn’t make them do something completely inconsistent within both worlds. I needed to better understand their behaviors in this world so that I could intelligently mimic or change those behaviors in their world. This particular subject brought me to the round of research I did over the weekend.
I’m fortunate to have access to Big Cat Rescue, the world’s largest accredited big cat rescue sanctuary. They are located about 45 minutes from my house. Their website has some wonderful information on tigers. They also provide guided tours of their facility. I still have several questions that I couldn’t find answers to either on their website or several others that I searched, so I’m going to take a guided tour sometime this week. This will give me the opportunity to observe the tigers closer than I’ve ever done before as well as speak directly with a specialist of the species. I’m taking my camera along too. I love photographing wildlife and nature, this should be amazing!
Another example of research is geography and species compatibility. Are the species you’re creating suited to live in the area in which you place them? With the tigers in my world, I had originally intended to have them live in the desert. However, after reading about them, I discovered that they actually live anywhere with dense vegetation. Can I change that in my world? Sure. Can I do it and make it believable…maybe. I think this comes down to necessity. Do my tigers need to live in the desert? Not really. However, now I have to find another place for them to live. If having a species live in the desert is a necessity to the story, then I would need to either make another species or alter my tigers in such a way that they are equipped for desert life.
It all comes down to research and believability. Even in fantasy, you need to research your facts so that your world and it’s creatures become real to your readers.
The Warded Man
I just finished reading the Warded Man over the weekend. Before I summarize my thoughts, a random question. Why do publishers feel the need to change an author’s title when a foreign book gets published in the US? Foriegn languages aside, I’m talking specifically about British books. Both the Warded Man and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were written by a Brit and published over there. Yet in both books the pulblishers changed a word in the title just for the US. Shipment to other countries, from what I understand, used or translated the original word used in the UK. The Warded Man is called the Painted Man everywhere else. And most know that the Sorcerer’s Stone is called the Philosopher’s Stone in Europe.
I don’t get it. What is so different about Americans that we are perceived as unable to read and understand the same words as the rest of the English speaking population? Personally, I think it’s a waste of time and effort and should be left as originally published. I mean Philosopher versus Sorcerer? Either one works for me. However, it did take me a few paragraphs from HP before I understood what “snogging” was. Couldn’t the Brit’s come up with something a bit less…distasteful sounding than snogging? Yuck!
Back to my post…
The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett: This is a debut author, which is why I read it.
Warning: a few spoilers
Overall, a very good read. I liked the plot and the characters. The novel is broken into vignettes, each focusing on one of three characters: Arlen, a young boy from a rural village; Leesha, a youg girl from what I think is a slightly larger village; and Rojer, youngest of the three and orphaned as a small child.
In this world, various types of demons rise from the ground each night attacking humans. The only protection from the attacks are wards or sigils. These are drawn on walls, buildings, posts, anything that can create a small area of sanctuary for those within.
The book follows the three over a period of about 15 years or so. Chunks of time have elapsed in each one, but the writing makes sure the reader is aware of anything noteworthy during the lapses. The end of the book finds the three finally meeting one another and agreeing to journey together.
Arlen and Leesha seemed quite believable to me both in character and ability. Rojer, however, I hesitate on. The book doesn’t make it clear if his ability is a gift of magic or something he’s able to teach others. If he can teach others, I wonder why no one ever figured it out before. It also brings up what I think is an inconsistency in the book. Demons attack the inn when Rojer is an infant, yet music and fiddling were filling the room at the time…inconsistent.
The world was interesting, but not overwhelming. Many fantasy novels spend quite a bit of time describing places and cultures. There was some of that here, but not enough that I clearly could see this world before my eyes. I would have liked a map, at least, to lay out all of the cities described.
One thing that did bug me about the story were the cultures of the cities. I didn’t really get much sense of diversity or depth, except in Krasia. And the problem I had with that city/culture was it too closely mimicked the middle east. To the point where you could almost switch out the word Krasia for most any Arab country. I had expected more originality than that.
Otherwise I thought this was an excellent first novel and fully intend to purchase the next in the series, which I believe comes out next spring.