Tag: fantasy worlds

Saturday Setup: Global Mapping – Climate

Ariel Paiement

Introduction

This week marks the last post about global mapping. We’re going to take a look at climate and how that affects your map. This’ll be a shorter discussion because you’ve already done the majority of the work. At this point, you’re just going to spend a little time thinking about the climate involved in each area in your story and how that will affect your writing. Climate affects a lot of those little details that readers like to see so they can be immersed in the story. So let’s take a look at how.

Climate and Culture

You might be sitting at your computer or looking at your phone wondering what I’m talking about. You might be asking, Ariel, how on earth can climate affect culture? Isn’t it just a nice way to throw some obstacles in my hero’s path?

No. It’s not. Climate actually does affect quite a bit about how a culture develops. For instance, if your hero lives in a culture where the climate is tropical and the terrain tangled jungle, this is going to affect what they eat, what they wear, how they build their houses, and much more about how they live their lives. This culture is less likely to be agricultural because you can’t farm in a jungle without significant clearing of the land. Instead, they might be hunters and gatherers.

Let’s take a look at one more example. Say the climate is an arid, desert-like environment with one or two oases for water and a delta running through it. Well, now the situation is much different. These people will likely migrate to the river to plant crops and raise cattle because there’s no way they can sustain life in the desert conditions otherwise. They’re going to wear light-weight but concealing clothing when out in the desert sand because they have to protect themselves from the sun. But at the river or an oasis, they might wear little to nothing because the heat is stifling and it’s too muggy for comfort. Their food isn’t going to be the same as the jungle tribe’s either. They’re going to raise it themselves or grow it in the rich soil at the delta or floodplains created by the river.

Hopefully, if you weren’t convinced before that climate could affect culture, you are now. So, take some time to think over what types of climates your cultures will live in and think through all the ways that climate could shape their culture and way of life. The ways are many and varied, so have fun with it! Make it logical, but be creative.

Conclusion

I promised this would be a short post, and so it is. Really, climate is going to be determined mainly by what land features you chose to place where. The two go hand-in-hand. You can’t have snowy regions where you placed a steaming jungle or a jungle where you placed glaciers. So, the important thing you need to worry about with climate is how it affects the inhabitants of that biome, both human and otherwise. It has the biggest affect on the cultures of the lives there, and that’s what your focus should be on since you’re going to be writing about those people who have to deal with it every day, or for some chunk of time, at least.

Have any tips for what to consider when it comes to climate’s affect on culture? Drop it in the comments below! If you have any questions about the topic, feel free to leave that in the comments too!

Work-In-Progress Wednesdays #9

Ariel Paiement

Hey, everybody! We’re on week 9 of Work-In-Progress Wednesday, and today’s excerpt is from Bane of Ashkarith! The book is launching on the 31st of July but is available for preorder on the 14th on Amazon and Kobo!

~~~

Night had fallen. The workers outside were finishing up, and the candles were guttering on the table near his work. Kaidan straightened and twisted to pop his back. He’d finally pieced together all the clues to determine the location where Banach had hidden the scrolls the journal spoke of.  He jotted it down, his heart thumping against his ribcage, and then sat back, staring at it in disbelief. How could it be located there? Did this place even exist anymore?

The voice of his wife and the workers’ headman drew closer, and he listened to her talking to the man. “Respect is important to everyone in this situation, I know. So, since we’ve proven what we came to prove, we’ll be finishing up with the dig tomorrow.”

“Much appreciated, ma’am. I’ll inform the workers.”

“See that they’re careful when they rebury the remains, please.” His wife pulled aside the flap and ducked inside the tent as she spoke.

“Understood, ma’am. They’ll be told to take care.” The headman glanced inside the tent. “Evening, Master Kaidan.”

Kaidan smiled at the man. “Good evening, Leotwo.”

The man’s gaze wandered around the inside of the tent. Then he returned Kaidan’s smile and ducked his head. “Well, I’ll take my leave for the evening, then.”

The two of them bid him farewell, but Kaidan’s attention was only partially on the headman and the current situation. His wife sat down on the mat beside him, tracing her fingers down his spine. “What’s that?” She pointed at the paper he was holding loosely in his fingers.

“The location.” He crumpled the paper in his fist.

“And?”

“You’re right… It is a suicide mission.” His stomach dropped, and he wondered what they were thinking. They couldn’t do this, could they?

“But where do we have to go?” She began massaging the knots out of his shoulders.

He closed his eyes, groaning when she hit a sensitive spot between his shoulder blades. “Ashkarith. We have to go to Ashkarith.”

“Ashkarith?” His wife’s hands stilled against his back. “No one even knows for sure if the city still exists, though.”

Kaidan sucked in a deep breath. “I know…”

“The jungle supposedly reclaimed it, Kaidan. How are we going to find that?”

Kaidan shrugged. He didn’t know that either. Only that it would be one Rith-cursed nightmare to do it. “No one will trek in there, and the captains of those new-fangled flying ships refuse to fly over the spot. They say it’s cursed.”

“That doesn’t answer how we’ll find it. That just means we’re going alone.” She resumed kneading knots from his stiff muscles.

“I know. We’re going to go to the city of Arabhin. It’s the closest to the former city’s location, and if anyone knows whether or not the city survived the jungle and where to find it, it’ll be the natives.” He slumped over the table to give his wife better access to his back and the sore muscles.

“But that’s still deep in the jungle. No one will fly us there.”

“True, but we might be able to find someone to lead us there.” Kaidan sighed as his wife’s nimble fingers removed the aches and tension in his back.

“Kaidan, you know what’s said about the Faelkishians.” Zerua wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back.

Kaidan snickered. “Come bearing gifts unless you want to be eaten alive?”

She smacked his side lightly. “You know that’s not what they say.”

Kaidan sat up and drew her into his arms, stretching out on the mat with her beside him. Perhaps it was the wrong time to joke around about the dangers of the trip. He sighed. “I know, I know. They’re unpredictable and vicious.”

“That doesn’t concern you?” She traced his cheekbones with her fingertips.

“We’ll find a way, Zer. There’s no other choice.”

“We’re going to get ourselves killed.” She bit her lip.

Kaidan leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. “What better way to die than in pursuit of truth?”

She rolled her eyes, but his words drew a smile from her. “Perhaps of old age in your sleep?”

Kaidan brushed his lips over hers with a smile. “Boring.”

Her lips flirted with his own, and her breathy laughter greeted his comment. “I thought the same.”

“So, it’s settled? We’re going to go after this?” His heartbeat thundered in his ears, and his breathing became ragged.

She nodded, her smile fading. “I don’t see another option. Now that we’ve dug up this, we’ve got to find out if it’s true. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to believe that wrong is right and truth is untruth for the rest of my life.”

His gaze dropped to the small space between them. “Neither do I.”

“Then we’ll set out for Ashkarith as soon as we finish up here.” She tangled her fingers in his hair. “But for now, let’s take an opportunity to rest. I have a feeling we won’t be doing much of that in the near future.”

Kaidan gathered her closer to him. She’s right. Whatever we find in that jungle is going to turn our world upside down, and I don’t think either of us will have a chance to rest easy once we find out the truth. He closed his eyes with a sigh. The journal’s already disturbing enough. His mind drifted as the lack of sleep for the last few months caught up with him. Ashkarith. City of the dead. What would they find there? His breathing slowed, and after a few more minutes, he was out.

~~~

That’s it for today! What are all of you working on? If you’d like to, feel free to drop an excerpt in the comments below. Also, feel free to give feedback on both what I’ve posted and on the things posted in the comments. Just keep all feedback respectful and constructive!

Sunday Sub-Genres: Superhero Fantasy

Ariel Paiement

This week, we’re back with another fantasy sub-genre post! As a quick update, the plan is to move posts on this topic to Sundays as part of a new Sunday Sub-genres blog section. The posts will be every other week, just as they had been when they were on Fridays. This post is the first in that set of posts.

As I build up content, there will be some other new blog sections as well that will be posted on other days of the week. So, keep an eye out for those.

With that announcement out of the way, this week’s fantasy sub-genre is Superhero Fantasy. Most people might not think that superhero stories are fantasy, but given the elements they possess, almost all superhero stories are considered fantasy. Let’s take a look at the sub-genre.

Defining Superhero Fantasy

As mentioned earlier, most superhero stories are fantasy. However, let’s discuss a little more of what this sub-genre’s definition entails. Superhero fantasy usually involves a main character with some sort of super human ability, a strong sense of morality, and a hidden identity. Usually, the genre centers on fighting crime because, after all, that is what a superhero does.

Typically, superhero fantasy also involves villains that are unforgivably flawed. They must be stopped at all costs because they won’t stop unless someone makes them. There is no redeeming quality about the villains of superhero fantasy. Often, the villains also have a super human quality to them in superhero fantasy. Whether or not it’s an actual superpower may depend on the story.

Now, that’s all well and good, but what makes a superhero story truly a superhero fantasy? Well, the biggest thing that makes it fantasy is the presence of strong fantastical elements. Does the superhero have their abilities because they come from another planet like Superman? Or do they gain the abilities because of some strange, mystical (and definitely non-scientific) circumstance? If they do, chances are your superhero story is considered fantasy.

On the other hand, if your story has superheros with powers because of special suits or science experiments gone wrong, it’s more likely that your superhero story would be closer to the sci-fi side than fantasy. And if that’s the sort of story you’re writing, that’s okay. It’s just not the focus of this post. (Though some of the elements for writing it may end up being the same regardless.)

Writing Superhero Fantasy

With the definition of superhero fantasy clear in our minds, let’s take a look at writing it. These elements can actually be used to write any superhero story. The way you use them is what will determine whether it’s fantasy or sci-fi.

Superhero

It goes without saying that a superhero fantasy needs a superhero. The trouble is that superhero fantasy and heroic fantasy can get their lines crossed a bit here, so some discussion of what a main character should and should not be in a superhero fantasy is needed.

First off, a heroic fantasy usually involves one or more heroes, and those heroes may or may not have special abilities. That’s pretty straightforward, mostly. If they don’t have powers or it’s not one main character with the powers, chances are, you’re not writing about a superhero.

The more subtle difference in superhero fantasy versus heroic fantasy is in the character of the characters. Heroic fantasy’s characters are almost always going to be flawed. Sometimes even fatally so. Morality can be a bit of a gray area for these characters.

Not so with superhero fantasy. If you watch even a little bit of the superhero genre on TV or read comics, you’ll quickly notice that the main characters of these stories don’t have any gray areas with their morality (for the most part). They know right is right and wrong is wrong.

The bad guys aren’t going to get away on their watch if they have anything to say about it. Don’t bother trying to bribe these guys or throw them off the scent because they’re not going to give up until the villain is behind bars (or subjected to some form of justice).

This is an important part of crafting a superhero. The powers have to go hand-in-hand with a strong moral compass and unwillingness to compromise with evil, whatever that may be in a given story.

Despite their high moral code and strict adherence to it, superheros still have struggles. Often, superhero fantasy will go into the psychological struggles of the characters and will show why they ultimately choose good over evil. Or don’t if the goal of the story is to have a superhero gone bad.

Either way, superhero fantasy is going to explore who the superheros really are and what made them that way. The genre is heavy on characterization, so good characterization absolutely cannot be ignored.

Supervillains

This was mentioned earlier, but one of the defining traits of the antagonist for a superhero fantasy is that they’re a supervillain. Like the superhero, they have some sort of special power, but they’re using it for evil. Whatever their motivations, they won’t stop until the superhero puts an end to it.

Also mentioned above was the note that the supervillains have no redeeming traits. This is the biggest difference between heroic fantasy and superhero fantasy. Heroic fantasy might afford the villain some quarter by way of a redeeming quality or saving grace. Superhero fantasy doesn’t. After all, you have to balance out the unflinching, morally pure hero somehow. And what better way to do that than to have an utterly despicable antagonist?

But just because the supervillains are entirely evil doesn’t mean they’re flat. Superhero fantasy thrives on deep characterization, so if you’re going to write this genre, your readers are going to expect you to get deep into the psychological and emotional aspects of the villain. Why are they doing this? What’s their intention? What drove them to do what they are? All of those questions are ones superhero fantasy often explores.

Crime

Usually, superhero fantasy deals with crime. The superhero needs somewhere to turn his mind when he has such a hatred for evil. This comes out in fighting crime.

Fighting crime could occur in a number of ways. First, the character may be a vigilante, working without sanction or help from the local authorities. Arrow and his gang are a good example of this. Second, they might be working independently of law enforcement but with full support from the local authorities despite that. This would include heroes like Superman.

The final category is the superhero that works with law enforcement, even if law enforcement may not know about their two identities. For example, Barry Allen works for the police department in Central City, but he’s also the Flash. Not many of the cops he works with know this, but even as the Flash, he has the goodwill (if not the support) of the police department. A twist on this one that does seem more popular is to have superheros who worked with the government or in the military at some point or another. Quite a few popular superheros have done this, with Captain America being one of the better known heroes.

Conclusion

These are only the main things that make superhero fantasy what it is. There’s certainly more that can be learned about the genre. This should help you as you get your feet wet in the genre, but it should only be the starting point. I’ve added some additional resources and some examples of superhero fantasy below to help you as you do further research.

If you enjoy reading in the superhero fantasy sub-genre, what books do you recommend? You can put them in the comments. Just please ensure that you make a note in your comment if the book isn’t clean and appropriate for children since I do have some younger readers who may be reading through the comments too.

Further Reading and Resources:

Blogs:

Best Fantasy Books (This blog has a bit about the genre, but it also has a fair number of suggestions for books in the genre.)

Writer’s Digest

Books:

*= Not for children

**= Unsure of reading level; exercise caution

Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart

Jeremy Kraatz’s The Cloak Society

**Tracy Hickman’s Wayne of Gotham

**Marissa Meyer’s Renegades