I have said on more than one occasion that I don’t really
believe in genres. I write what I want to write and I worry about selling it
later. That’s true. But it’s not a complete truth. There are differences in the
genres. Both from a writer’s perspective and in the market.
So now that I’ve offered up a paradox, I’ll try to explain.
I do not consider what genre a story is when I’m writing
it besides the necessary aspects. If I’m writing a horror story set in the
modern world, it will, by nature, require less world building than a straight
fantasy novel. Why? Because the world is already there. I might tweak it a bit,
adding an occasional ghost or zombie or demon, but the world remains the same
as the one I live in.
In a fantasy setting such as SEVEN FORGES, there’s a
great deal more effort involved. I don’t have a world yet. I have to create one
from scratch. Now, that isn’t always the case, but it most decidedly was for
the world of SEVEN FORGES. There are a lot of fantasy tales set on the very
planet where we live, though they are usually in the far distant past or the
far-flung future. I chose a different
path because, frankly, I’m not going to be kind to the people or the planet
before the tale is told. The setting has never existed before. I wanted that
for a reason. I didn’t want to employ any sort of creatures that have existed
anywhere else in the past. I decided that any creatures roaming in the darkness
here would either be human, or they would be as original as I could manage. No
dragons, no elves, no fairies, no werewolves, no vampires, et al. Not even a
few lonely ogres, no matter how fond I am of them.
It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I wanted to start
from scratch. Believe me, I learned very quickly that there’s a lot more work
involved in creating a world than most people might suspect. It certainly
caught me off guard and I was prepared for it, or at least I thought I was.
It’s not just building an imaginary city. It’s not even a
country. There’s so much more to it. There’s history: Even if you never write
down a word of that history, you have to know it. You have to understand the
cause and effect for each and every part of it. I’ve made mention of the
Wellish Overlords in the SEVEN FORGES books, and while they have never shown
up, and they might well never show themselves (I never once said they were
dead) I still have to know who they are, what they are and how they’ve
interacted with both the Fellein Empire and with the Sa’ba Taalor. They have,
for the record. They are the only group outside of the Fellein Empire that has
ever encountered the Sa’ba Taalor. How? I’m not saying. Not yet, anyway, but it
happened. It’s even mentioned in the story Angry Robot just posted on their
site, called “When Korwa Fell.”
There is a history there. It might be vague, even for me,
but once upon a time the Wellish Overlords were a force to be considered and
even now, they might make a comeback.
In THE BLASTED LANDS I point out that Tyrne, the city
seen as the center of the Empire is, in fact, home to the Summer Palace. It’s
where the emperors of old used to go to enjoy the warmth of the season. I also
point out that the tradition was set aside when the Emperor, Pathra Krous,
decided he just didn’t want to go back to the true seat of the Empire. I did
that for numerous reasons, but one of the biggest was to show exactly how much
power the Emperor has. Simply by deciding not to move, he change the balance of
power in the empire and in the cities where thousands and thousand of people
live. There are consequences to that action that take place in the second
novel. It’s not a decision made lightly: there are reasons for it. But that,
too, is an example of history that is added into the story. It has to be there.
It isn’t a central part of the tale, but it’s important enough for me to
mention.
I actually counted. I have upwards of fifteen separate
deities in the world of the Seven Forges. Seven of them are worshipped
(actively) by the Sa’ba Taalor. The rest are from scattered pantheons. Some are
still worshipped and some almost completely forgotten because over the course
of a thousand years, things tend to change.
History. It’s a part of a world that has to be there but
noire importantly, as a writer, I think if it’s lacking, readers will know. I
try very hard not to bog down my stories with unnecessary history, but a few
pieces here and there are integral to adding the right level of reality to a
fantasy tale. And in the case of horror stories set in the modern world that’s
still true. It’s just easier to add in without causing confusion.
Here’s another one for you: Geography. World-building
means having to create the map of the world, or at least the parts that are
seen. Have you watched GAME OF THRONES? One thing I love about the show is that
the beginning sequence is different each season. There are more locations added
to the collection of cities shown because they had been added to the series.
The same is true (though honestly it wasn't intentional, just a happy accident)
with the Seven Forges series. I have added a lot of locations in the second
book and in the third there will be even more. Some have already been mentioned
in the past and some are coming out of the story’s evolution, but they are
definitely being added.
That’s something that happens in every story I write of
course but not to this magnitude. In a modern setting I can say a character has
gone off to Manhattan and most people can at least imagine the city, even if
they’ve never been there in person there have been endless references—written
and visual alike—over the years. But the eastern side of the continent that houses
the Fellein Empire? There’s nothing. The valley of the Sa’ba Taalor? Nothing.
They didn’t exist before. I can’t expect the readers to know about them. The
characters in the book? Sure. The readers? Not a chance.
It’s not just building a world. It’s wrapping yourself
into that world’s details. You have to know them even if they are never
actually mentioned in the book. I don’t have to know the eye color of every
character, but I have to know the cultures of the people, the history of their
cultures, the beliefs of the people and how those beliefs have shaped them.
Again, the difference is, I can cheat and use literary short hand for that when
I’m writing a book set in the modern world. I can use the word Apartheid and
expect that most of my readers will be able to catch the reference. Even if
they can’t a simple Google search will clarify enough to let the readers
understand. But I can’t do that with the Sa’ba Taalor, the magic systems used
in the world I’ve created or the political history of the Fellein Empire.
The situation can be tricky. There has to be a balance. I
want to give the readers enough information to understand what’s going on. I
also dread the notion of boring my readers with too many details.
Lastly, one that I didn’t consider too heavily when I
started the switch from horror to fantasy is names. There are amazing numbers
of names already employed in this world. We have a long history and we have
diverse cultures that, these days, are more connected than they have ever been
before and that means names are known and plentiful.
And I didn’t want to use them. I didn’t want every burly
man with an axe on his shoulder to sound vaguely as if he were born in the
mountainous areas of Europe. I didn’t want every knight of the Empire to sound
like he was fresh off the boat from England of Medieval France. I’ve actually
set myself up for a fall here, and I hope to avoid it, because I have expanded
a lot of countries and I’m doing my absolute best to maintain certain rules for
the names and traditions of those areas.
Even among the Sa’ba Taalor, which in comparison to the
Fellein Empire is a microcosm, there are seven separate kingdoms with seven
different lifestyles. What they have in common is one massive thread of belief
that ties those seven nations together. But still, King Tuskandru has a fairly
simple name, whereas halfway down the valley and two mountain-kingdoms over the
ruler, King Tarag Paedori not only has a different name, he lives a very
different lifestyle. Tusk is nearly nomadic, and lives mush of his life
wandering or basically hanging around in a cave. Tarag Paedori runs a military
fortress with soldiers who practice every day and dwell in regiments. And there
are five other kingdoms there, with different names, different philosophies and
different rules of engagement. That is all very deliberate and leads to a bit
of a challenge when keeping them all apart.
I did a trilogy of novels called the SERENITY FALLS
trilogy. I once counted and I had 187 named characters in those books. That’s a
lot of characters. I’m currently at 140 named characters in the Seven Forges
books. That’s also a good number. Most of them are seen only once or twice, but
I have to keep track of them and I have to make notes on them. Trust me, this
is the first time I have ever had to keep a list of names to make sure I’m not
creating more chaos than absolutely necessary.
Did I mention that I hate books where you need to a list
to keep track? I do. I always have. So I want to make sure that when the
characters show up a second or third time I remind people of who those
characters are to avoid making it hard to read the books.
It’s an interesting challenge, switching from Horror to
Fantasy and it’s a bigger challenge than I ever expected. I mean that.
And I’m absolutely loving it. If you can’t try new
things, if you can’t challenge yourself to develop the necessary skills to
expand you craft, then you just might not be in the right business and I love
my business. I love writing and creating new places, new stories. I never get
tired of it, even when it exhausts me.
There are more plans for the world of the SEVEN FORGES.
There are plans beyond that world, too. I’m already working with a coauthor on
another radically different fantasy tale with new lands to explore, new people
to meet and new (and sometimes old) challenges to face.
It’s a rich universe of possibilities and I love
exploring.
Thanks for having me as a guest at The Book Plank!
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James A. Moore, May 2014, Seven Forges
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