What is this called?

[Androxine Vortex]

I was reading a Warhammer 40K novel called "The First Heretic." So the Book itself is TFH but it is in the "world" of Warhammer 40K. And there are many WH40K novels out there, all with different names, but they all say "Warhammer 40k" at the top. Same can be said with Forgotten Realms.

My question is what would you call the very top title? Not the name of the book but where it would say Warhammer 40K or Forgotten Realms, what is that called? Would it just be refered to as a series?

I am planning on writting a group of different novels (some of them with seperate unrelated storylines) with different characters but all written in the same "world." I'm thinking of making the "overall name" called Aeon Star. So when people read any of the novels, it would be an "Aeon Star" novel.

So what would be a proper name for that? A series?
I'm sorry I'm having a very hard time wording this question properly lol

 

[Meg the Healer]

I honestly don't know if there is a specific word for it other than series. Just like Discworld and Dragonlance - they all have different books but they are apart of the same series. (Also true of Left Behind and Sookie Stackhouse). I think when you get to be above 3-4 books it becomes part of a series. There are a few weird exceptions like within the Dragonlance series there are a few trilogies and even a Sextant, but they are all part of the same world.

So, yeah, I would go with series if the group of books you are writing are in regards to the same world.

 

[Saigonnus]

All of those series are set in a specific world and use set technologies/fantasy themes... if you read one, you pick up the next one and even if it isn't the same characters or an expansion on the same story, you can still understand the world they live in. Dragonlance for example was set in the world of Krynn and human had lots of interaction with dragons; often riding them into battle. Also, some dragons had the capability of transforming to a humanoid form. So you pick up ANY of the Dragonlance books and you can expect at least that much to be present.

Forgotten Realms was a more stereotypical world with the elements of classic fantasy present. The "regular" racial emnities (dwarf vs. elf, dwarf vs. goblin) etc... and dragons didn't play much of a role at all except here and there. Elves are secretive, dwarves live underground and are craftsmen (like tolkien) and all the rest.

If you are writing a series, thinking of a name that describes your world is probably good, that way readers will know by looking at the author's name and the trademark name what to expect in the novel.

 

[JCFarnham]

Yeah I've never found a word for it, but I see plenty of "A _____ Novel" books around

 

[Xanados]

... That's called an "intellectual property". Is this a serious question?
It is a universe in which many stories take place...

 

[Queshire]

I wouldn't call it a series since some books might be part of the same world, but otherwise unrelated to each other. I know there's several series of Warhammer 40k books.

I go with calling it the verse, as in the warhammer 40k-verse, as you can imagine it's a shortened form of universe. There's an entry on TVtropes about it, as seen here; The Verse - Television Tropes & Idioms

 

[Xanados]

I wouldn't call it a series since some books might be part of the same world, but otherwise unrelated to each other. I know there's several series of Warhammer 40k books.

I go with calling it the verse, as in the warhammer 40k-verse, as you can imagine it's a shortened form of universe. There's an entry on TVtropes about it, as seen here; The Verse - Television Tropes & Idioms

I don't see what is hard to understand. :/

Warcraft universe.
Warhammer universe.
Discworld universe.
Name any fantasy world. That is an intellectual property. An original intellectual property.

 

[JCFarnham]

I don't know if you quite have a hang on "intellectual property" aka property of your mind, so... even your characters, your plot, etc.

It's still a "series of similar books", You could use franchise, but the fact is there's no set word for it other than using the phrase "a ___ novel" like I said, or perhaps just a brand logo.

 

[Drakhov]

I was reading a Warhammer 40K novel called "The First Heretic." So the Book itself is TFH but it is in the "world" of Warhammer 40K. And there are many WH40K novels out there, all with different names, but they all say "Warhammer 40k" at the top.

The book itself is part of a smaller 'series' within the 40k 'series' - the Horus Heresy, which in actuality is set 10,000 years prior to the universe of Warhammer 40k, so i suppose strictly speaking it's not a WH40K title either, despite what the book cover might say

 

[Androxine Vortex]

The book itself is part of a smaller 'series' within the 40k 'series' - the Horus Heresy, which in actuality is set 10,000 years prior to the universe of Warhammer 40k, so i suppose strictly speaking it's not a WH40K title either, despite what the book cover might say

Technically yeahyou are right but I think you can see the point I was trying t make lol

@Queshire
If I reffer to a "world" such as Warhammer, I often call it the "universe" of Warhammer or the "Warhammer Universe"

I guess when reffering to everything in the specific setting of a group of books that share that same setting you could call it a universe/verse. But when reffering to the actual books themselves it would be a series, even if they are not in a direct chronological order. Does that make sense?

 

[Anders Ämting]

It's a franchise. Specifically a media franchise. The title at the top of the book or whatever would be the brand of the franchise.

Remember, WH40K isn't just books; there's the boardgame and video games and at least one movie. All of them are made under a licensed brand owned by Games Workshop, which makes it a franchise. Same thing applies to, for examples, books set in the Star Wars universe or the Forgotten Realms.

I am planning on writting a group of different novels (some of them with seperate unrelated storylines) with different characters but all written in the same "world." I'm thinking of making the "overall name" called Aeon Star. So when people read any of the novels, it would be an "Aeon Star" novel.

So what would be a proper name for that? A series?
I'm sorry I'm having a very hard time wording this question properly lol

This would probably still be a series - even if the books don't follow the same plot or the same people, they are still connected by the fact that they all share the same world and that they are all written by you. It's effectively a series of stand-alone sequals.

On the other hand, íf you start hiring people to write more books for you, then you have a media franchise. At that point the books written by you personally would probably count as their own series within the franchise.

 

[Telcontar]

Dangit Anders, you nailed the answer before I could get to it... then again, I think you said it better than I was going to.