# World inspired by



## Chilari (Jan 20, 2012)

Generally, fantasy societies are based upon a society from the real world, medieval western Europe being a very popular one. But increasingly, people are realising that there's a whole lot more world and history out there to inspire us than just castles and kings. So I thought it'd be a good idea for people to have the opportunity to share what inspires them when creating their fantasy worlds, what interesting gems they've discovered about the real world during their researches, and to generally wonder at the variety the real world has to offer us.

For my latest, barely-begun project, I've been inspired by my recent researches on the city of Corinth, about which I'm writing an article. In several periods of its history, it was a powerful and influential city, and founded colonies across the Mediterranean, including Syracuse in Sicily. The way Corinth interacted with other cities, and the way it was affected by internal and external politics, is utterly fascinating. It went through periods of success - such as the archaic period, when it held the monopoly on the export of fine ceramics - and periods of decline, such as after the Peloponnesian War, when Athenian naval blockades damaged Corinth's economy, and despite being on the "winning" side, allied with Sparta, Corinth actually suffered far more than even losing Athens.

So the story I'm working on now is about a group of bronze-age colonists who originated from a city such as Corinth, in a period of economic growth but political uncertainty. They are sent to colonise an island in order to strengthen their home city's trade networks in that direction, and establish new diplomatic connection with powerful yet distant societies. But they come up against trouble in trying to establish this new city, with both human and magical enemies outside their own community, leading to desperation, fear, and interior conflicts.

So what other societies and historical events have inspired you, and what have you built up from that inspiration?


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## sashamerideth (Jan 20, 2012)

I am researching South American lore and societies for my society, and trying to imagine what they would be like if they had been left "undiscovered" and had developed steam and more advanced metallurgy. There isn't as much information as I would like but it does give me a lot more leeway.

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## Leif GS Notae (Jan 20, 2012)

There are many societies and traditions to build from, I have used some Japanese and Arabic influences on my world along with the pirate age in the Caribbean. 

However, the disclaimer here is people are used to the familiar, so too exotic and it will turn off people who are looking for a fantasy novel. Use what you have and build your pieces right, but don't go too alien.


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## Graham Irwin (Jan 20, 2012)

I have a book called "From Dawn to Decadence", which traces the past 500 years of Western Life. I use it for so many ideas! It's absolutely brilliant. In the second book of my trilogy, I base a town off of Venice, as they had a political system whereby a new class of politicians would sit in at all the different aspects of administration (the courts, the schools, etc.). My MC needed to learn a lot about the town quickly, and using the model of Venitian government was a great way to do it.

The human condition is very little changed, I believe, through the generations. Our motivations and permutations are the same.


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## Chilari (Jan 20, 2012)

Leif GS Notae said:


> However, the disclaimer here is people are used to the familiar, so too exotic and it will turn off people who are looking for a fantasy novel. Use what you have and build your pieces right, but don't go too alien.



So you suggest sticking to the tried and tested social structures within fantasy writing, rather than attempting to explore new concepts and ideas or use less widely known about societies to base our fantasy societies on? How would respond to the suggestion that staying with what works in terms of world building leads to stagnation? Surely being more experimental and more original with world settings we can broaden the experience of fantasy readers and in so doing inspire greater creativity?


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## sashamerideth (Jan 20, 2012)

Chilari said:
			
		

> So you suggest sticking to the tried and tested social structures within fantasy writing, rather than attempting to explore new concepts and ideas or use less widely known about societies to base our fantasy societies on? How would respond to the suggestion that staying with what works in terms of world building leads to stagnation? Surely being more experimental and more original with world settings we can broaden the experience of fantasy readers and in so doing inspire greater creativity?



For me, fantasy and science fiction are about the human experience, how we would be in a foreign setting, experiencing fantastic things that we can only imagine. Creating alternative societies is a part of this.

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## Telcontar (Jan 20, 2012)

I try not to base any society entirely off a real-world one. I like to mix and match the parts, and then change them so they fit together. Favorites of mine are Japanese, Roman, and Greek societies as they are what I know the most about. Chinese and early colonial American take a close second.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 20, 2012)

I for one appreciate unusual fantasy worlds. I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with using the medieval european template, but if you're not going to explore the possible variations of imagined worlds, I think you may be missing the point about fantasy to begin with. 

Me, I haven't read standard fantasy in a while due to a persistant reading block. (Which I now suspect is due to failing eyesight, so I should probably get new glasses.) I do read a ton of Japanese comics, though, and I'm fond of video games. As a result, my fantasy worlds have started to show a lot of JRPG-ish influence, and my attitude to mythologies and folkore is a lot more Asian then European.


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## San Cidolfus (Jan 20, 2012)

If a writer establishes a connection with the reader with their gripping narrative, sincerity, and grammatical wizardry, then I'm willing to follow wherever they lead.  A strange culture adds spice to the adventure if the writer handles it well.  Bringing less known eras and influences into fantasy can be revitalizing, but, like all things creative, if the writer doesn't handle it well then it'll come off as a gimmick, not substance.
I've found inspiration in all sorts of cultures and eras.  One book I wrote was set in Scythia (north of Greece) at the end of the Bronze Age, while another I placed in 19th century France.  In original world fantasy I've drawn influences from the Celts, Scandinavia, Sicily, Persia, Native America, China, Japan, and, of course, the rockin' Mongols.  But source material is just that: fuel for inspiration.  It's the power and poise of the writer that proves whether or not these foundations build to anything worthwhile.  Provided they drive the writer to strengthen their narrative and the readers enjoy the result, then all has come out well.


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## ScipioSmith (Jan 27, 2012)

I think the important thing to recognise is that certain kinds of stories demand certain kinds of settings, and that's something you have to consider before having an unusual setting for the sake of it. ASOIAF, for example, could not be set in a Republic because, as cutthroat as politics have been in historical Republics, notions of kingship and monarchial rule are at the heart of the series themes. On the other hand you couldn't write Shadows of the Apt set in a mediaeval-europe analogue because it wants to discuss racism, prejudice and privilege for which you need a number of ethnically distinct races. 

It comes down, I suppose to whether you come up with the story first or the world first, which is another argument.


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## Jabrosky (Jan 27, 2012)

Most of the time I draw from African cultures, especially Northeast African ones such as ancient Egypt and Nubia. I am fond of pre-Christian northern Europe and the ancient Middle East too though.


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## ThinkerX (Jan 27, 2012)

My current primary world features an empire patterned after the late Roman Empire.  Or more accurately, a roman type empire that mostly collapsed only to be put back together by some Charlemagne/Justinian type figures, and evolved a bit from there instead of falling apart again as happened in our world.  In the stories, the empire was re-unified about a century and a half earlier, give or take.  At the time of the stories, the empire is just starting to experiment with things like printing presses, steam engines, and telescopes.

The current empire has an east-west and north-south split.  The eastern portion empire is the core of the first empire, and socially and politically, things there remain much as they were back in the old empire days.  Most of the people in the western section of the empire, though, are descended from the barbarians who played a major role in bringing down the old empire, and there is a definite clash of cultures and traditions.  Worse yet, from the eastern POV, it was one of these western barbarians who reunified the empire!  The westerners, for their part, see the easterners as decadent and cruel, locked into a failed system.  Part of the southern empire is patterened after ancient egypt, complete with a version of the Nile and pyramid temples.  It has alternately been ruled by imperial governors, puppet monarchs, and at the height of the empires dissolution, invaders from the far south.  The descendants of these invaders comprise the populace of another puppet state in the south of the empire, and have a vaguely 'arabian' or 'islamic' character to them.  

(All these areas of the empire are clustered about a sort of inland sea - ruled absolutely by the empire).


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