World Building

One of the most interesting aspects of Science-Fiction and Fantasy is the ability to construct an entirely new world. Not only must the author know the laws, rules and dynamics of this world, but they must be able to convey these thoughts effortlessly to the general audience. By comparing some science-fiction and fantasy works, it becomes clearer on how this process is successful. Game of Thrones, Left hand of Darkness and The Star Wars Universe are all successful in creating new and interesting worlds. Each of these works introduces their new world and constructs their society a little differently, but they all follow the same general process. World building can also be seen though looking at the introduction of the work, the inclusion of new and old terminology, and their overarching government and society.

In the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, by George R. R. Martin, the first book, Game of Thrones, starts off with a prologue. The book eases the reader into the world by using facts. It states that it’s cold, the group are in the Night’s Watch, and they are looking for Wildlings. The terminology of the Night’s Watch and Wildlings aren’t explained outright, but through using context clues it is easy to get a vague gist of what is going on. It also uses the terminology of Ser, lording, and knight. These are recognizable terms and imminently place the setting of the book in a different time than our own. By starting off without explaining the all rules of the world, Game of Thrones sets the precedents that the audience is going to have to work at picking up on the clues of this universe throughout the rest of the book and ongoing series.

At the start of Game of Thrones, it has to be accepted that this world is different and the audience doesn’t understand it yet. By including the dead coming back to life at the end of the first chapter, it opens up the possibility for more fantasy later. This is crucial. If it is accepted that not all the rules of the world are known, then it allows for the introduction of more outlandish happenings latter on. Things like magic and dragons in a story only work if that is a believable option for the story to include. If the story is too far out there and isn’t believable then the reader can’t connect to the book. Imminently setting the idea that there are strange occurrences happening, even in this new world, allows for a greater flexibility from our own world rules.

After the first chapter, Game of Thrones, settles into something more concrete and understandable. Bran, a young child in the Stark family, is watching his father kill one of the men we had seen in the prologue for committing treason. Not only does this act of violence set the pace for the rest of the book, but it also lets us see that not even the children are spared from experiencing it. The first chapter and prologue are really clever in their combined ability to engage the reader and prepare us for the shocking and sometimes violent events throughout the rest of the book. Without introducing us to the brutality at the very beginning, when it appears later on with more ruthlessness, there is a risk of it feeling out of place. Because the audience has to accept a lot of new rules, when the violence is placed right at the front of the book, for better or worse, they accept that too.

The “A Song of Ice and Fire” series is written so that each chapter comes from a different character’s point of view. The intentional choice to have Bran be the one to tell the first chapter helps ease the audience into the story. The chapter could have come from someone else’s point of view but it wouldn’t have been so successful. Bran is still a child. He’s still trying to figure out the world just like the reader. He is easy to connect to and his point of view, with his own mild confusion, gives us something to latch onto. He has an innocence about him in the first chapter, which is a welcome change from the killing and fear from the prologue. The relatability is comfortable and allows the reader to relax and enjoy the story as it unfolds.

In all, one of the most important parts in world building is the way the universe is first introduced. The introduction into the new world sets the standards for that world though the rest of the works to follow. Even in books with new worlds, universes, and societies, in order for them to be enjoyable, they have to be believable. One of the reasons why Game of Thrones is so successful is its ability to seem believable. As soon as the reader starts to question if something is really possible, then that bond of trust created between the reader and the book is broken. That bond must stay intact for a book to be successful and entertaining. Plot twists wouldn’t be as shocking if they seem completely random and out of place.

Just like Game of Thrones started off with something strange happening in their world, Left Hand of Darkness follows on that same path. In Left hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin, the first chapter starts off with a break in the normal routine. There is a parade going on that day. The parade allows for Genly Ai to point out the important people around him and explain a little bit of the culture. People are wearing special clothes and there are unique rituals going on with the King. Left Hand of Darkness introduces us to the world by showing us the culture first.

Like in Game of Thrones, Left Hand of Darkness starts by stating facts. They are on Winter. They are in Karhide. There is a parade. While people wouldn’t know what the world of Winter is like, they can at least assume from the name that it’s cold. The same goes for the parade. People understand what a parade is, even though there is a lot of unknown terminology thrown in while it’s described. Mixing new and old terminology is quiet helpful when trying to picture a new place. The new terminology tells that this world is different and it’s important to pay attention to the words so that they can be fully understood. The old terminology helps guide the reader and fill in any gaps while they try to stumble through the introduction.

Later on in the book there is a lot of new terminology used. Things like Kemmer, Kemmering and Foresight are all new and different terms. Even the times, days and mouths are different so getting used to how time moves from scene to scene can be difficult. Like Game of Thrones, there are different customs and cultures that need to be learned. Unlike Game of Thrones, which has a lot of ideas based off of our own society and humanity, Left Hand of Darkness incudes a society that is completely different than our own. Even the people are a different species and an entire chapter is dedicated to explain how they reproduce. Sometimes in order to help explain, Genly Ai will give his ideas own opinions about the new term or do a brief explanation. At other points the term in just repeated until it is understood though context clues.

If a person gets too confused, then the book will lose them. It is part of the trust established at the beginning of each book. There is an unspoken rule that even if the beginning is confusing, later on the book with explain and story and place will make sense. A story in which the reader is in a constant state of confusion isn’t satisfying. Once the reader gets lost it is really difficult to get them back on track and re-enthralled in the book. In order to help negate the possible confusion, many of the new words are capitalized or italicized. By pointing out the words, Left Hand of Darkness makes it easier to know which words need a little more attention.

It’s also important to point out how quickly Genly Ai calls himself out as being a little bit of an outcast. A page 8 Genly says that he is notably different in height than the rest of the crowd and that many people are taking notice. He is different than the norm and that allows for the audience to latch onto him. Genly doesn’t fit into this culture. He is seeing it from the outside and is trying to understand it. He sees everything that is going on, but doesn’t fully comprehend it, just like the reader. His confusion on the idiosyncrasies in the culture and habits of those on Winter can seem understandable and match our own. All of these aspects allow him to be relatable. Even if later on he loses some of that relatability or isn’t as likable near the end, in the beginning at least he helps explain the world and ease us into the story.

Just like the second chapter of Game of Thrones, the second chapter of Left Hand of Darkness pulls back from the intricacy of the universe and simplifies it down. The second chapter is a short story about two brothers. It is quite easy to follow and is similar to a moral fable heard in children’s stories. The story itself is said to have come from a collection of tales. The short chapter gives a break from the all the complexity of the previous chapter. It allows the reader to relax a little and settle into the book. The short tale is written almost as if it were to be told to a child. Again there is the presence of something childlike to explain the world in the second chapter of a world building book. While it sounds like it could almost be familiar, the story is also very different from any occurrence in our own society. The story expands the world and culture by highlighting the differences between our world and theirs.

Creating such a different world from our own is very difficult. There are lots of risks which can jeopardize the overall story. Too much world building and the main story and point of the book is lost. Too little world building and the reader is left in a state of confusion. The amount of new and old terminology can also be tricky to navigate. While Left Hand of Darkness may falter some in keeping up an engaging story and plot all the way through, the world building is really well done. There is a lot of terminology, but that is mostly explained throughout the book. An interesting part of the book is the fact that there are two distinct countries. Not only did Ursula K. Le Guin world build a whole planet but she created two uniquely different countries within it. Because they are both on the same planet of Winter, both counties have to deal with the same natural elements, climate, and geography. However, the way that both countries operate and even evolved both before and during the book is very different. It’s quite fascinating to read and see the world emerge from the page.

The Star Wars universe is even more interesting and complex. Each book and movie throughout the universe has to be able to function as a standalone work. Meaning each book has to individually world build while keeping to the same rules that all the other works have already set. What is most interesting is the need to world build and universe build at the same time. There are so many different worlds and cultures in Star Wars, but the entirety of the universe also has its own encompassing culture. Not only that but each book and some of the movies are made and written by completely different people. These writers have to world build someone else’s universe and they have to stay consistent. They can’t just make up information that would be useful to their story. It’s a combined collaborative process.

World building has to spread across all of the mediums of Star Wars, be it the movies, books, or video games. Theoretically a person could pick up any book, movie, or video game and use that as their first introduction to the Star Wars universe. In the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, there is an order. The later books don’t focus on the world building in the begging, because that had already been done in the previous books. The books won’t make since if you read them out of order. In the Star Wars universe they will.

The seven movies do world building by including their now iconic word scrawl at the beginning of each movie. The scrawl sets out the needed backstory, gives the overall mission for the movie, and tells whom is fighting whom. Similarly to Left Hand of Darkness, the scrawl in the beginning capitalizes the most important words so that they are easy to pick up on and the audience knows what is important. They allow each movie to work as a standalone movie. The scrawl is also written down and used in the novelizations, capitalized words and all.

Each Star Wars movie starts out with two characters doing some task. In Star Wars Episode III, Anakin and Obi-Wan were fighting a space battle. In Star Wars Episode VI, C-3PO and R2D2 were walking to Jabba’s Palace. The tasks are usually simple or easy to understand. This follows with the simple fact beginnings of Game of Thrones and Left Hand of Darkness. The movies also introduce a lot of the advanced weaponry and technology in the beginning shorts. This can be seen by the shadow of a star-destroyer on a planet, holograms, and even walking talking robots. By establishing in the first shots, usually before any dialogue, the audience accepts the advancement. Because of that, later on in the movies light speed, intergalactic tracking devices, and even the Death Star seem like realistic possibilities in the universe.

The Star Wars books are also very interesting in the way that they develop the world in which they are set. Each book world builds a little differently, because they are all written by different authors. The novelization of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, by Alan Dean Foster, changes viewpoints throughout the middle of each of the chapters. The very first part of the book starts out with Leia’s point of view. One of the first things the book does, just like Game of Thrones and Left Hand of Darkness, is list facts. Leia’s brother is missing. She wants to find him. She sends a pilot named Poe. These facts are given via short sentences with very clear wants and needs. A person doesn’t need to know any previous Star Wars facts in order to understand and follow along with the plot laid out in the first three pages of this book. Basically find Luke.

It is especially easy to relax into reading The Force Awakens. The diction is simple in the beginning, making the overall story flow and better to understand. When unknown terminology appears, the easy diction with comprehensible situations and context clues fills in the missing gaps. It presents the world by combining new and old situations. A group of people are eating diner before a battle, only they are in space traveling at light speed. Later on, the book starts talking about the Force, family problems and some political background of the First Order and Resistance. As it starts to get more complicated, The Force Awakens falls back into more understood concepts.

The first time Stormtroopers are brought up, they are shown to be relatable to Army buddies. If a person doesn’t understand what a Stormtrooper is, they pick up from context clues that they are soldiers. The Stormtroopers are laughing and telling jokes until a Commanding Officer walks in and they get serious again. This shows First Order culture and their society quite quickly. It establishes them as people and individuals with personalities. It shows them having fun. When Finn breaks out of the faceless mindless mold, it seems believable because the first time we saw Stormtroopers, it was established that they weren’t all the same. They had their own thoughts and feelings.

Each of these works is similar in how they open up the stories to describe their respective universes. They all start off stating simple facts. These facts allow the reader to understand some of the main ideas of what is going on in the story or place. It gives them something to hold onto as the world is being built. The works also set the pace for the rest of the books. Game of Thrones has violence right off the bat while Left Hand of Darkness is more political. The first few minutes or pages throws in a lot of new terminology, advancements in society, or magic. As the reader is adjusting to the new world, they accept those changes as well. Then, the second chapter is like a cool down. The works ease up on the terminology to allow the previous information to digest. Usually they also include themes or tropes which are familiar to people of our world. The diction is easier and there is a child-like aspect. There is more of a relaxed feeling which allows for the reader to settle into the book. Game of Thrones, Left Hand of Darkness, and The Star Wars universe follow this pattern and are all really effective in world building. The beginning chapters in a book are some of the most important for world building. Through the terminology and the descriptions of the society and culture, the works separate themselves from our own world and start to build a new one.

 

 

Works cited

 

Foster, Alan Dean. Star Wars : the Force Awakens. First ed. New York: Del Rey, 2015. Print.

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. Ace trade pbk. ed. New York: Ace Books, 2000. Print.

Martin, George R. A Game of Thrones. New York: Bantam Books, 1996. Print.

Outlander was similar to Kindred in the way that they go back in time and not worry about the butterfly effect drastically changing their future.  Usually the common trope for going back in the past is not make sure that you don’t mess up or change any part of the timeline.  Neither of these women even considered this as a problem.  In fact they both went out of their way to change and manipulate the past with no concern for the future.

In Kindred, Dana’s whole purpose of going back into the past was to change it.  No.  I suppose it was more to keep it the way it was.  If she was born that means that Ruphe lived and she succeeded in her mission.  Her lifetime is like a constant loop.  He has to live so she can be born but unless she was already there then he can’t live.  She interacted with people in the past and gave out medicine when she could.  Her purpose was to make sure Ruphe lived, but she also interacted and influenced other people’s lives as well.  When Ruphe got jealous of her talking to the other slave, Ruphe sent him away.  That action placed him in a separate place with different people. It should have had a butterfly effect with the future.  If Dana was there to change the past, then that meant that things could be changed.  No one mentioned this as a problem though.  Later when Dana killed Ruphe, all of the slaves were sold off to different people.  This action had to have changed the way things were.  There should have been people who were born who then weren’t, or other people who suddenly popped into existence.

When Claire went back into the past, she helped and healed people with no worries on how that would affect other people’s timelines.   In a later episode, she saves a little boy’s life.  That boy would then grow up, get married, and have children.  Those children theoretically shouldn’t have been born.  This could have drastic effects.  She also marries Jamie.  This would have changed his future and past.  She wasn’t even really supposed to change anything.  Unlike Kindred, she didn’t start off with a distinct mission to meddle.  Yet she did it anyway.

Theoretically, there should have been some sort of change detected when they each got back to their present time.  There could have been a separate timeline Dana was changing.  Meaning she wasn’t even working with her own past, but a separate timelines past.  Either way should the fact that she could change the future means that she should have been more careful in what she was doing.  In Outlanders she was also changing the past.  She saved lives and warned people of germs.  She tried to change their views on medicine.  She challenged authority.  All of these things should have drastically changed the future.  Due to the butterfly effect any number of problems could have offered.  This idea of the butterfly effect was never brought up or questioned in either of the works.

I really liked the different types of Sci-Fi we have delved into this semester. They are all under the umbrella term of Science Fiction, but what exactly is Science Fiction. There isn’t really a concrete definition for it. The genres for the books seem to change and grow all the time, making it difficult to have a lasting definition. Personally I call something Sci-Fi if there is a change in technology, from the current time period, which impacts society.

Let me break it down a little. The change in tech comes from my idea that in order to be sci-fi, science has to be different. This doesn’t always have to mean an advancement. It could just be a change. I base the change off of what time period the piece is written in. For example, if something was written in the early 1900’s about going to the moon that work would be sci-fi. Even though it is scientifically possible to go to the moon now, it wasn’t then. Lastly the change needs to affect something. There needs to be a change in how the society functions. In the avengers movies society is basically the same but there are new idles and the acceptance of superheroes. Society has changed.

Not all the books that we have read go under the definition of sci-fi. Handmaids Tale to me isn’t sci-fi. Yes society changed, but the technology didn’t change it. STD’s and cult people did. Life after Life isn’t sci-fi either. There is no change in science. Its more historical realism, or fantastical realism. These books are closer to fantasy because not even science can explain them. A clear sci-fi book I feel we have read this year is Left Hand of Darkness. The change in society would be the fact that Ai’s job exists and the intergalactic space travel.
Giving genres definitions can be difficult.

New genres are constantly being though up and changed. Like the appearance of the YA novel or middle school novels. Sci-Fi works as an overall umbrella term, but I don’t think it can be used to define many books themselves. There are now many little subcategories that can more appropriately define a book such as Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, and Fantastical Fiction.

I find the difference in the way people interpret unexplained time travel in the books we read very interesting. For example, during Kindred I found myself frustrated over the fact that there wasn’t any explanation as to why or how she was going into the past. I didn’t enjoy the book as much, because I couldn’t believe that it was going on. I was always waiting for a reason and when the book ended, I was disappointed. None of the characters knew what was going on either. They tried to explain it away as it was Dana’s duty to save her ancestor, but even then there was no how. The same thing should have happened for Life after Life, but it didn’t.

Like in Kindred, during Life after Life there was no explanation as to why Ursula was reliving her life over and over again. This didn’t bother me. It felt natural, or at least as natural as a sci-fi book could be. As in Kindred people tried to explain why. Bridget called it a six-sense, her therapist brought up Buddhism and reincarnation. Neither of these really explain how or why this was happening to her. I felt that Kindred owned me an explanation that wasn’t needed for Life after Life.

The books have many similarities. While the plots and characters are different, some of the same structures and themes are the same. Neither book was set in a different world or used some crazy gadgets. If I had to give the books genres I would say that they are both Historical Fantastical Realism. They both lean more towards the magical realism side of the spectrum than Sci-fi in my opinion. It’s not like they have some advancement in technology that causes society to change. It’s all fantasy, magic, and some mythical unexplained reason. Both books establish their world by having the first chapter or prologue jump right into the middle of the action and then go back to the beginning in the next chapter. Throughout the book, they went back and forth through time and had ‘neutral points’. In Kindred her neutral point would be in her time. It’s like the normal part of her in the story. During Life after Life this was scene whenever she was reborn.

I’m not sure exactly why I was okay with one and not the other. Perhaps it was because Ursula had this power since she was born and Dana somehow acquired it. Maybe it was the difference between changing the past and reliving the present. It could be that Dana seemed to have a true goal while Ursula didn’t. Whatever the reason, it made me realize that the way I think of time travel in books changes, even if the situations are similar.

I found The Handmaid’s Tale really interesting. I really wanted to look into the relationship women had in the society more closely. At the end of chapter 21 on page 127 Offred mentioned that her mother wanted a ‘woman’s culture’. Even in the flashback beforehand, Offred talks about her mother as if her mother was a big supporter of women’s rights. I really found the word play interesting between the two different ideas of a women’s culture. The way the mother wanted women to be free and in charge was the complete opposite of the culture that appeared.

It’s the difference between a culture about women and a culture for them. In a culture for women, women are free in their ability to choose. Women are for themselves. It’s like the idea that people wear makeup for themselves and not for other people. Margaret Atwood’s society is the opposite. This culture is about women but as much as it revolves around them, it really isn’t for them. In this society women are like property. They are used and traded if they can’t have children. It something goes wrong then it is their fault. They can’t read and they can’t really choose. They can’t even choose to commit quick suicide if they want to. Although, I suppose if they wanted to die, they could just act out and be labeled as an unwomen.

The Aunts when speaking about the way women were oppressed before also intrigued me. They talked about how women weren’t considered to be important by showing them pornos and other movies. It confused me to how they thought that a society where women are like property and can’t read is more freeing than one where women have a choice. It comes back to the idea they brought up of Freedom from vs Freedom to. There is some truth to the idea that Freedom from is important and in itself a very special and carefully guarded freedom. But to me the two freedoms are not equal. The women are not more free because they no longer have to worry about the way they are portrayed in pornos.

I really found it interesting how uncomfortable Ai was when reuniting with the people from his ship. I feel before he made the journey across the ice with Estraven, he would have been fine meeting his feeling shipmates again. Before crossing the ice, he still categorized the people of Winter as ‘others’ and ‘aliens’ in his head. To me it was almost like the moment he finally recognized Estraven as being neither male nor female, his way of thinking and place in the universe changed. When Ai finally decided to accept Esrtaven as being androgynous, his view on all humankind changed. I feel like Ai’s uncomfortableness with his shipmates had less to do with him being away from them for three years and more to do with him feeling included in Winter’s society. When Ai accepted Esrtaven, he also accepting the fact that Esrtaven accepted him back. By putting them on an equal plain, Ai stopped thinking so much as ‘me vs. them’ and starting thinking in terms of ‘us’. The moment his mission became personal was the moment he started to think of himself, at least in some form, as included or assimilated in Winter’s society. When he once again met his shipmates, he was a changed person. Ai admitted to finding it strange to once again see sexed individuals, even though he was precisely that. Before Estraven, no one had treated him as a part of the society. He was an outcast and foreigner whether he was treated well or unfairly. Estraven treated like an equal and during the trip across the ice Ai was forced to finally see that.