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.