Want to learn how authors weave their magic? Discover more about the forgotten empires and futuristic cities which transport you into another world.
The greatest books pull you in from the first page. The heroes and villains will commonly take centre stage. There will most likely be a huge showdown between two opposing sides, with lots of drama in the process. In the background, the setting props up the text in real and creative ways. The top fictional landscapes don’t bring attention to themselves with loads of description and footnotes. It may not be elaborately articulated but quietly revealed through the eyes of your characters. They might have some magical properties or funky names common to fictional places in children’s books. The pictures of high castles and narrow seas, alien vessels and futuristic planets, straight away enchants the minds of its readers. Pictures may decorate school activities and book nights, as the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones may most likely recognize. Crowds of kids will dress up in character and spend the evening in these magical worlds.
Most people will speak about their favourite characters when asked what they like best about a story. It is their adventures and intrigues and romances which take you on your literary quest. But in the science fiction and fantasy domain, a great setting can come alive every bit as much as the heroes and heroines. Nowadays, numerous well-known tropes have already been written ad nauseum. Galactic empires and magical boarding schools are common settings in which to base their fictional world. But the best authors can take an idea – however used or worn – and turn it into something truly memorable. In some rare cases, it can even spawn theme parks and studio complexes as individuals like the chief of the company that owns WarnerBros will certainly recognize. You don’t need to grow up just yet! For the keen tourist, you can stay a bit longer in your beloved fantasy world.
Setting might seem like a mere necessity for any tale. All in all, you need somewhere for your characters to interact and connect with each other. When written properly, however, the setting interweaves every component of the story together. This is not solely restricted to detailing the daunting woods and splendid castles. The best settings mix social and political descriptions which ground even the most excellent worlds in their own reality. Particularly with regard to fantasy, the fictional countries and continents can be inherently related to the different creatures which roam the lands. Elves are symbolic of enchanted woods and waterfalls. Orcs and ogres frequent the dark and invisible places deep underground. These descriptions are so persuasive you can likely imagine them in your head. And for individuals requiring more reference, gorgeous maps and pictures are often a clever sales device for business executives like the head of the fund which controls The Works.