On Writing: Exposition - magic systems and worldbuilding [ Avatar l Rowling l Inception l Asimov ]
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2018
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Hey everyone! If you'd like to support this sort of educational content, I'd love for you to join our patreon-discord community for just a couple of dollars a month: www.patreon.com/hellofutureme QotD: What is one of the best worldbuilt stories that is *not well known* ? I'm really enjoying Leviathan Wakes by James A Corey (which is what the Expanse is based on, I think). Let me know yours down in the comments below!
~ Tim
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I gotta recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (again) for worldbuilding. It has to introduce not only a world full of dragons, but also a world full of dragons 200 years ago (1800s). Not only do you learn about how dragons work in this world, you also have to learn about how mundane life works because the difference in time and technology and society leaves you nearly as a fish out of water as the multi-ton flying lizards thing. Going in, you know just as much about Chinese court life or the British navy as you do dragons (unless you are a total history nerd, in which case you get to see how these things change with the introduction of dragons).
The series also starts off small- one dragon, a Western European country. Then later on you are introduced to stranger variants of dragons, societies more affected by the presence of dragons, and cultures across the world. It's a series that I adore and wish was better known.
I wonder how this video is going to bring up Avatar: TLA
Same. I subscribed to this channel because he always talks about my favorite show. I love it.
Seriously, the show deserves the amount of respect this channel gives it!
4:14 there it is! XD
I’m several years behind everyone on this page and I already have this same question almost every video 😅
I think, Point 3: Repect your audience, they'll figure stuff out... Is the most important. You can cleverly explain your lore with clues, rather than dumping an encyclopedia on the reader. If you can do this, your backstory will be an intriguing treat rather than a chore.
Encyclopedia of backstories is what Appendices are for! And are therefore completely optional reading (ala Tolkien).
True. Tim brought up a good example about The Road. People scavenging through the ruins of a charred landscape says enough. Details about the war could be a reveal later.
Poisonedblade Yeah. And even with appendices, you should write your story in a way that gives info even if the reader doesn't look at the appendix.
Yeah, the appendixes found in video games like the Witcher are great. Optional for people who want a ton of backstory. They're interesting and rewarding if you want to read them, but they don't slow down the action.
In other words, write a book assuming most of your audience is somewhat intelligent: if you treat them like they're idiots, you're gonna write a book for idiots - boring and just too much to swallow. :)
It’s midnight. Why am I wat- Shhh 🤫
*my inner self starts speaking
“Just go with it, just spend 5 hours writing, it’ll be okay.”
It's almost morning here
I did this. Like 3 days ago. It was not okay, but the story came out good so...
#relatable
It's 3:41am here
Madoka Magica has huge plot twists and rules kept hidden to the audience until they have a devastating impact on the story. What I like of the anime is that these rules, when you watch it a second time, are always consistent even when not revealed, and not thrown out of the blue and invented almost on the spot as in the universe of harry potter. I highly suggest watching it if you don't know it!
I really like Watership Down's worldbuilding, it's very unique! Richard Adams did a great job of showing our world from the perspective of rabbits and making it simultaneously alien and familiar. This was an awesome and super helpful video as always!
What he also did a very good job at was burning the image of rabbits slaughtering each other into my memory for the rest of my life
Would you be interested in doing more character writing videos and about character groups and interaction? I’ve made an entire alternate universe with detailed history but I’m stuck at characters personalities, relationships, development and also world culture.
Definitely! This series is not dedicated to worldbuilding or big-picture stuff. We will be looking at stuff like that someday.
~ Tim
Hello Future Me Oh Shoot you replied. Thank you, this series is fantastic, I’ve been pulled out of school since about 2 years ago due to illness and writing is the only thing that’s remained in my mind and kept me sane.
I recommend taking inspiration from the people around you. Idk about development and world culture tho. My advice is to think about the main personality traits they have. Look at how you would interact with your siblings and friends. And try to base it off that. Maybe that can help.
Amber Beam I'm in pretty much the opposite place as you--I have a knack for making characters breathe, but when it comes to plot or worldbuilding, I struggle a great deal. One trick I use is to actually work backwards--start with the character's behaviors, beliefs, or personality and ask what experiences or inherent traits might be behind it.
Say I have a mage character, and that's all you have. Where did they learn magic? The character's mother taught him.
How did she learn? She worked in a library that had many magical tomes, and would always take a few home with her.
How long did his mother do this? She started bringing books home to read to her darling son when he was only three years old, teaching him to love reading and learning at such a young age; he actually became quite the bookworm, spending his afternoons after school in the library with his mom.
How does this behavior affect the character? How do his classmates treat him? Perhaps this passion makes him a target for bullies, which means he has personal enemies at the start of the campaign for you to use in your stories. Maybe he gains a reputation for his intelligence, and students start offering him their lunch money in exchange for help on (or just plain doing) their homework.
Why does the character leave to start on their quest? Maybe one day he finds something he shouldn't have: a book on demonology or blood magic. In his curiosity and in hopes of making his mother proud, he takes the book home planning to cast one of the more difficult rituals. But something goes wrong, the ritual curses him and nearly costs him his life; in order to remove the curse, he must journey to a distant country to find a paladin mighty enough for the task before the unholy magic kills him, or worse, corrupts him entirely.
I'd highly recommend a specific channel for just this sort of thing.
How to avoid dumb character backstories: czcams.com/video/BugFN73U71w/video.html
Making a better character using quirks: czcams.com/video/T2wqkZNKIlM/video.html
6 steps to creating your perfect character: czcams.com/video/poNYN7-1B-E/video.html
^^^The comments above are very good advice^^^
I quite like the world-building that's going on in the Attack On Titan anime (I haven't read the manga, though). It's set up as a simple "humans vs. mysterious monsters" world, and the audience learns more about that through character backstory (which usually comes up during interactions with other characters or at moments of dramatic tension), and through the characters themselves learning more about what's going on in their little isolated world as they fight against the Titans.
The viewer naturally wants to know how this situation came to be, and it answers that question gradually without adding more questions. Well, it does, but they all ultimately relate back to "how did this happen?". The smaller questions get answered earlier while the bigger ones get answered later
I know you don't usually cover game stories, but the world building for the Dark Souls series is fantastic. Very little is explained to the player through clear exposition, but by studying the environment, enemies and magic the player can find clear histories and rules
I'm late (as French as it is), but I want you to know I absolutely love Dark Souls, and it is one of the most influential pieces of art for both me and my writing inspirations (with Berserk, of course, among others).
This is a great video and there is an additional point that Ellen Brock brings up.
Your audience ONLY needs the backstory for the current chapter and maybe the next one, not the entire book.
So if you are a lore heavy, just keep that in mind. "Do they need to know this yet?"
I love Ellen Brock's videos, but if you stop and think, you realize that Tolkien didn't care for that at all. Not only he didn't care for this, he didn't care for most of what is considered basic writing advice... And as George R.R. Martin said, "Be compared to Tolkien is the greatest compliment you can give to any fantasy writer... Tokien essentially created modern fantasy."
@@rafaelcavalcantibiz yeah, but in time of Tolkien this arms race of who can grab the reader's attention the quickest didn't start yet.
Yes, Tolkien didn't care about that at all, his writing is heavy of info dump that in big parts never gets relevant for the actual conflict and sommetimes gives you the impression that you are reading a history book instead of a Novel. That's why Tolkien is actually not very good at creating entertaining and suspenseful writing and IMHO is heavily overrated. Tolkiens fame is due to the fact that he was among the first authors to write modern fantasy, i.e. a story set in a fantastical completely fictional world by his own creation, so he does deserve credit for that, but modern Fantasy authors who came after him did it in a much more compelling and entertaining way. If someone tried to get a book published today that copies Tolkien's style 1:1, including the 10.000 words inconsequential info dump before the story has even starded, publishers would reject it. I read the Lord of the Rings and I did kinda like it overall, but there were times in which I was severely tempted to put that tedious snooze-fest of a book down and never pick it up again. The pacing was horribly slow.
Rafael Cavalcanti I found Tolkien too hard to read when I was young and when I got older I chose to skip text that was too difficult to grasp. It was, to me, too much details to understand, and without the conscious choice of skipping text I’d re-read a paragraph too many times. I dont feel that word-intelligent, but I love lotr ‘despite’ the writing style, not ‘because of it’. Not saying you are entitled to your opinion, just adding mine. For balance.
@@chrisrudolf9839 Yeah, I kept falling asleep in the LOTR books. Then when Gandalf goes on for 200 pages about his adventures, you know he survives because he is telling the story. Steven Erikson is even worse. He'll interrupt a scene and talk about the history of the hill they are fighting on for 2 or 3 pages, and you forget what was going on. And he writes like an encyclopedia, so you can't even visualize what he is saying. "1000 years ago, General Karn and his 5,000 warriors held this hill from a southern invasion. The battle..."
The Pokémon world, in the anime is one of the greatest world building I’ve ever seen. Even though the story is very simple, the world around the characters is so alive and immersive that it’s just fascinating to think about.
The main problem with the midichlorians scene that I see is that it's not even well done exposition. What's it's trying to say is "There are these microbes that help us measure and connect to the force, which is still mysterious and magical." but it comes off as "The force is microbes and not mystical at all." which is a failure of the writing.
Yeah I always felt that either A: Midichlorians were the *how* of the connection between the force and force-sensitives, but not the what, or why of the force. Or B: they were merely attracted to force sensitives and didn't do anything at all beyond living.
Thank you to giving voice to what I've not been able to adequately phrase. Just now, I reread the page about it in Wookiepedia and... uuggghhh... talking about things like midi-chlorian count per cells, determining how powerful a jedi can be... especially with how Anakin was concieved by midichlorians, completely takes the impetus off of all the characters in the story. We could literally start talking about how the Jedi are like the Saiyans and other races in DB/DBZ. "Like: Why did Anakin beat Count Dooku in their final meeting?"
"Well, Billy, he grew up as a character, yes, but more importantly his midichlorian microbe to cell count was OVER 9000!"
Imagine if the original trilogy had been written like the prequels. The first scene would have been Leia and Capt. Antilles discussing all of the details of the plans, Vaders star destroyer, etc for 5 minutes while moving as little as possible and showing no emotion. On Tatooine R2-D2 would have told C-3PO all about his mission with C-3P2 relaying every detail to the viewer, etc.
It also adds a plot hole. Why don't people take a bunch of midiclorlians and inject themselves with it? Or run experiments? Why aren't the Jedi children tested when they come in? Why doesn't the empire test every prisoner or a bunch of people and get rid of the ones with high counts? Or better yet test all children and keep the ones who have high counts and train them?
When your exposition gives more questions and more plot holes then just staying quiet, DON'T say it!
I couldn't spell it better. Great job!
The discworld has some of the best world building in my opnion
I got one of those books and ragequited at the prologue.
@@Fif0l which one? I'd love to recommend another one if you disliked it.
The discworld has some of the best footnotes in my opinion.
ironicallynice amen😂
@@Fif0l don't leave us hanging
The Wheel of Time will always have a special place in my heart for its world- and magic system-building.
I really enjoyed the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. You start by meeting characters and they seek out the answers to weirdness, then when they find the answers, we as readers get the exposition dump. Perfectly follows the mystery and revelation setup talked about in the first video. Also helps that the answers they find are really cool.
I'd like to add a side-note to your side-note. The thing about Tolkien's essay on Hobbits was part of the preface, not the forward, however the important thing to remember is that the preface is superfluous to the actual book and is inserted at the end of the Return of the King just before the readings of the Appendices. He didn't incorporate it into the actual text of the story, and reserved exposition within the story to mostly plot relevant details.
The fact that LotR references things that would appear in the Silmarillion without actually explaining them is in my opinion part of why he was able to remain internally consistent and why his Legendarium is so popular.
David Gemmel's books are really good at world building. There are continual references to other broad events or characters and even if you've read all his stuff there's still a ton of room for you to fill in the gaps
The young wizards series by Diane Duane has some really unique world building by mixing sci-fi and fantasy elements. It has spells, ancient godlike beings, and talking animals. And it also has aliens, robots, and time travel. Another thing that sets it apart from other fantasy books is that they’re not fighting a “bad guy”. They fight a being called the lone power, who represents entropy (the eventual death of everything including the universe). A very cool series that I recommend to fans of both genres.
Made in Abyss revels in discovering the unknown and meeting new and mysterious characters. Exposition and worldbuilding is used almost exclusively for Intrigue, but it's also a crafty way of getting Relatability as well. Basically every character in the series is trained or ready to face truly horrible things happening to them, in a way that is fairly UNrelatable to regular readers. NOT knowing each character's backstory fully lets us relate to the horrors they experience(because they still feel fear and disgust) without us prematurely distancing ourselves by reasoning that their thinking is too alien for us to relate to.
Witch Hat Atelier also clamps down hard on exposition, using it precisely as the video states about problem solving and raising tension to the climax of character decisions. What each student knows and is taught extends beyond what the reader learns at any particular point in the story, and that's FINE.
Excellent video as usual Tim. I really appreciate your in depth analysis and I find that a lot of what you talk about helps me as a story writer in being critical of my own work and even helps me fill in gaps. Sometimes things you will say will also help me in confirming that something I had already put into my story was done well without me previously having someone explain that it was so it gives me more confidence in the strength of my story. Can't wait for the religion part 2 video!
Same man! His videos really go a long way to help me better understand the Art of Storytelling! It's so awesome! :)
The in-depth analysis of your series is truly remarkable and clever.
I like to listen to your On World Building series when I'm doing some menial task because it helps make it interesting and, as an aspiring author, it really helps me figure out how to convey my stories more effectively. Thank you so much!
capitalizing on that "Respect your audience" part; a point to bring up later is to underline how important it is to leave blank spaces with interesting concepts. obviously, don't make that for your MOST interesting ones, but just the ones that leave someone wanting more. as creators we WANT to satisfy these itches for our readers, but in doing so we take the joy of theorizing from them.
Consider this: you have a map of your RPG setting with all the places laid out with descriptions in your book of every single village and mystery. this is great for the first step when readers are getting to know your setting, but it leaves a lot to be desired for those who are ALREADY familiar with the setting and wish there was more to see once that setting is fully explored. Now take the idea of just giving them a breadcrumb for the smaller mysteries. here's a little village with the name of an ancient and powerful person stamped on it. it has a tradition from that time. how are they connected? is it tied to the BBEG? a coastline has an unexplained bite taken out of it, is the monstrosity that did it still nearby? how long ago did it take that bite?
Leave these questions unanswered for the final draft. don't kill that sense of wonder with your need to complete everything. keep those in your own world notes and as a secret to you while the readers or players want to know and come up with more satisfying conclusions than you ever will.
11:29 there's also another important part to delivering "between the lines" information, my knowledge of it comes from my game design experience: it makes your reader feel smart when they realize they were right about something you underlined earlier. and it's fantastic to deliver that experience to a player / reader.
also, I'd be glad to hear your pov about "The Black Company" by Glen Cook as it is a book with very to no exposition at the beginning and it was really intimidating to read the beginning as I was kinda confused (I loved it nonetheless)
also, also, thanks so much for this series of video, it's incredibly useful, well paced, full of useful information. I'm writing a story for a video game and I needed that badly :D
The death gate cycle has been one of the best world building I've read as a young adult and parts of it still resonate with me now as I've grown up. There were flaws obviously, but the majority of it was so well executed and really makes me want to be there to explore it even more.
To be fair James Luceno perfectly explains the relationship between the Force and the midiclorians in the novel Darth Plaguies. And the novel is bloody fantastic and a must read.
Problem 1: a book is not the movies
+Asanjawa Star Wars isn't a movie franchise it is a multi-media franchise and has been since its inception in the 70s. Star Wars also relies on its expanded universe to explain things that the movies glossed over.
@@JediAcolyte94 I know that, but people only see it as the movies
+Asanjawa Those people don't realize how good or how vast the Star Wars universe really is. And it is a shame as they are really missing out on a lot of good stories that rival, surpass, or exceed those in other fictional universes whether that be Marvel, DC, video games, or anime.
@@JediAcolyte94 True, but that's the problem with franchises who started/made their debut as movies and games. Most people don't actually look further into it which is a shame, and it's happening to basically all franchises like star wars, warcraft or warhammer
These videos are so great! Thank you for making them. ☺️
I literally be taking notes to all your content. High quality 👌🏾
Thank you so much for all your helpful advice. Just these videos on exposition alone have helped me so much with the first few chapters of a book I'm writing. Thank you :)
I really liked Patrick Rothfus' the Name of the Wind series, I just wish he'd write the third book already
Is he not already doing that? ^^
thats just a dream T.T
An example of a beautifully world-built series would be the Children of the Desert book series by Leona Wisoker. Some people say she goes a bit overboard, but in my opinion it was unique and vibrant and didn't get in the way of the story. Anything extra she put in an index at the end, so the reader could choose for themselves if they wanted to delve deeper.
Great video. Loads of useful tips that I'll do my best to apply to my own work. Can't wait for the next one.
3:39 hmm difficult to say, but I'm inclined to disagree. The explanation of the midichlorians is part of the theme of symbiosis or mutual dependence that we also see in several other parts of the film, which is meaningful to the story as a whole beyond the sole film. It links the natural with the spiritual (as in the more "classical" animistic and Eastern religions), in oposition and contrast to the cold and mechanical, later on even relating these ideas to the Empire and the Dark Side (or as seen in Anakin's transformation into Vader). Also, they only literally show one thing and explain another: That it's a way to see how much potential in the Force someone has (it had to be clear about why Anakin was special, the counting would leave no doubts about the "Chosen One" as he's compared to Yoda). What it explains is simply that "they communicate the will of the Force", the Force being a separate entity altogether, and still it doesn't explain what the "Force" itself is, or how it works.
Still, I loved this video, it was great and very inspiring!
Man, these On Writing videos never get old! And these Exposition videos are some of my favorites by far! :)
My favorite world building is probably the codex Alera series by Jim butcher. He doesn’t use very complicated words but introduces enough at a time that he redefines a set word or what that word can mean within the world.
Even though it might not be someone’s first choice, I really like the world building of Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Throughout the series even more is revealed and things aren’t blatant. You find out humanity conquered death not because the characters tell you, but because the second chapter starts with a character waiting for his friend to wake up after he died. Extra aspects of the world are revealed only when relevant, like the class of Unsavory. I just love the world in general and would heavily recommend it as a series to read
Just like to say received your book yesterday Tim and it’s a wonderful read! I never put two and two together and realised that this was your channel i was subscribed to..... Very strange coincidence as i was just browsing amazon when i purchased it.... Anyway great stuff keep up the good work helping authors realise their potential! All the very best!
My favorite story with great worldbuilding/exposition is Super Supportive on Royal Road. Sleyca goes above and beyond with making the exposition interesting and memorable and just... all of the above. Masterpeice.
I'm a big fan of Inkheart and it's been a long time since I read them but I remembered being very immersed in the world.
I love your content and helps me with my stories. Thank you
Terrific vid, I noticed I tend to use your tips not only when I screenwrite, but also when I'm making D&D campaigns and stories.
Thanks a bunch for the inspiring content.
Side note: oh how I love anything with some Avatar in it.
Two examples of good world building are the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and The Inheritance Trilogy (no, not THAT one) by N.K. Jemisin. Both use different sources for magic than the usual and it's intriguing. Also, anything by Neil Gaiman.
I just found your page and its been the only thing playing for about 3 days straight lol. As far as the question, my favorite worldbuilding stories is actually The Summoner Series by Taran Matharu. I love the universe he built and its definitely one of my favorite book series.
the world in Green Rider fascinates me, it is one that begins with no exposition but quickly throws you some in a moment of panic & high tension, making it less blatant, then builds the world up through the story revealing more & more of it's history & peoples, almost never through direct exposition, but rather through moments of reflection on the past, rumours of the past, or general dialogue, even sometimes from the direct problems, adversaries & challenges presented to the pov character revealing more of the world. I've reread that book more times than I can recall.
I love Hugo, it's a steampunk story (movie) of sorts but its great
I think one of my favourite series for worldbuilding exposition is Neal Asher's Polity series. Lots of information is given through short excerpts from in-universe speeches or adverts and such.
I love Underland Chronicles' Worldbuilding, it's just so facinating to learn and read about the cultures and relations between all the different races and what vermin are actually represented in this world.
i really like the Shanara Chronicles that i've discovered in high school. the world building in those stories have always kept me interested.
Robin McKinley's the blue sword.
One of my all-time favorite books. And one if my favorite authors.
The first chapter has some interesting exposition. You start with her sitting at a breakfast table thinking about how she is the only one there and why it is her habit to do so and then remembering why she is there and how she got their. All of it telling you just as much if not more about her then the world. The rest of the exposition you pick up in tiny pieces as she goes through the story. You even get a bit of a new language as she learns it. And by the end you want to know the legends that they hint at and how they would affect her.
But in general Robin is great at pulling you into a story where you don't know much about the world or the characters and find yourself dieing for more by the end.
The spindle's end is another of my favs. Also by her
The butler Ian jihad .. I know dune is not obscure but that part of the lore is so deep and so intrinsic to the universe and for his son and old editor I believe to make something that cohesive and solid from his old notes is truly amazing
Mine is from the game Tooth and Tail. Is a story of a cannivalistic revolution in a fantasy animal nation in which by playing under each different faction you get enough to understand and sometimes simpathize for everyone. Very nice gameplay too~
This is a great video!!!!
Best worldbuilding I've seen is in the trilogy by Becky Chambers starting with the long way to a small and angry planet!
have you referenced the inheritance cycle before; I don't know how well known it is but I loved it. sometimes it had clunky exposition, other times I think it was done well, usually explaining after the fact
Personally, the Inheritance Cycle was the first book series that got me into reading. I'd say it is decently well known, if not exactly known by name (most people I know who do know the series just know it as the "Eragon series", and usually only know the first two books). It's in that weird space between obscurity and simple lack of discussion.
damn, you put it so much better than I did, you also put a smile on my face
Great video! For the QotD, one of the best wordbuilt stories I've read that's not known well is probably Long May She Reign and I'm not sure if this other one counts as not well known, but also the Lunar Chronicles has really good worldbuilding too.
It is not obscure by any means, but Attack on Titan is a big inspiration for me, the worldbuilding and exposure is so natural and layered, that moment when you get a sudden info dump is the same moment there's a huge plot twist to the story, making it very memorable.
Mercades Lackey's Elemental Masters series is a good example of world building. Especially, the book Phoenix and Ashes.. That's a great one to start on.
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (part of Giver quartet, though I didn't know it until years later) and Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce. Also Victoria Hanley's The Healer's Keep and The Seer and the Sword.
One story that I really love is StarCraft lore. On this videogame, three races are expose on the way you can join it very much. But it is much clearer when you play the game than when you read it on comics or short stories.
I'm loving this channel! I'm catching up on old videos, so I'm late to this party, but D.M. Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo series (called The Foundling's Tale in the U.S.) is one of my favorites of all time...so much exposition, but most of that is separated out of the story in an alphabetized Explicarium.
I love love love the universe of the Nasuverse. Specifically Kara no Kyoukai. You learn things about the world strictly through characters. Any expositional dump is directly corrolating with a dark human issue like suicide, murderphilia, or PTSD. The magic system is incredibly dense and explains a lot of you go into it, but little of it is explained within the series.
For example, The main character can "see" how to kill something, but you don't really understand the depths of this power until your halfway through the whole series and retroactively explains why she could kill things that weren't even "alive". Usually this would be retconning, but the whole story is told out of order in a very engaging way.
Oooh to answer your ending question ive got to give it to the stone heart series. exposition is delivered out across all three books and the two leading characters both have significant and different roles within the world the story takes place
I actually love that series and the third book is one of the only ones ive read twice
The Oversight by the same author is also pretty good. It takes place in the same world, but from a different angle (and timeframe). It jumps off nicely from the world-building of the Stoneheart books, particularly the line about a city having multiple layers to it (the characters interact with a completely different one than the one of living statues, but other elements still show up, like Glints and parallel mirrors).
So there was this story done by a French autor named Pierre Bottero "La Quête d'Ewilan" . He wrote lots of books on the world he created with this first story and i must say it's one of the best i ever read.
Ps : thanks you for you'r work, you'r " On Writing: Exposition" series helped me a lots with my stories making me realise my mistakes and showing me how i could do better. Un gros merci de France ;)
At 4:52 you mention Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk and I applaud you sir. I never hear anyone talk about that series. BUT that isn't the cover of the book. That's a totally different author's series.
Absolute masterful worldbuilding in a maybe obscure set of fantasy books (only person I know read them was my friend who lent them to me) is The Death Gate Cycle, by Weis and Hickman. They're old, got them for myself second hand. 5 books. They are absolutely spectacular.
Literally just finished watching part 1 and SURPRISE part 2 is uploaded!
#clutch
Sanderson is a great teacher btw :)
The Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey is a long time fave of mine, as is the Belgariad by David Eddings. Lovely world building, great characters, interesting magic set ups.
I like the world in The Wind Singer trilogy. You’re never given the dynamics of the whole world, just what is relatable to the main characters. It’s not too flushed out and leaves enough obscurity
I liked the exposition in Six of Crows. It was the frist of the Grisha books I read and it did a good job of helping me understand the world, even though it was based in a small place. Also it helped explain how the cultures differ in both race and beliefs.
Joe Abercrombie's the first law is my favourite fantasy series. Wonderful worldbuilding
I find Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's series fantastic and they use the Guide for fun and creative exposition which, even if not in the same book, becomes related later on in the story and it also breaks the story up nicely when not much in the plot is happening between moment A and moment B.
The way lore is delivered in Tales of Symphonia is, I think, pretty fantastic!
I think an obscure series with really great worldbuilding is the live-action Zorro series from the 1950s. An excellent example from the second episode: Sergeant Garcia, one of the main characters, is putting up wanted posters with an illiterate private, who asks him what the posters say. The main purpose of the scene is to establish that a large reward has been posted for Zorro's capture, but there's a lot of subtle exposition on other topics as well.
In no particular order, the scene 1) shows viewers that illiteracy is not uncommon in this setting, 2) characterizes Sergeant Garcia by demonstrating that he is literate, unlike many of his peers, 3) characterizes Sergeant Garcia as somewhat lazy (he complains upon realizing there are still some posters left to put up), 4) characterizes the captain who ordered the reward posted in the first place (the reward for Zorro is double the reward of the falsely accused man he released from jail at the captain's expense), and 5) sets up a joke that is paid off in the next scene. Most of this is implied through the characters' dialogue and actions rather than directly stated.
The Edge Chronicles have some pretty neat bits of exposition that flow well with the narrative.
Yes, it wasnt possible for you to select a better time to upload. Just when i was in the mood of learning and needed something to watch while exercisising!
My favorite is the Seventh Tower series. Exposition is steadily built and it is one of my favorite series.
Great masterclass. Myself - I've been getting into the fantastically meta Amazon series, The Boys. The comic books turned out to be even better.
I love the World Building in the Wheel of Time series. On the one hand it can be extremely heavy at times due to the number of made-up words you have to keep track of. But it feels incredibly deep, and you get a real sense of there being a fully realized world beyond just what the author put on the page.
I get that I'm years late to the party, but I really appreciate these videos. I'm trying to write my own book, and I'm learning a hard lesson in subtlety. I can definitely say that I'm addicted to hard worldbuilding and I'm trying to temper my need to have entire books separated out just for the history of my world. However, I'm glad I'm learning how to be a better writer before i begin writing. So again, thank you.
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson has some of the best world building I’ve ever read!
Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter is my favorite, it perfectly etablishes the World its in and shows you with the unnoledgeble Charakter (english is not my first language so I hope thats right)
Love these videos! One small LotR lore bit, though: the Secret Fire is a part or aspect of Iluvatar, and it's what Melkor looks for in the Void (but he can't find it there because it is inseparable from Iluvatar, and the Void is simply where Iluvatar is not), and the fact that Iluvatar has (or is) this Secret Fire and Melkor does (or is) not is why Iluvatar can create beings (as can his servants) and Melkor can only corrupt or mimic what Iluvatar made.
i just recently started to read the gentleman bastard series and IT'S AMAZING. the world and how they explain it, leaving details in descriptions that expresses world building. i have no words for how good it is, you should check it out if you're interested in a semi-realistic fantasy book about smart boys/teenagers robbing rich people, mystery, wonderful characters and been just plain fun in a fantasy version of Venecia. i would go on more detail but i don't want to spoil it. love the video by the way.
YES. THANK YOU.
To answer your question one of my favorite world's is the world of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, while it takes place in our own world during the First World War the fictitious history combining gene splicing and genetic mutation along with a rich history of Steampunk allows for a world that is familiar while also being completely original and alien to the reader.
The Green Bone Saga (Jade City, Jade War, Jade Legacy) by Fonda Lee has tremendous worldbuilding.
Hello, coming to this party late as I just found your channel through Campfire.
To answer your question at the end of the video, The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks has some fantastic world building, which feels authentic and relatable. The series isn’t perfect, but I still highly recommend it.
I am rereading the Wheel of time series, and there's a couple of chapters in book 4 where we get essentially an infodump on the backstory of one of the cultures.Arguably a lot of it isn't even really plot relevant. there's a couple of bits about a prophecy and explaining some of their attitudes, but if you cut it out it wouldn't really change anything. Those things have actually already been brought up at this point, this just explains the backstory of how they came to be. The closest to a plot twist is the revelation that the group has a connection to another previously mentioned group which the reader probably never would have guessed.
However...its *really* effective because of its structure. The Main character gets a series of flashbacks to the POV of long dead people. Each flashback shows a short snippet of some sort of event, then flashes further back a couple of generations earlier. Because its through their eyes half the exposition is actually just setup for how that character - who we only see for a few pages - thinks about the events happening. But because its a brand new character in a new situation, interest isn't lost - you keep paying attention and absorb the new info quickly - and the info is good stuff showing how the world is different in each flashback (one commenting on children's stories about how there never used to be a war, or another remembering when he world was green, etc). And because its going backwards the 'twist' about the group's origins is revealed slowly as you see attitudes and norms in each generation are slightly different.
And each flashback lasts just long enough to keep your interest without feeling like its derailing the story, before it zips off to the next one.
For all the criticisms - legitimate and otherwise - that can be levelled at the writing in Wheel of Time, this is a legitimately excellent segment imo.
Worm, by J.C. McCrae is a popular webserial, but that's relative as pretty much all webserials aren't well known.
Worm uses exposition brilliantly, having the functions of their magic system (super powers) being a major plot point for the series, doled out in chunks that change the context of the story and advance the plot.
The Skulduggery Pleasant series is one of my favourites, and the world and magic system Derek Landy built for it is actually pretty easy. The world has quite a complicated history, which is reflected in the character's backstories. Reading the first book again with all of my acquired knowledge is actually a really fascinating exercise.
I don't think this world is not well know, but I just don't think I've heard you mention it yet, Narnia is what truly brought me into fantasy.
David Gemmell is a great example of superb world building. His Legend series for example shows how to create prequels too. His first book was the death of many protagonists but there was so much more stories to tell which were done through various novels later on. But throughout the reader is kept in tension, as you already know how these characters die. So it allows you to focus on other story elements and tension rather than being afixated on the fact that the main protagonist has plot armor, so he cannot die. You already know when how...or do you as death seems around the corner all the time?
Midichlorians also hurt Star Wars because the audience thought the force was just your force of will and you could be a Jedi if you trained.
The Phantom Menace just said, "Nah, it's bacteria."
Poisonedblade no
Except it was always a part of the lore that some people had the natural gift and others didn't.
'The Force is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it, my sister has it.'. If anyone who had the will to train could use the force, this statement wouldn't work.
I never saw it as a natural gift.
Japanese karate is strong in my family. My father trained in Japan and became a 2nd Kyu Brown Belt. I become one of the best fighters in CA and later went on to do stunt work for Marvel. My brother became a green belt.
No bacteria needed.
@@Poisonedblade
Are you sure there are no karate bacteria?
Because this story sounds infectious!
Elsa Frost, funny thing is that I do have a genetic mutation that gives me enhanced cardio, so I can train twice as long as other people. I thought they were just lazy. I ended up in the hospital at one point and they scanned me and found out my heart has extra muscles. So my backstory is more like the X-Men, than midichlorians. Then I felt bad for thinking everyone else was just lazy.
The worldbuilding in the alternate history series Leviathan by Scott Westerfield is really well done.
Best world by far for me is the one built by R. Scott Bakker in the prince of nothing and second apocalypse series. Definitely the most amazing story teller and world builder I’ve ever read and sadly someone most fantasy fans have never heard of
Hi. I'm a recent but big fan of this channel as I love your videos about writing and am even more inspired to fully write out the story of my own that I've been working on. I personally enjoyed the worldbuilding of the first installment of the Zodiac book series by Romina Russell. I would become a Patron but have no way to sustainably fund that kind of endeavor. I will however be a faithful viewer and subscriber (plz make a discord to include non patrons)
I love the worldbuilding of the sci=fi series 'Unwound' by Neil Shusterman, and of the fantasy Graceling trilogy by Kristin Cashore.
My friend recently refered to worldbuilding as world-bending. I think it was a typo, but now that's just how she refers to it. And I kind of like thinking about it that way too.
Also, I've been bingeing your videos while working on patching some plot holes. And oh my god, they've helped so much. Even if I've had to go back to the drawing board several times.
I like the world building in Nevernight a lot. Recently picked up the second book and it's great so far.
My favorite (lesser known) world is probably from the Firekeeper Saga. It doesn't really have a name, but it's got several different countries, each with their own ruling system and society, that, while, often familiar, are each distinct. But then every once in a while we get a wrench thrown into the works. A great example is with the royal beasts that live beyond the iron mountains, which is more or less the premise for the whole series, and the unique way magic is used. I can say too much without giving away some plot twists, but if you like books with a map in the front and a glossary of characters in the back, this is a good series.