Creating Better Fantasy Economies: Who Does All the Work?

Today I'm delighted to welcome author Kameron Hurley to the blog, with a great post on creating the economics of a fantasy world.

Thanks for visiting, Kameron, and take it away!

I’m a big fantasy reader, especially the epics. Sprawling canvas.Tons of characters.New worlds.New rules.Crazy, complex societies. Unfortunately, a lot of the epics I read often start to blur together. I find myself running into the same societies, with the same rules, time and time again. I find this tendency astonishing in a genre that has free reign to completely reimagine societies from the ground up.

But, hey, I’m just one reader. And a writer to boot. So instead of just saying “Here are the top fantasy economy/society issues that’ll throw me out of a story” I asked folks on Twitter, writers and readers alike, to tell me what they found most annoying or problematic in the fantasy economies and societies they read about.

Here are the top fantasy economy/society failures, crowdsourced on Twitter, with hat tips given to those kind enough to share:

1)      Women are accepted as frontline fighters, but nothing else in the world is different. No mention of birth control, or social mores that change the general patriarchal bent of the rest of the world (which of course always ends up still being there; like women get equality in war but nothing else? Eh?). No mention of how children are minded, or what happens when women become pregnant, or if there are social stigmas between fraternization, or if it’s encouraged, or any other of a myriad of ways that the acceptance of women in combat would also be a reflection of other societal changes in the world. Who does all the work off the battlefield? Is it also accepted that men work in at-home cottage industries?(this was my top annoyance)

2)      Everybody speaks “Common”/every country has a monolithic language. There’s no universal language on this world, and it’s not likely there’s going to be one on a fantasy world, either, unless it’s run by some mega fascist empire. And even then, it’s highly likely there will be regional dialects and variations. Sure, many folks spoke Latin when Rome came a’conquering, but they also spoke their native languages and dialects. It may seem easier, as a writer, to hand wave and say there’s a trader’s language, but doing that actually cuts a lot of potential tension and flavor. I remember being in a restaurant near the Alhambra in in Granada, Spain, and encountering a host who spoke four languages fluently and could have simple conversations with patrons in three more.  I found this far more interesting than, “The host spoke Common.” And it’ll add more texture to the world, too. Lots of plot details can depend on people understanding, or misunderstanding one another. (hat tip @foxvertabrae, @annelyle and @teresafrohock)

3)      Assumed literacy. The sad fact is that outside the implementation of a massive public education system, many people will not know how to read. The UK’s literary rate is 95% (Finland’s is 100%, FYI) but in Afghanistan, it’s 21%. The reasons for that are many and varied, but I invite folks to consider what the literacy rate of a country would be in an area where larger powers were constantly fighting over the resources within it. Unless a fantasy country has free public education for all (and how are they paying for that?), people who read will be rich, or perhaps priests or magic users – a class of folks with the free time and means to pursue this pastime. In addition, lack of literacy also means an increase in the status of people whose business it is to write and transcribe information.  Administrative assistants FTW. (hat tip @doughulick)

4)      Everyone of X race/species is confined to a single country.Populations migrate. They interact. They trade. One of the biggest problems with basing fantasy worlds on an assumed medieval world is that the medieval world many of us are served up in school was not actually a monolithic white Christian one. Our past has been systematically cropped, erased, and rewritten so it looks more like the one the folks in power aspire to, not how it actually was.  Trade routes and hubs and big cities draw people from all across the world. Faces, social mores, awareness of the greater world, will be greater in large metro areas, but even smaller ones will get travelers from elsewhere. The world has never, ever been a monoculture. Fantasy worlds aren’t likely to be either, unless you’re trying to be super ironic. (hat tip @RJSWriter, @metteharrison)

5)      Treasure/resource finds that don’t significantly change theeconomy. What happens when a dragon’s horde of gold suddenly enters the economy? The diamond trade in ours is heavily controlled by just a few companies to keep diamonds from flooding the market and decreasing the value of what’s already in circulation. And we don’t simply print money willy-nilly, or we’ll end up paying for coffee with a wheelbarrow of notes. So if there’s a major horde of gold or wealth that’s uncovered over the course of the book one, in book two it’s probably best that’s it’s addressed how that horde of cash has changed the balance of the economy.In fact, it could lead to some very interesting plot complications. (hat tip @jonmhanse)

6)      Static languages, cultures, and technology.This is a big issue of mine. Change happens. Technology changes. No society is static. One of the things I liked to explore in my last series, which takes place over the course of twenty years, is how technology in the world – and the state of the ongoing war in the background – changes during that time period. It adds an incredible amount of richness, and believability, to an alternate or secondary world.Remember that a piece of technology like, say, a smart phone, isn’t going to change one aspect of society – it’s not just that people can make calls anywhere. It’s access to GPS systems, information on how to fix a car, a camera, a video recorder, and oh-so-much more. Think about how smart phones have transformed the world and how we interact in just a few years. Now what would happen if there was a new spell that could plant farmers’ crops for them? (hat tip @nethspace, @alecaustin and @scottlynch78)

7)      Money systems that make perfect modern-day sense.  I’m not a money nerd, so had no idea this was such an issue for some folks, but it was mentioned by @annelyle, @originalnot, @doughulick and @scottlynch78 as a pet peeve. The history of money is varied and complicated; base metals as currency isn’t as standard as you think. And if you’re using base metals and they aren’t being weighed to see how much has been skimmed off the sides of each coin, well… People do all sorts of things to both verify and counterfeit money. A few minutes figuring out how that happens could provide some useful flavor and interesting plot complications.

8)      Lack of bureaucracy. When I research empires throughout history, from Rome to the Aztecs, what I find interesting is the high level of bureaucracy required to manage such sprawling empires – something which is often lacking in much fantasy fiction. What kind of official stamps or paperwork or additional hoops do folks need to go through to travel, or benefit from government services (are there government services. And if not, what happens to the poor?) How are taxes collected and measured? Folks who sail across borders without question, or sprawling empires that lack solid communication systems, may be a red flag for a lot of readers, and knock them right out. (hat tip @jdiddyesquire and @johnhorner)

9)      “World-shattering magic, strange elder gods, twenty different sapient species, but patriarchy is a given.” (quote via @wallrike) I often suspect that we as fantasy writers and readers have particular blindspots when it comes to worldbuilding, and not paying enough attention to changing social mores/roles is a big one. We’ll spend agonizing amounts of time figuring out religions and different species, but most of humanity still ends up white, and organizes itself into a general patriarchal, hetero-hierarchy. This is a massive blindness, because to be honest, this is not actually how we’ve spent most of our existence organizing ourselves. Humans have been around for over 100,000 years; the hazy history we quote from is only about 10,000 years, and as we uncover and sift through the past, we tend to make it look a lot more like the present than it actually was. Even just a quick look at the Minoans, the Hopi and Iroquois, and the Musuo, will go a long way toward expanding one’s conception of what’s possible. Especially when you’re writing… fantasy. Fantasy! Live a little.

10)  Monarchy as unquestioned (and celebrated) default.  Monarchy is actually pretty boring. And let’s be real, once again: this is fantasy fiction, and we can do anything we want. So it’s astonishing that when we have this huge fantastic canvas to work with, we default to monarchy. In truth, people throughout history have organized themselves into all sorts of ways, from oligarchies to full and representative democracies, collectives, and anarchies. Think outside the norm. Readers will sit up and take notice. (hat tip @mygoditsraining)

11)  Ignoring the consequences of war. War has massive consequences. It disrupts lives. Relationships. Often, it can eliminate or transform entire social systems. At the very least, war leads to famine and disease. Raising a mighty army composed mostly of people who worked the land the year before means that the year after the war, food production is going to suffer. Whole towns and villages will be displaced. Trade routes obliterated. War has consequences – it’s not just a vehicle to get the protagonist to the throne. Also consider birth and infant mortality rates on successive generations, as families are split up and access to proper medical care is greatly reduced. We should see the repercussions of violence, not only throughout an area or country, but throughout the world as disruptions in that space ripple across those it touches through trade and diplomacy. (hat tip @tammacneil)

There’s a whole host of stumbling blocks on the way to crafting fantastic worlds. The amazing thing about fantasy is that we have an opportunity to push the boundaries of our imagination. If a fantasy world is less compelling or complex than the real world, take a step back and rethink it. I want my fantasy as least as interesting as my history.

We have the opportunity to imagine something really different. Why not go for it?

ABOUT Kameron Hurley

Kameron Hurley is an award-winning writer and freelance copywriter who grew up in Washington State. She is the author of the book God’s War, Infidel, and Rapture, and her short fiction has appeared in magazines such Lightspeed, EscapePod, and Strange Horizons, and anthologies such as The Lowest Heaven and Year’s Best SF. 

Coincidences Examined.

Today I'd like to welcome the lovely Geoff Nelder, author of ARIA: Left Luggage to the blog. Geoff is here talking about coincidences as part of his blog tour for the release of his new book! Yay! Many congrats, Geoff!

Coincidences Examined

The old adage that truth is stranger than fiction can be difficult for authors who seek to enthral readers by teetering them on the edge with a barely credible plot. Consider these true accounts.

In the 1920s three Englishmen travelled independently by train through Peru. When they entered the carriage, the three strangers greeted each other. They were the only occupants of the railroad car. One man's last name was Bingham, and the second man's last name was Powell. The third man’s eyebrows elevated in shock then he announced that his last name was Bingham-Powell. They were unrelated. It is complicated to estimate the odds of those three meeting although it isn’t as astronomical as you might think.

Powell is the 85^th most common name with 77,000 people sharing it in Great Britain. Bingham is the 1588^th most common name with only 6,400 folk sharing it. So, the chances of the next person you see at random being a Powell given there are 60 million Brits is just less than one in 800. The chances of meeting a Bingham is over one in 9000. The chances of meeting a Bingham-Powell in Great Britain using today’s directory data is – gulp – over one in a million and yet I’ve met one. Interestingly, this book is in the British Library: Sanitary Progress in Peru and Bolivia, by H. J. BINGHAM-POWELL. Published in 1916, which brings me to that train. Given three Englishmen being in Peru in the 1920s, they are likely to be men of means who are probably professional engineers, businessmen or academics. Roads being what they were then their most likely transport mode would be rail. Trains didn’t run every day so the probability increases that they’d be on the same train, with maybe one or two first class carriages. The chances are better than you might have originally thought but somewhat more than a million to one.

It's Raining Babies

In 1930s Detroit, a young mother earnestly thanked a man named Joseph Figlock. As he was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto him. Both man and baby were bruised but unharmed. Fortunate indeed, but a year later, the same baby fell from the same window onto the hapless Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. Again, they both survived the event. If you wrote that into a story it would sound incredulous and contrived because the odds must be millions to one against.

Let’s consider the circumstances. Figlock was on his way to work so it was likely he passed under that window at the same time each working day. In other words the coincidence isn’t related to Figlock but to the infant. The mother probably followed a daily routine – e.g. rising, ablutions, getting breakfast ready, changing, and feeding the infant. A year on, the baby would not be self sufficient. At some point in that routine the infant was placed on a table near the window. Most days the window was shut but on a hot summer’s day maybe pa opened it before going out to work. So we’ve narrowed it down to the hotter days in Detroit. Conjecture, yes, but you see how the odds are reduced making this amazing coincidence more a predictable event. Even so, feel sorry for Figlock: infants put on a lot of mass in 12 months. I bet he changed his route the following year!

When discussing coincidences the Presidential coincidences relating to dates often crop up. These of Lincoln and Kennedy are worth repeating:

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

While living in the White House, both wives lost their children.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who (we presume) assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theatre named ‘Ford.’

Kennedy was shot in a car called ‘Lincoln’ made by ‘Ford.’

Lincoln was shot in a theatre and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.

Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theatre.

More coincidences but related to ARIA: Left Luggage

ARIA is based on something found on the International Space Station (ISS).

When I emailed a NASA employee about the nature of the struts, Leroy Chaio answered while in orbit on the ISS.

The novel was originally called Left Luggage and in the critique group was known just as LL. The publisher who grabbed it is called LL-Publications.

It worried me that another writer would hear of or invent the same unique premise of infectious amnesia. If they had, they’ve forgotten about it.

In ARIA an alien virus is removing the memories of humans so that eventually they cannot function. Why?

ARIA: Left Luggage

A moment of lunacy hit me cycling up a steep Welsh hill five years ago. An original idea: infectious amnesia. Not mass amnesia, but one you catch from being near someone else who also has it. Infectious amnesia doesn’t exist. Thank goodness, but imagine the ramifications if it did. You are on a bus when a man gets on with a new virus, one that loses memory backwards at the rate of a year per week. By the time the bus stops, all the passengers, including you, have ARIA (Alien Retrograde Infectious Amnesia). The driver has it too, and all her passengers until the end of her shift. You go shopping on the way home. Your spouse works in the power plant, your kids go to school. How long before industry stops, society breaks down, and your kids forget how to read, write and talk?

That’s why Mike Resnick, Robert J Sawyer, Jon C Grimwood, Brad Lineweaver and Charles Stross says ARIA is a fascinating idea, and makes us think of what is the most important things we need to remember in our lives. 

Geoff's website

Geoff on Twitter

ARIA: Left luggage is available from the usual online stores or direct from the publisher at http://www.ll-publications.com/leftluggage.html

Yay! Doctor Who Fans are Everywhere!

I'm over at Amberkatze's Book Blog talking about a few of the amazing things that have happened since I became an author (and when you read the post there, the title of this post here, will make sense *g*)

And there's a contest for The Shifting Price of Prey (or winner's choice of one of my books!) Int where Book Depository deliver. Ends Aug 9). So, why not go read and enter? Go on, you know you want to! :-D

Summoning the Night! (giveaway)

Happy Release Day to the lovely Jenn Bennett for

Summoning the Night


The fabulous Book 2 in the Awesome Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series!

Yay! Congratulations, Jenn!

And look! When Mr Postman brings me my copy, 'Put-Upon Hound' will pose with it just like this! *g* (Yep, the pic's 'shopped ;p)

"So, how do you know book 2 is fabulous?" I hear you ask.

"Why, because I've already read it, of course!" :-D

When Jenn's first book - Kindling the Moon - came out, I bought it, read it, LOVED it (Hound not so much, but hey, if it's not food, she's just that not into it *shrug*) then I stalked Jenn until she gave me suggested to Jenn that if she had a copy of Summoning the Night finished I'd be thrilled to read it. My nefarious plotting worked She said yes! Yay! And I can tell you, if you liked Kindling (and Cady, Lon (*fans herself*) and the adorable Jupe!), then you're gonna LOVE Summoning, which has lots more of all three, plus a super-cool story!

So in celebration of Summoning's release day and to spread the reading love I'm giving away a copy! Woot! (Full details at end of post).

But that's not all!

If the winner hasn't read Kindling (and is OCD like me likes to read a series in order) then they'll get both books. Or if the winner has read Kindling they can choose a different book from one of my fav authors (see below: includes me ... *g*).

So what do you have to do for a chance to win these two fabulous books?

Simply tell me in the comments what's been your favourite read, so far, this year!
(Full giveaway rules and details below)


So what are you waiting for? Go leave a comment and enter!

Here's a fun guest post Jenn did about authors' mothers for the blog last year (with added - unsanctioned - Buffy!) *looks innocent*

Check out Jenn Bennett's website
Jenn on twitter
Jenn's facebook page

SUMMONING THE NIGHT: Arcadia Bell Book 2 (Available now! Yay!)

MAGICAL TRICKS. DEMONIC TREATS.

After narrowly escaping her fate as a sacrificial scapegoat, Arcadia Bell is back to normal. Or at least as ordinary as life can be for a renegade magician and owner of a tiki bar that caters to Earthbound demons. She’s gearing up for the busiest day of the year—Halloween—when a vengeful kidnapper paralyzes the community. The influential head of the local Hellfire Club taps Cady to track down the fiendish bogeyman, and now that she’s dating red-hot Lon Butler, the club’s wayward son, she can hardly say no.

Cady and Lon untangle a gruesome thirty-year trail of clues that points to danger for the club members’ children. But locating the person behind the terror will require some metaphysical help from Cady’s loyal bar patrons as well as her potent new Moonchild powers—and she’d better figure it out before the final victim disappears and her own darkest secret becomes her biggest enemy.

Full giveaway details
-Tell me in the comments what's been your favourite read, so far, this year!
-Leave a way for me to contact you - email address (replace @ with at to foil the spammers), twitter name (no contact details means no entry, sorry).
-Winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified by email and on the blog here. If I don't hear back within 7 days from winner then a new winner will be chosen, so keep an eye out :-).
-1 entry per person (enter here or on my LJ)
-Giveaway open internationally where Book Depository deliver.
-Giveaway closes May 1, 2012, at midnight GMT time.
-1 random winner will received 2 books: a copy of Summoning the Night and Kindling the Moon, or if winner has read Kindling then they can choose 1 book from these authors:
Jaye Wells
Nicole Peeler
Ann Aguirre
Allison Pang
Chole Neil
Jennifer Estep
Suzanne McLeod :-)

A Long Strange Trip - Maria Lima - Guest Post + Giveaway

I'm thrilled to welcome the lovely Maria Lima to the blog today. Maria writes the fang-tabulous Blood Lines series with Keira Kelly and the gorgeous, sexy vampire Adam Walker. Blood Sacrifice - book 5 and sadly the last :-( - in the series is out on August 30th, and Maria's here to tell us how the series came about. She's also kindly offering a giveaway for one lucky commentator! (Int).

Congratulations on the upcoming release, Maria, and thanks so much for being here! The blog's all yours!

ETA: Winner has now been drawn and is:


Donnas who said...

Congrats on the upcoming release!! Looking forward to what you start on next!

An email's on it way to you, Donnas!


A Long Strange Trip

What a long, strange trip it’s been--to utterly steal the lines from the Grateful Dead. I mean, who knew just a mere seven years ago that I’d be (a) published and (b) wrapping up my first series? Not I--though my mother continues to insist she knew when I was a kid that I’d be a professional writer. Back then, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Go figure.

I love reading, so much so, that I toyed with the idea of becoming a librarian at one point. Then I found out that it required grad school--not necessarily a bad thing, but at that point, I was really, really sick of school and having to go a couple of extra years was just not on the menu. So I majored in journalism, broadcast and film, with an emphasis on TV and film--why? Because it was interesting. Employable, well, not so much. At least not in San Antonio, Texas. I could’ve done some internships at local TV stations or in radio, but honestly, I was pretty rootless and clueless when I finished college. I fell into the grind of corporate work, primarily in human resources. That said, I always found a way to write--whether employee focused newsletters or marketing copy, I needed to soothe that muse that kept hitting me over the head.

It wasn’t until I re-invented myself in late 1999 that I knew I wanted a huge change. I moved from Texas to the DC area to work in tech in mid 2000. I’d been a member of Sisters in Crime for years and already knew a ton of people in the area, mostly writers. They all encouraged me. So I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

My first short story, “The Butler Didn’t Do It”, was published in 2004, via a Sisters in Crime anthology. It garnered an Agatha Award nomination. My first novel, MATTERS OF THE BLOOD, followed the next year (via a small press, which eventually folded). I came very close to giving up after that--but at the very same convention, I met the person who kickstarted my writing career: John Betancourt, owner of Wildside Press. Wildside republished Matters, then went on to publish the 2nd book, BLOOD BARGAIN. Then, thanks to John, who entered into a co-publishing agreement with Pocket Books, both those books were republished by Pocket, immediately followed by the third book, then the final two.

A total whirlwind? Yeah. Absolutely. Kind of like my protagonist’s life, actually. Keira’s just sitting around and hanging out when things begin to happen to change her life--for the better. I’ve loved every minute of it. Now that the final Blood Lines book is coming out, what’s next?

I’m working on the audiobooks for the series (I’m doing the reading). The audiobooks will be issued via Audible.com thanks to Wildside Press. I’m also working on some other writing projects. The show goes on as do I.

What do you readers want to see?

###

Yay! Thanks for the great post, Maria. I ♥♥♥ the Blood Lines series, and I'm lucky enough to be reading Blood Sacrifice now as my 'treat book' for reaching The End on my own! Blood Sacrifice is a wonderful book, the best in the series I think, so all the Blood Lines fans have got a fab treat in store too!

Giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of one of Maria's books (winner's choice) please leave a comment for Maria: Either what book you'd like to see Maria do next, or your favourite character in the Blood Lines series, or leave Maria your congratulations!

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) August 30th 2011.

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

x/posted to LJ. Comment here or there. One entry per person.

Blood Sacrifice
The Blood Lines series - Book 5 - August 30, 2011

All’s fair in blood and war. . . .

Talk about wedding crashers from hell. Keira Kelly and her sexy vampire king Adam are about to tie the proverbial knot—sort of—when an uninvited blood relative shows up to cast a long dark shadow over the happy occasion. Adam’s brother Gideon comes bearing the one-size-fits-all gift of bad news: an ancient, convoluted Challenge thrown down upon the entire Kelly clan. It seems the dreaded forces of the fae have declared war on Keira’s family, and at stake is the land that is rightfully theirs.

But while the Kellys gather their troops in a historic San Antonio hotel to strategize, there’s mayhem back in Rio Seco. The old cemetery is vandalized, fires break out everywhere, and—worst of all—the Kelly clan matriarch and leader, Keira’s great-great-grandmother Minerva, goes missing. Should Keira risk breaking the Challenge rules by returning to her beloved home, or should she continue the waiting game that seems the only other option? With everything she loves, maybe even her life, on the line, she has only one chance to get the answer right.

Buy from:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Depository 
Or any good bookstore :-).
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