Building A World

Storm on the Cathe is a fantasy but I want to create a world that doesn’t slip neatly or comfortably into a fantasy stereotype.  That’s partly a desire on my part to create something obviously “mine” but it’s also about giving the reader something new.  Of course I’m influenced by writing I’ve read and writers I admire.  I’m not sure any writer comes up with an idea that isn’t influenced just a little bit by someone or something else.

I’m trying to create a world that, whilst different from our own, is sufficiently comfortable that the reader can quickly feel at home there.  I want my world to be an interesting and colourful backdrop to the story and characters.  I don’t want it to “get in the way” or assert itself too strongly (except when it benefits the plot and reader of course).  Being comfortable in the world, the reader will be comfortable with the characters and that’s one of my main goals.

The first premise for the Storm on the Cathe world is that magic is commonplace.  Almost everyone has some ability and “craftsmen” routinely use enchantments or “blessings” to improve and protect what they create.  Medicine is as much about magic as science.  What is rarer, though, is The Gift.  Those who have a higher then average ability to change, control and manipulate their world using magic are said to have The Gift. It is these people the Mageblades seek out at the start of the book – because such potential cannot be allowed to develop without “correct instruction” and “guidance”.

Developing that premise, I have tried to imagine a world where the industrial revolution would not be necessary – because of the presence of magic.  Technology has only advanced so far because it is less necessary.  Steam power is not needed when the wind can be controlled, for example, so the society exists in a pre or very early industrial state.  Water is harnessed for wool and textile mills on a small scale.  Mass transport does not exist and the horse is still the beast of burden and transport.

If you imagine the early Napoleonic period, with a few Victorian elements intermixed, you’ll be about right!  It’s an interesting period to draw upon and the class structure and complex social etiquette that accompanies it features strongly in the story and influences the characters greatly.

It seems to be a world in which there are a lot of possibilities, for the writer and the characters!