case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2021-05-01 05:59 pm

[ SECRET POST #5230 ]


⌈ Secret Post #5230 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 48 secrets from Secret Submission Post #749.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(Anonymous) 2021-05-01 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem to me like OP thinks it's not good because it's based on a real world culture, OP is saying that the details taken from the real world culture are largely superficial, like borrowing place names and that's the not so good part.
philstar22: (Default)

[personal profile] philstar22 2021-05-01 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmmm. It sounded to me like the OP was saying it wasn't good because the authors weren't changing the cultures to make them more original, they were just basing them on real world cultures wholesale without any alterations.

(Anonymous) 2021-05-02 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure that's exactly what OP meant, but what you describe doesn't sound very interesting. I'm not saying it'd be impossible for such a novel to be good, but that doesn't sound like a great foundation for a great fantasy novel.
philstar22: (Default)

[personal profile] philstar22 2021-05-02 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
It depends on what the author does with it. There are plenty of ways to take a real world culture, keep it as is, and still create an interesting fantasy world out of it. Good authors can do that. Originality is good, certainly, but it isn't absolutely necessary for good fantasy. It is just one possible feature that makes for good fantasy.

(Anonymous) 2021-05-02 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
OP, here.

That's more or less what I meant :)

You're right that that book can still be done extremly well, because the setting is not the most important thing, etc., but in recent years I found myself increasingly frequently disappointed with books that were sold to me as "great" and where the less familiar world-building was the only thing that stood out and the rest was just plain old mediocre basics. And if you know anything about any of the cultures that have been used to cerate this fantasy!world, the cultural element is not that interesting or fresh on its own.

(In many cases, I honestly would prefer a better plot and characters with less "original" world-building, if for some reason I can't get both....)

(Anonymous) 2021-05-01 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
That was my interpretation as well

Although I kind of think, like. Worldbuilding is just superficial a lot of the time.