| Re: History in Fantasy
Well if you don't do your own world building and don't have any history for the backdrop of your fantasy then, in effect, you're world stealing. Brooks says he doesn't world build and that's obvious as the settings for the books I've read of his are completely unoriginal and, in truth, stolen from someone elses efforts. This was the main reason I only read a couple of his books when I was in my early teens and then went looking for original fantasy, not plagarised.
If you spend time on the history of your world it does show through in the book even if you don't info dump. Your vision is clearer and the level of detail can be higher which makes for a more immersive experience for the reader.
Like a lot of things, you don't have to go to the effort of building your own world and creating its history. But it'll show through if you don't and from my own experience I've found books where the author has spent some time creating his own world, mythos and history far better than those that don't. |