Epic Worldbuilding

The best thing about Epic Fantasy is being able to journey into a new world. Through the eyes and minds of the characters, the reader is privileged to trek in a world of different beings and scenery; laws and principles; and be swept into a story of epic magnitude. However, this is not always as fun and exciting for the reader if the worldbuilding falls flat (along with weak characters). In many cases, it seems the author falls into the snare of being more in love with their worldbuilding than their characters, so as to have the volume of their world distracting the story.

With that said, there are many times where the world is pretty good, but the volume of the worldbuilding still seems to be louder than the story—or at least equal with the characters. I kind of equate this with music production. I listen to a lot of indie music, and there are cases where the music production is good, but not great. The band sounds really good, but the keyboard may be too loud, where the drums are not quite loud enough; or the guitar almost drowns out the vocals, or vice versa. It can be the same way in writing a story—where the worldbuilding seems to compete with character/story. In quality music production all the tracks are mixed perfectly together so that all the instruments and vocals come together as one masterful piece. It should be likewise in fantasy fiction.

Authors of Epic Fantasy spend a lot of time building their worlds, making every effort to convey what their imagination is producing. There are instances where an author’s world has many parts, aspects and creatures, yet they all don’t seem to tie together. It’s like a world where there is no gravity, and the author kind of grabs an idea that just floats by and throws it in the story for tension or because it sounds cool. It often bothers me when I’m reading a story and a monster just appears and attacks the characters. Such a monster was never mentioned before, yet we see that the characters know about it, because we’re in their head, and they’re disclosing the name of such a creature, but they’re not even equipped to fight it. But when the said character was strolling about, there was no hint of caution to be on the lookout for such a creature—yet it’s supposed to be a known threat in their area. When the people in the bush of Africa go about, they are cautious of the wildlife around them, they know the potential of encountering a lion or some other wild beast. They don’t just walk about unprepared.

So an author has to set the gravity in their world, pulling everything (laws, magic, economics, creatures, lifestyle, etc.) into order, so that it works and makes sense within the realm. Everything has to be grounded and believable within that world. Most readers fear the info dump, where the author inundates the reader with facts about their created realm, instead of just letting the characters reveal the world as we follow them through it.

The master of epic fantasy worldbuilding would have to be J.R.R. Tolkien. The man spent years creating a myth and the world (Middle-earth) to contain that myth. With all the races and elements he created to inhabit Middle-earth, Tolkien doesn’t hit the reader with explanations of the otherworldly things of his world, but starts with something familiar—like unexpected guests for dinner in The Hobbit. As the story unfolds, we go deeper and deeper into a world rich with ancient histories and workings beyond our own world. Tolkien does the same with The Fellowship of the Ring, starting the story off with a birthday party. It’s good to start the reader with something familiar before slamming them with the otherworldly—almost like warming them up to the new world before turning up the fire (yet without slowing the pace).

Without worldbuilding there is no background and setting for the characters. The characters know the world they're in, and it is through them that the reader experiences that world. The use of multiple viewpoint characters is essential in epic works like the Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire. The worlds in these two series are massive in scale (more so with the Wheel of Time). Robert Jordan’s work of histories, magic systems, order of societies and mix of races drives the reader deep into a world perfectly illustrated and realized through his characters. George R.R. Martin’s use of multiple character point of views fleshes out just about every aspect of his world—with more to come. As the reader persists into the worlds of Jordan and Martin, they enter farther into a world that they’ve grown to love, continuing to discover things they never knew or realized. And the greatest aspect of this is when one re-reads the work and discovers something within the world that they failed to notice before.     

  

In The Kingkiller Chronicle, Patrick Rothfuss’ masterful ability to use the first-person point of view and bring the reader into a world concept not usually seen in the fantasy genre is a refreshing experience. Rothfuss’ use of an interesting character like Kvothe sheds light into a world where people seem to really exist—buying and selling; marrying; working; going to school; hanging out—and the reader is privileged to experience everyday life, as well as the extraordinary life, in the story.

The power to immerse readers into an epic story is through the vehicle of strong worldbuilding. The tracks of plot are laid down for the vehicle to move on, and the characters drive that vehicle—with the reader in the back seat—experiencing a journey that will be endured and perceived differently by each person who rides along. The skilled restraint of the author not to reveal his world all at once, with forced, gradual detail, is tough to harness. When the author allows the reader to experience his/her world by freeing the reader to use their own imagination, yet grounding the world to plausibility in all aspects, the event of reading such a story is unforgettable.

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