Worldbuilding In “The Wall Of Night” Series: The Medieval European Setting (2)
Yesterday I looked at my deliberate decision to give The Wall Of Night series a “classic epic framework”, which in turn drove the quasi-medieval European milieu.
I also said that in taking something that on the surface looked familiar, I hope to then emulate Emily Dickinson in approaching that familiar terrain at least somewhat “slant.”
For example, the Derai Alliance that garrisons the Wall of Night is alien to Haarth and has imposed both its own war and traditional enemy on the indigenous inhabitants. Several reviewers and readers have noted the wider cultural dimension this brings to the conflict.
If I focus specifically on physical setting, the locales I have drawn on to inform my world-building are also diverse. The landscape of Jaransor, encountered toward the end of The Heir Of Night, is strongly influenced by Central Otago in New Zealand.
Similarly, the Wild Lands beyond Jaransor are informed by vistas seen from Australia’s Great Dividing Range. And the River city of Ij, in The Gathering Of The Lost, which is built on islands and features many canals, may appear to reference Venice, but is in fact based on Bangkok and its khlongs.