Introducing your world to readers...

Thinking as a reader, I wouldn't enjoy reading a prologue describing the world and its various countries and the like, however interesting it may be as background information, before getting to the story itself. I'm a firm believer in explaining only as much as is relevant and/or required to understand what's going on. I know that doesn't answer your question about how to introduce this sort of information, especially when your characters actually travel to these countries, but the only thing I can think of is to try and make it come out realistically in dialogue or the story itself. If they haven't been to some of these countries before, they're obviously going to need a bit of information about it (or not, if you simply throw them into it ) which gives you an opportunity to explain to the reader as well. If the reader has information about the country that the characters don't, it likely won't be as interesting as discovering with them that the country is mainly home to cannibals.

Personally, I don't think that knowing that the world has 37 distinct countries is that important. Discovering foreign countries with the characters, however, is something different altogether. Does this help at all?

I have to be honest here... How does this knowledge advance the story?

In Dune, we are talking about an intergalactic political potboiler, and the control of the entire known universe, and it takes place on maybe 4 worlds.

Star Wars (all 6 films) takes place on about 10 worlds.

What do you want your readers to remember? Your story? Your characters? Or the fact that there were so many different names, naming conventions, and languages/cultures in your book as to make it like reading a...

well hell, I would have said a travelogue from our world, but I don't think you could design a journey that sent someone across 37 nations here on earth. Why would anyone want to read about something like that on a different world.


I'm not saying that to turn you away from your idea. I'm saying you've only got so many words. Let's say you go insane and make each book in your trilogy 100,000 words. That's 300,000 for all three books. Divided by 37 countries, and you've got 8000 words per character. That's what, 10-15 pages per nation each?

That doesn't seem like a lot of space to devote to each country, does it? Especially when most of those pages will be your characters doing stuff, right?

Why not go back into your story, and see where you can't tighten up your list of nations, into a couple of important lands, and the rest as just peripheral players. Check out Babylon 5. There's all sorts of races on the station, but we only deal extensively with 4-5.

I hope you find this helpful.

Alternatively: Do what Tolkien did. Just put a big a$$ appendix at the end, detailing the stuff no one cares about.

I just introduce my readers to the world by the MC's exposure to it.

Your insight is correct, almost everyone skips the prologue.

Tor editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden says: "Never tell the reader a fact before they need to know it or know where to put it."

Hope To The Horizon said:

But it will still get confusing if people don't have some idea what the characters are referring to when they mention different, less important countries.

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Nah, not really. They'll just assume that you're referring to less-important countries.

If you want a good example of this, read Perdido Street Station. *Tons* of concept names and place names, and you only learn what something is when it's absolutely necessary (since the characters already know all this stuff).

Going with the majority on this one - try reading The Silmarilion to see why.
You should also try to avoid the info dump in-story, especially when it's stuff the POV character already knows.

In speculative fiction, there seems to be a convention that readers don't expect everything explained at once. In the early stages of your novel, the significance of the countries probably matters more than the details.
Also, there's a certain acceptance of techno babble, or equivalent. So, initially, it's probably OK to initially use the names to evoke the scale and variety of your world, e.g. the origin, destination and cargo of a caravan might be a good place to show these off.

When in doubt, leave it out. Less is more.

Let the story take place as needed, dropping bits and hints of information as needed, and never before. Readers are (generally) smart, and can be dragged through mysterious places and names with no clue as long as the story is good. Actually, many of us can be enticed even more when we don't know who everyone is, where they are from, and what the cultural significance of their name/clothes/hairstyle/saddle embroidery are.

Infodumps are bad, and it sound like you have lots of info. In a limited way, handled deftly, they are tolerated. Too much can kill even the best story. Just think of all the detail you have when you are writing - an author who knows their world can write about it adeptly, adding richness and flavor in a hundred little ways, not one large block of text.

My favorite fantasy books are the ones that explain the fantasy world throughout the entire text of the story. I like stories that treat the world they are set in as though they are the real world.

How would you describe the real world to a reader, or to someone you are talking to in a letter? Would you go into great detail about the real world and its issues, or would you just talk about it like it was everyday?

Were I in your shoes, I would try to remember that, for the characters in my novel, the fantasy world they live in is normal, everyday stuff. So I would describe the said world as though it were everyday stuff.

The way that I find works best to me as a reader is for the author to describe things as they come up. This promotes a sense of wonder--at least within me--that a prologue just does not give me.


That's what I would say is the best way to introduce one's world to readers. Treat it like it is everyday, and give the descriptions as needed.

Read the first paragraph of the Hobbit. Perfect intro to a world and a race.

Ian D. Mecantie said:

The way that I find works best to me as a reader is for the author to describe things as they come up. This promotes a sense of wonder--at least within me--that a prologue just does not give me.

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Exactly the point I was trying to make, just a lot better said.

I agree too - keep the map, ditch the prologue. If you really, really have a lot left over to explain, stick a glossary at the end.

Many authors use an ignorant protaganist to help introduce the reader to the world. This is a character usually of simple birth or appears to be of simple birth, who doesn't know much about the world, and has to explore it and learn about it as you do.

Some advantages
Makes it easy to introduce readers to the world.
Easier to write.
Transforms the story into more of an adventure. (you are visiting new lands and experiencing new feelings. Much like in the Lord of the Rings when Frodo, Sam, Marry and Pippin need to explore the world.)
Makes the story more about the world.

Disadvantages:
Humbles your protaganist
Makes your plot somewhat cliche' (fantasy readers these days are angered by repetitive plots involving fantasy cliche's)
Limits you on the character of the protaganist.
Makes the begining of the plot begin in a simple spot (like a town, village, or other world.)

Some good examples are:
Magician by Raymound E. Feist
The Belgariad by David Eddings (I personally don't care for his work)
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (if you are interested in master world building, this series is a must read, starting with The Eye of the World (sold in mass production paperback as From the Two Rivers and Into the Blight))
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (I personally don't care for this author either)
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay (Amazing author, highly recomend his work. This is an example of a person coming from an alternate world to the world.)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you havn't read this than I really cannot see how you are writing fantasy. His books are a must read for any fantasy writer/fan)
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny (Zelazny does a unique thing here by making the protaganist start the story having amnesia. Another fantasy icon. This is an excelent example of how an author can reveal setting, character, and magic to readers.)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (another Icon, starts with the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (I have only read the first one, Assassin's Apprentice. She has a large fan base and is a very popular author, although I found her work not bad, but nothing special.)

Examples of the other side
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson (Starts with Gardens of the Moon. A large portion of readers give up on the first book since Erikson starts the books off with completly confusing readers. The book itself doesn't really make much sense until 300 pages in. I would say 1/3 people get fed up and begin to hate this book, and the rest read to the end and love it.)
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (Amazing book, the protaganist is a well traveled musician, and knows much about the world. Kay reveals the whole world slowly, and manages to successfully pull it off.)
Book of the new Sun by Gene Wolfe (A bit confusing at the begining, but the author manages to straighten it out, and you can adapt to the world fairly quickly. First one is The Shadow of the Torturer.)


Hope this helps.
~JBI out.