Sources of Energy

Um, by definition an urban fantasy is here, now, on earth.

At least that was my understanding of it.

If its taking place off of earth then its something else.

Geothermal on a world that is more volcanically active than Earth?

Since your story is fantasy, is it necessary to fix and describe precisely what type of energy is used? In the few urban-type fantasies I've read, I can't recall the authors talking about how the phones worked. For example in The Dresden Files series, Jim Butcher has wizard Harry Dresden just get into his car and drive it. He uses telephones, hears his doorbell ring, etc, with no mention of AT&T or Shell Oil.

There is LOTS of mention, though, of the energy used for magical events. I assume you want normal people to just have things work, and not depend on a mage or paranormal force to drive them.

MMWyrm said:

Well, what about urban fantasy (meaning 'modern' fantasy in a city) in a different world? What would you call that?

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Fantasy.

Shadow is correct. Urban Fantasy, by and large, takes place on Earth, often in or around big cities. That doesn't mean parts of the story can't take place in another realm (part Jackie Kessler's Hells Belles takes place in Hell). But a good portion of the story is set in modern day Earth.

Fantastical elements set in a different world (al la The Wizard of Oz) is simply fantasy.

One of my housemates and I were recently joking in the kitchen about how his girlfriend "runs on tea." This led-on to brief banter regarding the concept of tea as fuel, and I decided (as something of an in-joke) to write-in an energy source refined from matter similar to the tea leaf, which is also consumed by the populous of my world as a beverage.

Just have fun with it. The general notion of a machine that runs on tea is absurd, but so is the notion of a car that can run on nothing but water. Despite this, some years ago an inventor developed such an engine for his car that ran exclusively on the clear stuff. He died not too long ago, actually. Some suspect an assassination; others reckon he was just unlucky.

So long as it's convincing, the punters'll buy into it.

MMWyrm said:

Well, what about urban fantasy (meaning 'modern' fantasy in a city) in a different world? What would you call that?

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You call it science fiction probably if it is science based which is how that sounds. If it is magic based, it's called fantasy. If it's both, it's cross-genre.

How about Telluric Currents. It's a real earth force, but perhaps it is stronger on another planet, strong enough to be used as a source of energy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluric_current

A telluric current (from Latin tellūs, "earth") is an electrical current which moves underground or through the sea. Telluric currents result from both natural causes and human activity, and the discrete currents interact in a complex pattern. The currents are extremely low frequency and travel over large areas at or near the surface of the Earth.

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MMWyrm said:

Well, Pthom, that's a way to do it, but I'm trying to create a very non-earth world.

Urg... do people not do this? Write 'modern' other worlds in fantasy?

I constantly feel like I'm making no sense.

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heh. The struggle to make sense is something we do as writers, isn't it?

I didn't mean in my suggestion that you should have Volkswagen beetles and princess telephones in your story. Doing so would place it solidly on 20th century Earth. No, I meant that in your fantasy world, your people (or fleebs or gormphs or whatever you have) would move about in vroomers (or whatever vehicle your imagination comes up with) that operate most of the time without flaw (just like VW beetles do for Harry Dresden) and the gleeminies don't think about HOW they work, until they break down.

I suppose if your story involves the breakdown of the technology on your world and it's an important plot point for a mechanic to figure out why the vroomer doesn't vroom anymore, THEN you might have to invent a fuel or other source of motivation.

But I really think you could just tell the story and have your characters get around using technology without dwelling too much on how it works.

How much energy do you need?
odd sources might include hot springs, you can say most every spring is hot if you want. There are special engines that run on heat differential and don't require steam. Phophorecence (sp) gathered from an animal source for lighting, blue radiation which is everywhere and powers the portals between worlds, fire, steam, animal power.

The tears of orphans.

coal, oil, peat, wood. nice and smokey
wind, tidal, geothermal. clean, quiet and very hitech.
nuclear fission. dangerous
nuclear fusion. safe, clean, quiet and very, very, very hitech

these can all be used to generate electricity, i assume you want electricity or have you imagined another form of energy? how about pocket watches and starships powered by artificial singularities?

One example comes to mind, although it's more of a science fiction story than fantasy: The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven. At one point in the story, our heros arrive on the alien planet and while exploring in an aircraft, are amazed that the natives of the supposedly advanced civilization still use "ground cars." This is a reversal of your theme, in that ground cars are 'normal' to the reader, but abnormal to the main characters in the story.

In a story I'm struggling with, my main characters are the last of some fifty generations of people who've lived in a place (world, if you will, although it's artificial) that is nothing whatsoever like anything in the reader's experience. The difficulty I face is to show this strange environment to the reader from the perspective of the characters in the story without using references to anything familiar to the reader. So far, I think I am mostly unsuccessful--most of my attempts so far lead to lengthy info dumps.

MMWyrm said:

Well, what about urban fantasy (meaning 'modern' fantasy in a city) in a different world? What would you call that?

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You might consider it "Space Opera" where the nuts and bolts have little emphasis--a la Star Wars, Flash Gordon, even the Dune series.

If there is any reference to travel between worlds, anyway.

Regards,
Scott

Wind, water and fire and light are all perfectly normal sources of power here on earth.

So, what if you used earth? They have some technology to capture the power released by an earthquake? It doesn't mean they're more advanced than we are, but their tech evolved in a different way.

When in doubt, pull it out of your fluffy bunny tail

MMWyrm said:

No travel between worlds, no space at all. It's not even as technologically advanced as modern Earth.

You know, I was just wondering about setting description really... if there are windmills, people would stroll past the windmills. If there are a bunches of orphans locked up somewhere crying, maybe my MC could hear them on a still night... that type of thing.

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Heinlein postulated a link to other dimensions to draw energy in "Waldo". Why not the same thing here?

I mean it would be magically difficult and a major industry for those with the talent to do that kind of thing. Stoves that radiate heat on command, powered by a mage-created link to another dimension. More efficient than wood stoves, perhaps, less demanding labor-wise--no wood to chop and carry.

lamps that illuminate the house of the more well-to-do, wagons that move without the aid of beasts of burden, sedan chairs that float on their own, etc., etc..

Regards,
Scott

MMWyrm said:

I was just wondering how people come up with something totally different, but completely commonplace for the characters in their world.

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What I end up doing a lot of the time is just writing the first crazy word that pops into my mind, and not stopping to explain, or even figure it out myself. It's so commonplace that I don't need to.

Then I go back and figure what the heck it means. For example (not energy related, but maybe helpful still), I used the term "odd-dayers" in my space opera recently. I didn't even know what it really meant when I wrote it. As I went back to revise, I had to come up with something, though, and I figured out that my human colonized planet only has about 15 hours in its day, and in order to better fit with Arcadian rhythms, people work every other day. The weeks are ten days long, with a three day weekend at the end.

I also figured out that odd-dayers tended to work more menial jobs, and thus and the word had sort of a condescending implication behind it. Now, I just need to figure out what "bell beaters" are...

Nicole

NicoleMD said:

What I end up doing a lot of the time is just writing the first crazy word that pops into my mind, and not stopping to explain, or even figure it out myself. It's so commonplace that I don't need to.

Then I go back and figure what the heck it means. For example (not energy related, but maybe helpful still), I used the term "odd-dayers" in my space opera recently. I didn't even know what it really meant when I wrote it. As I went back to revise, I had to come up with something, though, and I figured out that my human colonized planet only has about 15 hours in its day, and in order to better fit with Arcadian rhythms, people work every other day. The weeks are ten days long, with a three day weekend at the end.

I also figured out that odd-dayers tended to work more menial jobs, and thus and the word had sort of a condescending implication behind it. Now, I just need to figure out what "bell beaters" are...

Nicole

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That's "Circadian Rhythyms"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm

Regards,
Scott

Arcadian rhythms would be some sort of Hellenic dance, eh?

Or without the 'r' maybe it had to do with too much Molson's, or maybe not enough gumbo.