(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Marked and unmarked categories are a powerful but subtle tool of worldbuilding — so subtle, in fact, that we often don’t even take notice of them. Which is all too … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) We often like to think of religions as clear-cut things, with distinct boundaries between them. In reality, they’re often anything but; they borrow and copy and change and blend, in … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In creating a fictional polytheism, it’s useful to have a sense of what kinds of gods are possible. The honest answer to this is “anything you like.” There’s nothing inherently … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Polytheism is everywhere in secondary-world fantasy. While some settings feature a monotheistic church of some kind — usually one modeled on Christianity, as the word “church” implies — there’s a … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently powerful being may be indistinguishable from a god. What is a god, anyway? This is a question that … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In Aztec cosmology, warriors who died in battle or sacrifice were rewarded with Huitzilopochtli’s heaven, accompanying the sun in its journey from rising to noon. The western half of the … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Pregnancy is far more than just a biological process. And as any woman who’s ever been visibly pregnant can probably attest, every second person out there feels like they have … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) A few years back I was invited to speak on a panel at the American Library Association’s annual meeting, on the topic of “Technology and Science Fiction.” Since I’m a … Continue reading
I’m going to be honest: I’ve been delaying this post for a couple of years now because I know a goodly percentage of my male readership is going to go “ewww, not that,” and a goodly percentage of my female … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) One of the ways to think about the relationship between a made-up world and the real one is with the anthropological concept of a cultural sphere. The easiest way for … Continue reading
