Tag: setting study
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Setting Study: Bayern from The Goose Girl
The Books of Bayern is a middle grade fantasy quartet by Shannon Hale, centering around the country of Bayern. The Goose Girl is the first of the series. The protagonist, Ani, is from neighboring country Kildenree, betrothed to a Bayern prince she has never met. En route to Bayern, Ani’s lady in waiting starts a…
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Setting Study: Here, There Be Dragons
Here, There Be Dragons is the first of a middle grade series by James A. Owen called The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. It is based off of the concept that many famous fantastical settings from books are real places, and that many of the heroes of those stories were real as well. An unseen…
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Setting Study: A Song Below Water
The novel A Song Below Water, by Bethany C. Morrow, is a YA urban fantasy story revolving around two young women living in Portland, Oregon. The novel creates lore that takes some liberties with real-world mythos to create a story about race and about being unashamed of one’s identity. The novel’s main allure in regards…
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Setting Study: Fennbirn from Three Dark Crowns
When it comes to conceptual world-building, Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake did well at integrating various core elements of the setting itself, with a few critical misfires that flubbed the ending. Still, the blend of various magics is unique enough, and its effects on the culture plausible enough, that it sets Fennbirn apart from…
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Setting Study: Gatlon City from Renegades
One doesn’t usually expect a rich world-building experience from a superhero novel, although one of the many reasons for it is that, most often, superhero novels are either based in real Earth-cities, or is at least situated in a sort of universe that is very Earth-like. In some capacity, it resembles that of an urban…
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Setting Study: The Dells from Fire
Although not a particularly rich world, The Dells from Kristin Cashore’s Fire (Graceling Realm #2) touches on many world-building elements that give it a realistic feel. The Dells, set apart from the Graceling Realm by nigh-impassable mountains, has its own unique magic system that comes simply in the form of its so-called monsters. The novel…
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Setting Study: The Harbor from The Starless Sea
The Harbor from Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is an interesting place as far as Narnia-esque places go. Set beside the honey-filled titular Starless Sea, the Harbor isn’t exactly one place, but one of many. Set apart from the “real world” by magic doors, it is a place of wonder and beauty. As the years…
Katie Bachelder 