Marie Brennan
is creating New Worlds: essays on worldbuildingSelect a membership level
Vision Builder
$1
per month
Receive one photograph with each essay posted, taken from one of my trips around the world.
Book Builder
$3
per month
As Vision Builder, plus receive a copy of the ebooks when they are complete, in the format of your choice.
Topic Builder
$5
per month
As Book Builder, plus steer the conversation by voting in a monthly poll on what topics I should address next.
103
patrons$379
per monthAbout Marie Brennan
Step into another world . . .
Fascinating worlds are a huge part of the draw for fantasy and science fiction. Not just a kingdom with magic, but a kingdom shaped by the presence of magic. Not just a galaxy with aliens, but a galaxy with alien customs for your characters to screw up. A chance to get outside the familiar routine of your normal existence and imagine a different way of living.
. . . or build your own
My essays here explore different facets of worldbuilding -- including some many authors never even think to pay attention to. I got most of the way to a Ph.D. in anthropology, archaeology, and folklore before I left graduate school to write fantasy full-time, so this is me putting on my Anthropologist Hat and nerding out about one of the things I love most in the world. We cover everything from climate to coinage, from religion to residence patterns. Illustrative examples come from pretty much anywhere I've ever read about or taken a class on, which includes pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, Viking Age Scandinavia, Japan from the Heian to Meiji periods, pre-Roman Egypt, republican and imperial Rome, the Pueblo cultures of the American Southwest, Shang Dynasty China, the Islamic caliphates, pre-colonial West Africa, Iron Age Ireland, the Polynesian Pacific, England from about 1500 onward, and more. If you're a writer interested in adding depth and breadth to your own fiction, or just someone else who thinks the endless creativity of the human species is awesome, I hope you'll find things of interest here.
What does this Patreon produce?
I write a minimum of four essays on worldbuilding topics each month, which are posted to the Book View Cafe blog. Patrons receive a notification each time a new essay goes live, along with a photograph from my travels around the world (which cover not just a fair swath of Europe but Costa Rica, Israel, Turkey, India, and Japan) -- think of it as visual reference and/or inspiration. The photographs and additional material are available to patrons only, depending on your level of support and my total funding.
At the end of each year of the project I revise the essays and gather them into a book, which is sent as an early release to patrons at the $3 tier and above (including past patrons who supported me during that year). Five of these are available for purchase now: New Worlds, Year One, Year Two, Year Three, Year Four, and Year Five.
How does our support help?
The kinds of books I read for research are often not available from the public library, even with inter-library loan to help. In order to get really substantive material on a given topic -- not just the kind of thing written for a popular audience -- I often need to buy books online, which can run fifty dollars or more a pop if the text is academic enough. Either that, or I need to pay for access to a university library system (which is one of my goals in the left-hand sidebar). Your support therefore helps me go on educating myself about these subjects -- and that means I can write both better fiction, and better essays here.
Where can I find more details on the different reward levels?
Right here!
Fascinating worlds are a huge part of the draw for fantasy and science fiction. Not just a kingdom with magic, but a kingdom shaped by the presence of magic. Not just a galaxy with aliens, but a galaxy with alien customs for your characters to screw up. A chance to get outside the familiar routine of your normal existence and imagine a different way of living.
. . . or build your own
My essays here explore different facets of worldbuilding -- including some many authors never even think to pay attention to. I got most of the way to a Ph.D. in anthropology, archaeology, and folklore before I left graduate school to write fantasy full-time, so this is me putting on my Anthropologist Hat and nerding out about one of the things I love most in the world. We cover everything from climate to coinage, from religion to residence patterns. Illustrative examples come from pretty much anywhere I've ever read about or taken a class on, which includes pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, Viking Age Scandinavia, Japan from the Heian to Meiji periods, pre-Roman Egypt, republican and imperial Rome, the Pueblo cultures of the American Southwest, Shang Dynasty China, the Islamic caliphates, pre-colonial West Africa, Iron Age Ireland, the Polynesian Pacific, England from about 1500 onward, and more. If you're a writer interested in adding depth and breadth to your own fiction, or just someone else who thinks the endless creativity of the human species is awesome, I hope you'll find things of interest here.
What does this Patreon produce?
I write a minimum of four essays on worldbuilding topics each month, which are posted to the Book View Cafe blog. Patrons receive a notification each time a new essay goes live, along with a photograph from my travels around the world (which cover not just a fair swath of Europe but Costa Rica, Israel, Turkey, India, and Japan) -- think of it as visual reference and/or inspiration. The photographs and additional material are available to patrons only, depending on your level of support and my total funding.
At the end of each year of the project I revise the essays and gather them into a book, which is sent as an early release to patrons at the $3 tier and above (including past patrons who supported me during that year). Five of these are available for purchase now: New Worlds, Year One, Year Two, Year Three, Year Four, and Year Five.
How does our support help?
The kinds of books I read for research are often not available from the public library, even with inter-library loan to help. In order to get really substantive material on a given topic -- not just the kind of thing written for a popular audience -- I often need to buy books online, which can run fifty dollars or more a pop if the text is academic enough. Either that, or I need to pay for access to a university library system (which is one of my goals in the left-hand sidebar). Your support therefore helps me go on educating myself about these subjects -- and that means I can write both better fiction, and better essays here.
Where can I find more details on the different reward levels?
Right here!
Goals
$379 of $400 per month
I'll set up a private Discord channel for my patrons, where we can
have a more freeform conversation about worldbuilding in specific and
writing in general.
By becoming a patron, you'll instantly unlock access to 407 exclusive posts
188
Images45
Polls180
WritingsBy becoming a patron, you'll instantly unlock access to 407 exclusive posts
188
Images45
Polls180
WritingsRecent posts by Marie Brennan
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