Yuletide recs VII -- Worldbuilding
I was hoping to post my final two recs sets before nominations opened but they beat me to it! Here are stories where the background is richly developed, stories firmly set in their place and time, whether that's fantastical or historical...
Earthsea
The Eye and the Storm by Pene
'The cliffs there are a honeycomb of rock faces and tiny caves. Seppel set his treasure there. He rested curved sticks in hollows, placed shells carefully on ledges and glued shiny stones to rock walls in an instinctive and increasing pattern.' An unusual story with a strong sense of place, which feels like a lost chapter from Tales from Earthsea
Fairy tales
Keris By The Sea by Quillori
'At last he cast his eyes still further away, away from the city and the land and the harbour and out across the sea itself: out there, on the rocky shoals where only the most desperate fishermen now ventured, was the wreck of some great merchant ship, come from a far-off land, through uncounted storms and dangers, only to beach itself at last by lonely Keris.' This unusual, intricate set of tales within a tale constructs a history of the city of Ys, woven around pictures by Donato Giancola. Quillori imbues the whole with a wonderfully wistful atmosphere
Under the Skin by Fresne
'His smile made her think of the teeth of ice off the eave of a house. His gray eyes made her feel the bark of the winter wind off an icy mountain. His laughter made her think of the retort of rifles in hunting season.' A rich & atmospheric tale, loosely based on Melusine & other archetypes. A bit rough around the edges, perhaps, but worth a try for the wonderfully realised setting, a faded spa town after WWI (Adult)
Midsummer Night's Dream
Contagious fogs by Naraht
'The Pondeian libraries and their bookstore neighbor had together done so much tunneling under Wide Street that it was no longer entirely safe. Occasionally fissures would open up and swallow bicyclists with a flurry of loose pages (if they were lucky) or an ominous splash (if they were not).' A long languid meander through a wonderfully realised fantasy Oxford, which both parallels & inverts the play. Worth a try for the worldbuilding alone
Sunset Boulevard
Lebenswerk by Selena
'Max never asks Norma whether the man was actually her father, or at least could have been. She never asked him about his lengthy tales of life as an officer in the Austrian Empire, either. Neither of them truly existed before they came here, after all.' Max & Norma's relationship, and the rise & fall of silent film, charted in eight films. There's a gem of a Chinatown crossover, too. Clever & moving
The Tempest
Anemophilia by Anonymous
'They had a half-starved bull on one of the crafts and they led it out and it watched with its chin in its palm as the poor bony thing stumbled in the sand. It huffed and snorted and yes, led them up the beach, onto the plain, where there was the stream, cool and free from brine.' A fascinating, original take on Ariel's history through the ages. In need of a thorough edit but worth a try nonetheless
War for the Oaks
In Kind by Resolute
'And then, Diary, I lied. In front of this woman, this lady, and this sharp, handsome man, I didn't want to be Mathilde Ruby Ingeson, recently of Hibbing, Minnesota. I wanted to be new. I wanted to be something fresh and neat and worthy of the city. Worthy of the lady's attention and the man's smile.' Resolute builds a wonderful sense of gathering darkness in this prequel, which brings the 1920s to life in all its vigour and cruelty
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer
Earthsea
The Eye and the Storm by Pene
'The cliffs there are a honeycomb of rock faces and tiny caves. Seppel set his treasure there. He rested curved sticks in hollows, placed shells carefully on ledges and glued shiny stones to rock walls in an instinctive and increasing pattern.' An unusual story with a strong sense of place, which feels like a lost chapter from Tales from Earthsea
Fairy tales
Keris By The Sea by Quillori
'At last he cast his eyes still further away, away from the city and the land and the harbour and out across the sea itself: out there, on the rocky shoals where only the most desperate fishermen now ventured, was the wreck of some great merchant ship, come from a far-off land, through uncounted storms and dangers, only to beach itself at last by lonely Keris.' This unusual, intricate set of tales within a tale constructs a history of the city of Ys, woven around pictures by Donato Giancola. Quillori imbues the whole with a wonderfully wistful atmosphere
Under the Skin by Fresne
'His smile made her think of the teeth of ice off the eave of a house. His gray eyes made her feel the bark of the winter wind off an icy mountain. His laughter made her think of the retort of rifles in hunting season.' A rich & atmospheric tale, loosely based on Melusine & other archetypes. A bit rough around the edges, perhaps, but worth a try for the wonderfully realised setting, a faded spa town after WWI (Adult)
Midsummer Night's Dream
Contagious fogs by Naraht
'The Pondeian libraries and their bookstore neighbor had together done so much tunneling under Wide Street that it was no longer entirely safe. Occasionally fissures would open up and swallow bicyclists with a flurry of loose pages (if they were lucky) or an ominous splash (if they were not).' A long languid meander through a wonderfully realised fantasy Oxford, which both parallels & inverts the play. Worth a try for the worldbuilding alone
Sunset Boulevard
Lebenswerk by Selena
'Max never asks Norma whether the man was actually her father, or at least could have been. She never asked him about his lengthy tales of life as an officer in the Austrian Empire, either. Neither of them truly existed before they came here, after all.' Max & Norma's relationship, and the rise & fall of silent film, charted in eight films. There's a gem of a Chinatown crossover, too. Clever & moving
The Tempest
Anemophilia by Anonymous
'They had a half-starved bull on one of the crafts and they led it out and it watched with its chin in its palm as the poor bony thing stumbled in the sand. It huffed and snorted and yes, led them up the beach, onto the plain, where there was the stream, cool and free from brine.' A fascinating, original take on Ariel's history through the ages. In need of a thorough edit but worth a try nonetheless
War for the Oaks
In Kind by Resolute
'And then, Diary, I lied. In front of this woman, this lady, and this sharp, handsome man, I didn't want to be Mathilde Ruby Ingeson, recently of Hibbing, Minnesota. I wanted to be new. I wanted to be something fresh and neat and worthy of the city. Worthy of the lady's attention and the man's smile.' Resolute builds a wonderful sense of gathering darkness in this prequel, which brings the 1920s to life in all its vigour and cruelty
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer