New Worlds, Year One

Step into a world of your own making . . .

Worldbuilding is one of the great pleasures of writing science fiction and fantasy — and also one of its greatest challenges. Award-winning fantasy author Marie Brennan draws on her academic training in anthropology to peel back the layers of a setting, going past the surface details to explore questions many authors never think to answer. She invites you to consider the endless variety of real-world cultures — from climate to counterfeiting, from sumptuary laws to slang — and the equally endless possibilities speculative fiction has to offer.

This volume collects essays from the first year of the New Worlds Patreon.