Writing Wednesday - David Eddings

Yet another one of my favorite authors is David Eddings. David Eddings was born in Spokane, WA on July 7, 1931 and died in Carson City, NV on June 2, 2009. Eddings published twenty seven novels. Most of these novels were in the category of epic fantasy, though three of those novels published were outside the fantasy genre.

Eddings wrote five major series: the Belgariad, the Mallorean, the Elenium, the Tamuli, and the Dreamers. While I don't know much about the Dreamers, I know the other four very well. I've read those sixteen books repeatedly over the last several years. The Belgariad and the Mallorean follow the adventures of Belgarion, a scullery boy turned king, and his family. The Elenium and the Tamuli follow the aging knight Sparhawk on his adventures across two continents and the war between two primal forces of the universe that he's a pawn in.

There are ancillary tales to the Belgariad and the Mallorean: Belagarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress, and the Rivan Codex. Though the Rivan Codex is less a story and more a blueprint to the Belgariad and the Mallorean. I've also read all three of these books numerous times.

David Eddings wrote most of his books with the help of his wife Leigh. She passed away in 2007 from a series of strokes. Eddings still continued writing after her death, though the manuscript he was working on was never finished or published. Rather it, and most of his papers, were donated to Reed College in Portland, OR.

Eddings first stirrings of writing in the fantasy genre were generated by him doodling a map early one morning before he went to work. He put it aside for several years before seeing a copy of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy in a book store made him realize that perhaps the world of fantasy might hold some acclaim for him. He began annotating and refining that previously forgotten sketch and eventually it became the basis for his world of Aloria, in the Belgariad and Mallorean.

I don't remember when I first discovered David Eddings. I just know I devoured every book of his that I could get my hands on. I checked them out from the library over and over again, and at one point I owned every fantasy book he'd written except for the Dreamers series. Over the years I've since lost my collection but I look forward to the day when I can once again claim ownership of Eddings' works. Though now I'll probably have to hunt down his Dreamers series just so I can see what they're about.

Saturday Story Building - Creating your world

What is the hardest part of being a fantasy/sci fi author? To me, and this is my opinion only, I think the hardest part is building the world you want your characters to inhabit. There is so much detail to work out, and you never put all of that detail into your books. At least, I would hope you didn't put all of that into your books.

The most comprehensive version of world building put into a print form comes from David and Leigh Eddings in the publication of their The Rivan Codex. Into this book they put all the details they came up with for the world that the characters of the Belgariad and the Mallorean series inhabited. Not all the details were used in the books, but enough of them were there to establish that this was a populated world and each race was unique.

The grandest scope of world building, from what I've read, is a toss up between J.R.R. Tolkien and his Middle Earth and George R.R. Martin and his Westeros. The details needed to create the rich tapestries that make up those worlds is astounding.

I'm discovering this as I work to build Aleran. There are so many details to work out, details that will probably never end up in the story but are still essential for me to know. Races, lands, laws, coinage, mannerisms, costumes. All of these things need to be worked out. Thankfully I'm able to do so with a little help from Himself, who has built many worlds for his D&D campaigns.

What world building tips do you have? Mine is keep a spreadsheet of ideas that you're using. The more you expand on them, the better you'll do.