A.J. Calvin

Author of The Relics of War, The Caein Legacy, & Wraith and the Revolution

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    • By AJ CalvinPosted on Posted in Harbinger, Serpentus, The Mage War Chronicles, The Worldbuilder Diaries, Wraith and the Revolution, WritingTagged , , , , ,

    The Worldbuilder Diaries: Research

    This may come as a surprise to some people, but some research is required when writing fantasy novels. While you can make a lot of things work by saying, “Magic!” there are still other elements that should be based in real world fact.

    I do quite a bit of research while drafting any book I write. Sometimes that research is critical to the storyline, and sometimes it’s just for minor details, but it’s a key component of my process. In this edition of the Worldbuilder Diaries, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve researched for my books over the years and some of the resources I’ve found that can help with some of those searches (a list of resources can be found at the end of this post.)

    Creature Biology

    If you’ve been following me/my blog for any length of time, you know I’m a microbiologist when I’m not writing books. But a good chunk of my college coursework focused on things other than microbes; I took zoology, biology, parasitology, chemistry, genetics, and physics classes too—and I kept some of those textbooks for many years (I recycled most of them last year, but not before I got plenty of information out of them.)

    Those books helped me develop some of the features of my fictional creatures/people. When I needed to know more about constrictor biology for Serpentus, I turned to my zoology text and some online resources. When I was developing the Sevanni people featured in The Mage War Chronicles (yes, I’m still working on that series), I turned to my genetics book to determine the plausibility of their origins. I also like watching nature documentaries, which often give me ideas.

    While we’re on the topic of the Sevanni, I also used some real life observations to develop their underwater world and society. Scuba trips used as research? Yes, please!

    Combat

    Many fantasy books feature battle scenes, and most of mine are no different. But the thing is, I’m no warrior (the lightsaber battles my brother and I used to have don’t count.) Researching how a character would fight with a specific weapon was really important.

    Movies can be a great resource, but what I’ve found are even better are videos where experts critique the fight scenes in movies. You can get a good sense of what is realistic vs what is completely Hollywood nonsense by watching those critiques. I also found some great videos from the Smithsonian that also go into the history of specific weapons and why they were developed.

    Since everyone knows fantasy is sword-heavy, I’ll go back to talking about Serpentus here, because it’s different. The main character wields war hammers, and prior to drafting that book, I knew next to nothing about them. I’ll never forget the day my husband came home from work to find me taking notes while watching one of those Smithsonian videos I mentioned earlier. He walked in while they were describing the damage a war hammer can do to plate armor, and, well… Let’s just say he jokingly asked if he should be worried.

    Environments

    While I base many of my book environments on real world places I’ve visited, there are still times I need to research specific climates for my books. My travels have been limited so far, and my personal experience only covers so much.

    So far, the book I’ve had to do the most research for in terms of environments was Wraith and the Revolution. When a book spans multiple planets and multiple star systems, it sort of becomes necessary. Thankfully, NASA has a fantastic exoplanet database that also has information about each planet’s star system, if it’s in the habitable zone of said star, and more. I spent a lot of time gathering information from there (along with some of their other resources.)

    And going back to the nature documentaries, tons of great info can be gathered about biomes and ecosystems watching those.

    Random Other Details

    Everything I listed above would fall into the more critical elements of worldbuilding research, but what about something that isn’t so important? I’ve fallen into the research rabbit hole a few times chasing down details about seemingly mundane things.

    Like the mechanisms to operate castle gates. It wasn’t until I was writing Harbinger that I needed to know specifics, and it was for a minor detail in a single scene. I happened on a website that had a ton of information on the topic (which also happened to be a castle real estate company… Who knew that was a thing? It also turned into something my husband likes to tease me about. For the record, no, I can’t possibly afford to buy a castle, even the semi-ruined one they had for sale in Wales when I was first on their website. They’re way out of my price range.)

    But anyway, my point is that sometimes very minor details in a book might be the result of several hours’ worth of research—even when that book is a work of fantasy.

    Links to Some of the Online Research Aids I’ve Used*

    YouTube Channels

    Databases

    Informational Websites

    *I will update this list as I think of others, or as I come across new ones.

    The Worldbuilder Diaries: Research
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