Building Imaginary Worlds

Fantastic work on imaginary worlds. It may seem a bit detailed for authors, in contrast to scholars, but as a writer, I would say that if you really want to create great fantasy worlds, this is a great resource! One of the best things I got from it was how it showed that the best selling books typically had a well developed world and not necessarily the best stories. If we could create more stories that had well developed worlds and great stories, then we would provide more of what people are searching for. This goes into what kinds of worlds have been created fantasy, sci-fi, utopias, distopias, etc. and the components of those worlds such as language languages, cultures, maps, timelines, etc. It covers trans-media studies, porting story from one medium, such as book, to another, such as movie. It goes over a history of imaginary worlds and levels of authorship--including fan fiction and multiple authorship, though not in that order. So, yes, it is a bit involved, so if you love imaginary worlds in their various forms and/or someone who loves to create them and wants to create ones with more life, this is a book I highly recommend.

I'm using it as a text in a Grad Seminar I'm teaching. It's the best book of its kind! Highly recommended.

Solid compendium on an under-explored subject. New classic text for world-building. Just wish it weren't so expensive.

Very informative. Chapters could have been divided a little more, but overall it's well written and very educational.

Mark J.P. Wolf does exactly what he advertises in the title. He provides a thorough and comprehensive theory and history of subcreation.This is the benchmark for those who want to work with world-building theory in litarary studies or similar fields. From Tolkien's theory of subcreation or Nelson Goodman's philosophical approaches to the contemporary paths of medial studies; it's all gathered and explained. Along with James DiGiovanna's essay on “Worldmaking as Art Form”, Mark J.P. Wolf justifies the incorporation of many works of fantasy and science fiction into serious philology by providing the theory and history of subcreation. Maybe one day, authors like Tolkien will belong to the classical canon of english literature, mentioned alongside Shakespeare or Chaucer, and if this ever happens it is the result of the work by people like Wolf and his forerunners!However, if you are looking for a "how-to write a science fiction novel" kind of book, this is not what you are looking for, although IMO, any author of fantasy/science-fiction would benefit from this knowledge.

Purely for academic exploration.And I can't see any of the theory that I read being useful in the actual creation of imaginary worlds but I admit I only got about halfway through before my mind rebelled at the fact that I have my degrees, I'm out of school, and I don't have to read things this dull and abstract anymore.If you are deeply interested in an academic deconstruction of worldbuilding, this book is for you. If you want to worldbuild, I'd suggest a different text.

OK

Excellent work! It should be included on every required reading list for literature studies, media studies, writer's craft or even as a tool for hobby games like D&D.

Si te interesan los mundos imaginarios, necesitas leer este libro. Aborda el tema desde la "teoría de los medios". A los teóricos de la literatura les puede parecer bastante limitado, pero a los que quieren encontrar una buena introducción actualizada, no hay mejor manual que éste.