World-building is harder than it looks.

Recently, I've gotten bogged down trying to read big fantasy books. I read one recently that was obviously trying to have a "Dune" like approach to world-building, and it didn't quite work. It didn't quite make sense, nor was it satisfying.

"Dune," to me, is the best SF book ever written. (No need to tell me you didn't like it--I get it.) All the parts fit, all the world-building makes sense. 

The thing you find when you try to construct a world is that is very hard to do without contradictions. Or rather, with life-like contradictions. What "Lord of the Rings" and "Dune" have in common is that the worlds feel real. They are one-time triumphs, in a way. Tolkien couldn't top himself, and neither could Frank Herbert. 

It also hard not to create a world that feels somehow simplistic. Even if you get the structure right, most of the time the fantasies I read feel shallow, Potemkin-village like constructions.

This didn't bother me too much when I was younger, but eventually the fantasies lost their appeal. Underneath the particulars, the generalities were pretty much the same. 

When I wrote "Star Axe," "Snowcastles/Icetowers," I was in thrall to Tolkien and R.E. Howard. I used them as a template.

Then the 25 year break from writing. In all of those 25 years I thought that if I ever wrote again, it would be fantasy. Instead, I had an idea of werewolves being part of the Donner Party and wrote that, had a very modest little success with it, found the horror community seemed to appreciate my writing, and off I went.

The one book where I tried to build an entire world completely fell apart. I rewrote it again and again trying to fix it, until it all became a jumble of words.

Truth is, I love telling stories--and I confess that I'm writing those stories to amuse myself. It's much easier to write a story if you already have the background in place, either the real world or a historical version of the real world. All the complexities and contradictions are built-in. No need to convince the reader of their reality. 

I mostly read thrillers these days. Last night I read the new Thomas Perry thriller, "Hero," and it was great fun. I fell right into the story. It felt comfortably familiar, but with enough of the complexity of the real world to feel satisfying. 

I'd love to write a big fantasy, but I'd need to build the world first, make sure that the story fits into the framework of the world, and not vice versa. 

It's a hell of a challenge.