China Mieville’s books ‘The Scar’ and ‘Perido Street Station’ are great at giving information without hitting you over the head.
For instance, there’s a tavern called 'The Moon’s Two Daughters." From the description of the sign [two girls dancing around the Moon] we learn that Earth’s Moon now has satellites of its own.
Man, I tried with Perdido Street Station. I had it recommended to me, so I picked it up and got maybe halfway through it, but it just didn’t hold me. I’ve tried once more since then but it just felt like a slog. It’s super creative but I think I just don’t like the writing style. No judgment, you just reminded me of the minor shame of not liking something someone recommended, lol.
This is also probably off topic because I can’t load the YouTube video.
I was talking about the second Dune film a little while back and saying how much I enjoy a well realised world that doesn’t try to convey itself by comparing itself to ours. I get the same feeling watching Dune and Lord of the Rings as I do when I watch a film from a culture I’m not familiar with; a sense of needing to adjust to their way of storytelling.
Pairing this with what you mention which is basically extra subtle show don’t tell, and you end up with something I absolutely adore, which is a story in a fully realised culture I know nothing about, that understands that the bare minimum amount of that culture I need to understand to fully enjoy the story can be the best amount to have.
I was going to say how rare this is but thinking about it, it actually isn’t. Tolkien’s cosmology is fully realised and vast yet I learnt basically no fluff about the world that wasn’t necessary to the story. Sometimes I just had to make peace with the fact that I didn’t understand the cultural context, I could only measure it’s importance in the attitude of the characters.
[off topic]
China Mieville’s books ‘The Scar’ and ‘Perido Street Station’ are great at giving information without hitting you over the head.
For instance, there’s a tavern called 'The Moon’s Two Daughters." From the description of the sign [two girls dancing around the Moon] we learn that Earth’s Moon now has satellites of its own.
Man, I tried with Perdido Street Station. I had it recommended to me, so I picked it up and got maybe halfway through it, but it just didn’t hold me. I’ve tried once more since then but it just felt like a slog. It’s super creative but I think I just don’t like the writing style. No judgment, you just reminded me of the minor shame of not liking something someone recommended, lol.
To each their own.
This is also probably off topic because I can’t load the YouTube video.
I was talking about the second Dune film a little while back and saying how much I enjoy a well realised world that doesn’t try to convey itself by comparing itself to ours. I get the same feeling watching Dune and Lord of the Rings as I do when I watch a film from a culture I’m not familiar with; a sense of needing to adjust to their way of storytelling.
Pairing this with what you mention which is basically extra subtle show don’t tell, and you end up with something I absolutely adore, which is a story in a fully realised culture I know nothing about, that understands that the bare minimum amount of that culture I need to understand to fully enjoy the story can be the best amount to have.
I was going to say how rare this is but thinking about it, it actually isn’t. Tolkien’s cosmology is fully realised and vast yet I learnt basically no fluff about the world that wasn’t necessary to the story. Sometimes I just had to make peace with the fact that I didn’t understand the cultural context, I could only measure it’s importance in the attitude of the characters.
That’s the shit I love.