A new Novel et al

[Spidy]

Background:
No elves, dwarves, giants, magical creatures of any kind.

God is omnipotent. God has no name. God goes mad, excises the mad part of himself, not realising that the Mad Part has become sentient, but He does become aware of the threat of the Mad Part and excises Himself, only after realising that the Mad side has reached 49% control or thereabouts and any further and he loses control completely.

After the excise God goes into a huge coma, and of course so does the Mad Part until on awakening, after millenia between the God Excise Experiment and Man coming to the world from an exile from another war in another galaxy where magic saved them but no machines, space ships etc. God can't understand how Man got there but has to work with the situation. Man has developed worship of all sorts of gods and they have manifested into actual "Minor" gods but with limited powers, in the absence of "One" higher being.

God realises that to be once again what he was, he needs to build upon worship to draw on and rebuild his power and both he and the Bad God go on a path of trying to get worship. Both immaculately beget Sons, and a war of attrition ensues, Sonns with limited powers (like Jesus) but no sacrificial stuff happening, no prophecies, it is good v bad with human nature gravitating towards their likeliness. Man did not worship gods on the exlied world so all is new including magic.

Minor gods play roles on both sides to preserve power and influence and are good, evil and neutral on basis of self preservation.

The book itself is the story of the Sons set in medieval mode with magic of course, elements of godness harnessed by individuals. No male/female split, just magic.

Don't have an ending yet.

Why don't we collectively try and write a book, perhaps on this or a similar theme?

[cathar]

I'd like to but this idea never seems to work.

[JSUCamel]

I think a better idea would be to fully develop and flesh out a world in notes and then have people write a short story based on that world, taking place at different times in the history of the world.

Check out R.A. Salvatore's "Tales from Tethedril" for something similar. The first story was written by Salvatore, then various guest authors were invited to write their own stories with minimal overlap to Salvatore's stories. The result was a veritable timeline of Tethedril, with stories spanning from the creation of the two races to the end of their eons-long war. Salvatore's story took place in the early years of the world (but not the first on the timeline).

Neat stuff.

[Spidy]

Well, who is up for a fleshing out of the world, and all that jazz. I am keen to progress this and having different authors sounds like a good idea.

[JSUCamel]

Well, it's your concept. I nominate you ;)

Just think of any questions we might ask about the world and come up with an answer. Pretend you're RJ at a fan signing and be creative.

I think the best type of world to do something like this around has a central event (such as a long-lasting war, or if you want it to be on a smaller timeline, an election or something).

So what's the big conflict? God vs. the other demigods vs the Mad God? Give more details. What happened, exactly? How does God's benevolence affect his ability to help his side win? How does the Mad God's insanity help or hinder his side? What is the war over? How is the war won? Who are the fighters in this -- the gods or the humans?


What kind of races are there? Just humans? How about ethnicities?

What kind of religions are there? What is the moral and spiritual foundation of the people? From where to they derive their values and morals?

What are the civilizations like? Is this modern 20th century or medieval? Or is constant war keeping the population down to small numbers? What sets the different sides in this conflict apart?

What is the culture like in the world? Do people perform art for art's sake or do they only perform art in the form of spiritual rituals to bless/curse their warriors? Is there such thing as chivalry, or is it more of a male-dominated society that takes what they please? Are there music or paintings?


How many people are living in this world?

What are the seasons like? Do they have any adverse effects on the people? (i.e. cold-blooded races might have problems carrying on their side of the conflict in the winter, while the heat might drive humans into shelter)


What kind of problems might your people run into? Anything I haven't asked already?

[Spidy]

I'm going to answer these questions, thinking about the answers though is hard work. Stay tuned.

Side note, has anyone ever seen in a fantasy novel the prophecies of the evil sise set out in detail by the author and achievement of the prophecy by the evil side?

Rambling thought but I'm thinking could be a differentiator if not done before anywhere.