The best books with the best world building

This is the first book by Terry Pratchett I ever read, and it changed my life, simply because it got me into reading his other books. Terry Patchett is able to breathe life into his characters in such a way that you’d swear you know people just like them. Who hasn’t known a Nobby Nobs, or Tiffany Aching? Not to mention his world is built in such an intriguing way, you can’t help but read on!

This book, really all of the Discworld novels, acts as a mirror to see our own world through the lens of the fantastical and absurd.

One of the earliest books of fiction I ever read, Andre Norton’s character Kerovan and his adventures has stuck with me ever since. The way she wrote the tale of a young outcast exploring a fantastical world of magic and myth and discovering who they are in the process was truly engaging. The world came to life through the eyes of the characters themselves. Ever since, I have loved the trope of the young hero who travels the world, exploring and learning. It is something I feature in my own work heavily, as I truly believe that the best way to grow a character is to have them get to know themselves and others.

What better way to appreciate what we have than to explore a world where fantasy and adventure have become just another corporate commodity. When the position of ‘Dark Lord’ is nothing more than the equivalent of a theme park mascot, is there any magic or mystery left in the world? Exploring the world from the eyes of its inhabitants, who are forced to give heavily scripted tours to wealthy people from other worlds, really brings to light how similar people can be, even across different cultures. 

When it comes to building a world the readers can get involved in, you have to be careful not to reveal too much in the beginning. You want to captivate your readers, have them invest more and more time into exploring the world, allowing it to open up. The Ropemaker shows how well a fantasy story can be written this way. The distant and frightful empire is shrouded in mystery as Tilja and the others begin their adventure, but said mystery is slowly dismantled as they progress through their journey, coming to understand their enemy by living amongst them, all while seeking out a way to protect their home from invasion. 

You cannot go wrong with a coming-of-age story, especially when the main character has to do so in a world so similar yet at the same time utterly alien and divorced from everything he once knew. The magical world grows and expands with every book in the series, allowing the reader to easily imagine themselves within it. 

It's the kind of story anyone of any age can enjoy, because everyone can relate to something within its pages.