Setting the scene

Now, let's get started on building your own world!

To start, we take an objective look at our first impression of the place.

We are introduced to our new environment with the things that we are likely to notice first—what time it is, what is moving, and what we can hear.

They came in to Leo Five out of the midday sun. Around them, starships rose and fell in orderly lines, their wings gleaming in the golden light. On the comm, they could hear subspace stations full of chatter; the crackle and buzz of communications; the non-stop whirl of activity in the world below.

Phoenix

Notice that for the most part, the language is not particularly emotive; instead it is mostly just setting the scene for the character to begin interacting.

This scene paints a great picture of a city/world bathed in golden light. But… it’s also midday. What colour is sunlight at midday? It’s white. When is sunlight golden?

Sunlight is mostly golden in the afternoon, when it is setting, and the blue rays are being refracted by the atmosphere.

If Lucky was really approaching Leo Five at midday, the light on the world below would be a harsh, flat white. (Have you ever seen the movie Gravity? That’s the colour of direct sunlight.)

And this is a tiny example of the difference between science fiction and science-fantasy: a science fiction author would probably want their story to conform to the laws of physics, whereas a science-fantasy author is basically writing about space wizards.

Let’s see how we could set the scene for entirely different worlds in the following examples:

Biff delivered lunch to the captain of the Ulysses IV, as requested, at midday. Around him, the crew busied themselves in an efficient dance, discussing the upcoming mission, tapping screens that bathed them in moving blue light. As he stepped onto the bridge, Biff could hear communication with the station’s flight control; the beep and hum of preparation; the captain quietly asserting orders to her team.

They settled into orbit around Grendel B in time to see the sunrise. Other interstellars hung perfectly still a few miles above the atmosphere, shuttles running back and forth to the black disc at the top of the space elevator. The etherchan was silent. The only sound was the hum of their ship’s life support systems.

Jola arrived at the Thyna Shelf mid-morning, right on schedule. Surrounding her was the ebb and flow of marine life, scales and fins and plants going about their business. Her nav device checked in to Command with a satisfying beep, as its detection matrix slowly pulsed in ever widening circles, quietly searching for intruders, invaders.

Write your own variation here.

Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 3: A whole new world