Discussion How would you compare the world building of cultivation novels compared to game of thrones?

I couldn't see mount tai, until I read your whole rant and saw that he gave you a like.

 

That only applies to CN from China for some weird reason. You'll probably get a better selection from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan in the CN scene.

 

Why are you nitpicking?

Sure, now everyone knows GoT. Like, 22 years or so after the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire came out, all thanks to the TV series.
I can't think of any other Western fantasy resembling ASoIF. Could that be why I said "fills a niche"? Definition of niche, and an example of the expression filling a niche. I see no problem with the way I used the word niche. Sue me.

Are the examples of "intellectual jerking" coming yet?

I disagree.

 

When I typed that I had China in mind since that is where the main source of cultivation novels come from.

 

While I can agree that good characterization is more important than good world building, that doesn't mean that world building isn't important. The lack of strong world building is one of the main reasons that I drop books, and it's not uncommon that a book which neglects the one is also bad at the other.

Point of order: "A Song of Ice and Fire" is straight up War of the Roses England with a smattering of Reconquista Spain and with some ideas borrowed from Hadrian's Wall. It's not nearly as original as it may seem, and there are a lot of works which borrow from the same sources.

 

Do you only read fantasy or sci-fi? A lot of novels don't need world building.

 

I mostly read historical novels. World building is incredibly important.

 

Right! Well it depends what matters in the novel rather than in general still.

 

Elaborate? What examples are you thinking of? Are they fantasy? How far do you want to drive through the notion of originality?

I wouldn't name the setting or worldbuilding as the defining elements of ASoIaF, they mainly serve the plot and the characters.

Lack of originality does not necessarily imply lack of worldbuilding or more generally lack of quality.

For the sort of novels and books talked about in this thread, sure. I didn't intend to marginalize worldbuilding, just wanted to point out how for many webnovels character building is more vital.

 

I agree. My point was that ASOIAF isn't particularly unique. Hence addressing "I can't think of any other Western fantasy resembling ASoIF." There are a lot of fantasy novels out there which take a historical settings and transplant them as a fantasy setting, and a lot of them are done better. GRRM's strengths lie in characterization and plot, and those are what sets his books apart; not his world building.

Sure, but that's a bit like saying that water is more essential to survival than food. It's a facile argument that nobody really disagrees with, but it also doesn't say anything about how important food is.

 

It's not a facile argument if talking about webnovels in general. Saying worldbuilding matters in fantasy webnovels or books, that's redundant. I originally wanted to point out that in any webnovel character building is essential, but that e.g. in modern day settings worldbuilding doesn't always matter.

My filling a niche comment was about the books as a whole, not about the worldbuilding specifically:

So you can argue about how original the setting is, whether the author did enough with it, maybe you're right maybe you're not. That doesn't detract from anything I'm saying.

 

i think your comparisons are all wrong

why would you compare GoT to xianxia?

there are many other genres of work in cn

like wuxia which is much more similar to GoT.

while there are power levels and people flying around, few of these characters can actually stand up against an army.

many wuxia books are much better than GOT like the duke of mount deer, which is about how a powerless individual ends up both in a rebel society and as a close friend to the emperor

and then there is Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, which touches on many issues

 

Thats only to a point, though. World building doesnt necessarily mean i need to know what every city's main agricultural export is and how much money they make off taxes each year. Theres no need to be THAT specific, it's useless information. However, each world still has a set of rules, guidelines, or laws that make up the natural order, and those are things that should be fleshed out eventually, otherwise you not only have no clue whats goin on, but the author could suddenly be like " see this fire? Its made of cheese, now. Gravity? Thats actually a floating river that lives in a tree with its pet elderberry hamster. 2 + 2? Well, that obviously equals fish. Why? Because im the @$#%ing author, so it is what i say it is, and also because i forgot what i said it was over 1k chapters ago. Its not easy to remember this shit when you keep pullin nonsense out of your ass. Now, stop telling me how reality works, or what i said 4 years ago, and $+ off."

It's important to know how things work (to some degree), so you dont start sounding like an idiot. without any sort of groundwork in world building, all you've got left are a bunch of random numbers that equate to the size of their c-peen, nonsensical arguments with random asshats, and street brawls which are a dime a dozen in cultivation novels. Even if you can find minor enjoymemt in the qwips or brawls, thats not enough to call a novel good. It's the care put into making the world and characters feel alive. Without that, its just a waste of words.

 

Hahe you read books that focus on a single idea or experimental processes? They don't need world building.