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An Analogy is Not Worldbuilding
Last week I talked about how a message is not a plot. This week I’m going to talk about how analogies don’t add up to worldbuilding.
There’s nothing wrong with analogies per se. A well-used analogy can help lead your reader to your point, or just plain make them laugh. However, I’ve seen some examples of fiction where the author(s) have substituted an analogy for putting in the effort on worldbuilding.
I’m going to talk about two specific examples, one literary and the other from media, where I feel the writers copped out.
In Other Lands
My first victim is an award nominated YA novel titled In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan.
It’s a fairly classic YA portal fantasy, where the kid falls through the wardrobe/gate/whatever. The protagonist is really cool, and she resolves the classic YA love triangle in a way that actually makes it interesting. It has good reviews for a reason.
Where the book fell down to the point where it annoyed me was elven culture.
Elven culture in In Other Lands is basically exactly the same as Victorian culture, except that the women are…