Succor Punch - let's kick some monster booty
World building (for fantasy and science fiction authors) is one of the most important things to get right when writing a novel. My very first novel (attempt) was a sword & sorcery fantasy that had more than a little in common with the Belgariad, I'm not ashamed to say. Readers my age will know immediately why I loved Eddings' books so much, and hopefully more than a few of them will agree -- Eddings wrote books that read like Lays Potato chips -- you couldn't read just one. The Belgariad was my favorite of his series, though I will admit to LOVING the later standalone books - Polgara the Sorceress and Belgarath the Sorcerer the best. Partly this is because they were like revisiting old friends and partly because they were richer in texture than the other books he had written -- which I didn't realize at all, until I went back to read them later and thought - Hey - where's all that detail I remember?
It turns out that my imagination filled in a lot of blanks. It seems that my writing is similar in some ways. According to my mother, I don't supply nearly enough detail. According to my dad - there's plenty enough in my stories for his imagination to fill in the rest. Which brings me back to world building.
My opinion is that the more of a world you must invent, the more detail you must supply to anchor it in a reader's mind. I chose to write THE STEWARDS OF THE PLANE books based in a very realistic, every day kind of setting, and then I used devices and ideas that are anchored in the reality we currently live in to populate them. Many of these devices (plot devices and physical contraptions alike) are items that a curious reader may actually do more research and reading on if they choose to. I reference people who actually lived and places that actually exist. In a very particular way, the magic 'system' I write about in A QUARREL CALLED and A CALLING OF QUARRELS is based on real life science, history and metaphysics.
One of the devices that the reader learns about is the positive orgone generator or 'pog' which is more commonly referred to IRL (in real life) as 'orgonite'. I have written at least one post about orgonite before - check the tags on this article to find it if you are interested :-)
Another device I introduce in the second book, A CALLING OF QUARRELS, is a Scalar WAve Generator, or 'swag'. This device actually exists IRL and is called a Succor Punch. The name is two fold - meaning it packs a supernatural punch when the monsters under your bed won't leave you alone... and alternately this same device will provide 'succor' and protection when your body needs to recharge or realign its magnetic field. Naturally, something this juicy and effective had to show up in my books!
If you would like more information on Orgonite or Succor Punches, then I can recommend the Warrior Matrix forum - lots of helpful information there, and people who will help you make your own if you're feeling crafty.