mayhap: Lyra reads the alethiometer (Lyra)
mayhap ([personal profile] mayhap) wrote2013-10-04 07:40 pm

Friday fics — worldbuilding

I have a bunch of things from [community profile] fic_corner open in tabs, but have scarcely managed to read anything, being more occupied with a.) excessive coughing, b.) watching trashy TV and c.) feeling sorry for myself. However! Have a single, solitary fic that I did manage to read:

Worldbuilding (1006 words) by AdaptationDecay
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer
Summary:

"Frank and Helen are going to build an entire world from scratch, almost. I'm longing to see how they do it, but I never shall."

You could hardly have an assignment where a prompt for 'worldbuilding' was more appropriate. *g* I like the way it gently pokes a bit at The Magician's Nephew, which is a Narnia book that I enjoy on its own merits, but as an origin story for Narnia I find it full of fridge logic. Also the fact that C. S. Lewis thought that it ought to be read first is all the proof I needed as a kid that authors could be wrong about their own work.

[identity profile] houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com 2013-10-05 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
As to reading order, Lewis may have been tailoring his answer to his questioner. (We're told Jesus did a lot of that too!) The earliest reference I've seen, was in a letter answering a child's fan letter. The authoritative one was in answer to a US publisher who wanted to put numbers on the spines (common practice with series). So there may have been an element of "Well, if you have to ASK somebody, you're too young for Publication Order."

[identity profile] houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com 2013-10-08 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Books in the 1950s.... I keep remembering Ann Landers and Dear Abby, who often answered questions with: "If you have to ask ME, you're too young."