The impossible to traverse landscape - an annoying writers crutch

[Overread]

So something struck me today as I was trying to get into a new book and that is how I've come to see how many writers like to make their fantasy world more contained and that one effective way to do this is to physically block the nation(s) involved in with some form of terrain that blocks their passage.

A sea too wild - a dessert too vast - a mountain range too high etc...

However what strikes me as odd and annoying in many of these cases are:
1) Where the people of the world clearly display sufficient technological ability to actually traverse those areas, even if in small parties not as a huge number.

2) When the opening part of the book starts to deal with characters within those impassable regions (undoing all the impassable and impossible the author introduced them with)

Indeed many times its clear the author things of this and thus slaps some ancient powerful and deadly magic on top to ensure that it really is impossible to enter that area. But what is odd is how many times this happens its an excuse not to penetrate those areas, but instead to simply write them off from the story.

Indeed I see it as a crutch for an author unable or willing to try and position their nation within a world at large and a desire to simplify the story into only a pair or so of factions/nations. I feel its a poor crutch too because our own history has shown that humanity and indeed life itself is more than capable of traversing most areas of the world with quite limited and restricted technology or even none-at-all. As such it seems strange to me when authors put impassable mountains in place with loud statements that no man hath ever traversed and returned when the people of that nation are far more advanced than your basic medieval world. Indeed such impasses would make sense for small villages or primitive peoples where there is less potential excess to invest into wandering such places.



The other factor is that many times they feel unneeded. You don't need to build a huge wall around your nation if your story in itself is not really going to deal with it; and instead is dealing with factors within the world. You can build the world smaller if you need to from the start; or simply focus the story and characters there.
Readers are more than willing to leave out whole nations from consideration if the story isn't taking them there, so long as when those nations are introduced there are good reasons why they didn't take action during the main events of the early series.

 

[Ursa major]

I tend to agree, but with regard to the impossible (in whatever circumstances), it's often seen to be (said to be) impossible purely because it is thought to be (at least by enough people to make it appear so).

For instance, how long did it take European sailors to "discover" most of the west coast of Africa? It wasn't even a matter of having to travel across a great unknown ocean: the coast was there to follow, but it wasn't**, not until later. There's also the issue -- and I think this applies to the Cape Bojador case -- that people are not often willing to risk something when 1) the returns are unknown; 2) it costs money, and a group of people***, to try.

For another instance, why did China (other than on a few occasions) not explore the world in a rigorous and continuing way? They had the resources, the manpower, but didn't seem to consider it a priority (perhaps because they could get all they wanted without doing so). Why did the consummate engineers, the Romans, not develop steam power? probaly because they didn't think that they needed to. (One has to wonder if Rome's borders might have lasted longer had they been able to use trains to deliver legions to points of conflict.)

So, basically, the impossible barriers live in the mind, not in physical reality. That writers don't suggest this, but create "truly" impassable barriers, is a problem, but that doesn't mean that their worlds are unrealistic.


** - From the Wiki article on Bojador:

The discovery of a passable route around Cape Bojador, in 1434, by the Portuguese mariner Gil Eanes was considered a major breakthrough for European explorers and traders en route to Africa and later to India. Eanes had made a previous attempt in 1433 which resulted in failure, but tried again under orders of Prince Henry the Navigator, who first sent him in 1424. He was successful after the second expedition. The disappearance of numerous European vessels that had made prior attempts to round the Cape despite its violent seas, led some to suggest the presence of sea monsters. The region's coastal areas quickly became a very important area for Portuguese traders, whose first delivery of African slaves to Lisbon occurred in 1434. The mythic importance of the cape for Portugal was captured in Fernando Pessoa's early 20th century work "Mensagem." In famous stanzas from this longer poem Pessoa wrote of the enormous costs of the Portuguese explorations to the nation. Capturing the symbolic importance to the nation of rounding Cape Bojador, Pessoa wrote: "Who wants to pass beyond Bojador, Must also pass beyond pain." (Quem quer passar além do Bojador, Tem que passar além da dor.) They thought the ocean was burning past cape Bojador but Henry's men went past Bojador.

The reason for the fearsome reputation of the cape is not immediately obvious from maps, where it appears as the southwestern point of a slight hump in the coastline, bounded at its other end by Cabo Falso Bojador, ten nautical miles to the northeast. Nor does what is said in the Sailing Directions sound terribly formidable: "Cabo Falso Bojador is formed by several tall sand dunes. ... A rocky shoal, with a least depth of 4.8m, extends up to 3 miles N of the cape. A rocky patch, with a least depth of 8m, lies about 2 miles W of the cape. The coast between Cabo Falso Bojador and Cabo Bojador, 10 miles SW, consists of a sandy beach fringed by rocks. Clumps of scrub top the sand dunes which stand about 0.5 mile inland of this beach. Heavy breakers have been observed along this coast at all times. Cabo Bojador, a very low point, is located 9.5 miles SW of Cabo Falso Bojador and is bordered on the S side by black rocks. From the N, the cape appears as a mass of red sand with a gradual slope towards the sea. From the W, the cape is difficult to identify, but from the S its extremity appears as a reef which dries in places and is marked by breakers even in calm weather."

Examining the Pilot Charts for this area, however, it becomes clear that the main concern lies in the changes in winds that occur at about the point at which Cape Bojador is passed in sailing down the coast. It is here that the winds start to blow strongly from the northeast at all seasons. Together with the half-knot set of current down the coast, these conditions would naturally alarm an ignorant and superstitious Medieval mariner used to sailing close to the land and having no knowledge of what lay ahead. In the end it was discovered that by sailing well out to sea—far out of sight of land—a more favourable wind could be picked up.

*** - By contrast, think of all those South Sea islands populated by people whose origins lay (the last time I heard) in what is now Taiwan. What drove them to leave, and what drove some of them to keep going?

 

[Overread]

Ursa that thought about the actual and the in the mind was one I was trying to formulate in my head whilst I wrote my post but for some reason got a mind blank on it so took the other pathway. But yes indeed a barrier hasn't got to be of fantastical proportions to be a barrier to mobility. I think for me its how they often take issue with how impossible it is; its impossible to the point where that whole area is simply written off by the author.

 

[soulsinging]

2) When the opening part of the book starts to deal with characters within those impassable regions (undoing all the impassable and impossible the author introduced them with).

I actually feel the exact opposite on this one. It really bothers me when the LATER parts of a book start to deal with those characters. It always feels forced or like a cop out. Two examples:

- the Aeil (sp) waste in Jordan's WoT series. This is when I gave up on the series in disgust. After 3-4 books of that part of the world seeming to be barren and irrelevant, Rand conquers his part of the world too quick for the publishers' liking and thus must seek new worlds to conquer! Of course, he is THEIR messiah too, is immediately wanted by the hottest woman in THAT tribe as well, and now the story must reset to fight all the same old battles over again. That was when it became clear to me that Jordan was milking a cash cow. Don't get me started on the sudden appearance of the Seanchan from overseas!

- At the risk of blasphemy, I've always kind of hated LOTR for this. After his minion is defeated at Helm's Deep and his black riders are driven from Gondor and you start to wonder how Sauron's going to conquer the world what with Mordor being a volcanic wasteland and his servile orcs on the run, Sauron just dials up "distant dark lands" and insources an army of evil dark-skinned (obviously) people. It's racist, it's a plot device of convenience with no groundwork that flies in the face of all his careful world-building, and it sucks.

On the flip side, it can be a great hook as an opener. I think of Game of Thrones, a series I read 4 books of just because that opening slaughter by the Others was SO creepy and awesome and I couldn't wait for the mystery of that unpassable land to be revealed. Of course, 4 books later I knew nothing more about it than I did from the prologue, so I bailed.

 

[soulsinging]

I think for me its how they often take issue with how impossible it is; its impossible to the point where that whole area is simply written off by the author.

I think this is something of a practical necessity and probably more common in fantasy. If you're trying to write an epic with a battle between good and evil, events must have apocalyptic implications. Our knowledge of the size of our planet and the time/difficulty of long travel between places in an era of limited technology (you mention steam railroads, but those were HUNDREDS of years after Rome and really only became common in the last 200 years technologically speaking) makes it difficult to "suspend disbelief." We start thinking of things like "how big is this planet and why do the gods only care about the white, western country?" The solution: they don't because there's nobody there. It limits the world to a necessarily manageable size in terms of plot and tech, while still maintaining an epic, universal feel.

Though now that you mention it, it IS odd that we automatically opt for impassable geography rather than just smaller planets, haha.

 

[aThenian]

- At the risk of blasphemy, I've always kind of hated LOTR for this. After his minion is defeated at Helm's Deep and his black riders are driven from Gondor and you start to wonder how Sauron's going to conquer the world what with Mordor being a volcanic wasteland and his servile orcs on the run, Sauron just dials up "distant dark lands" and insources an army of evil dark-skinned (obviously) people. It's racist, it's a plot device of convenience with no groundwork that flies in the face of all his careful world-building, and it sucks.

Blasphemy indeed! I don't think Tolkien's racist - he's not sensitive to the connotations as he would be if he were writing later, that using a traditional Dark/Light White/Black Good/Evil frame - as with the Black Riders, Gandalf the White etc would appear racist to later generations of readers. The convenience of Sauron calling on previously unspecified hordes further afield - yeah, I agree, but then do we ever hear much about Gondor/Rohan until they actually turn up in the book (or the Ents), and then there's the convenience of having all the dwarves and elves mysteriously tied up elsewhere.

 

[HareBrain]

I agree it's a bit of skimpy worldbuilding on Tolkien's part that it seems everyone in the east and south falls under Sauron's spell (why? What's he offered them?) whereas no people in the north-west has. One definitely gets the impression that there wasn't a lot of background stuff he knew about the Haradrim or the people of Rhun, etc.

 

[soulsinging]

Blasphemy indeed! I don't think Tolkien's racist - he's not sensitive to the connotations as he would be if he were writing later, that using a traditional Dark/Light White/Black Good/Evil frame - as with the Black Riders, Gandalf the White etc would appear racist to later generations of readers. The convenience of Sauron calling on previously unspecified hordes further afield - yeah, I agree, but then do we ever hear much about Gondor/Rohan until they actually turn up in the book (or the Ents), and then there's the convenience of having all the dwarves and elves mysteriously tied up elsewhere.

I know he wasn't thinking in those terms that way, but it still felt wrong to me, even as a teenager, that there's some enlightened west full of knights and civilization and all foreigners are basically just murderous thugs, regardless of skin color. But the bigger issue is the latter part... the Ents were new, but living forests had been foreshadowed plenty in the Shire. Rohan/Gondor were part of the council. Even the eagles were references and had appeared in the Hobbit. The dwarves and elves being sidelined never bothered me because it WAS supposed to be a world war and their power was fading anyway. But random armies from nowhere that came from literally "off the map" was too much for me.

 

[Overread]

But were there not people in the West who did fall under both Sauron and Sarumon? I seem to recall both had human helpers and factions under their spell not just including the Men from the East.

I think it was more that the Western conflict focused more on the heroes and resistance to the Dark Lord; rather than those men that turned to evil. That coupled with the fact that the Five Wizards appeared to have split the world into two halves and the three in the West had little to do with the two in the east.


That said it does bring home the fact that this feature has been present in fantasy for a long while - Lord of the Rings makes use of it with the Undying lands although I think gets away with it partly because it focuses its attentions in-land and isn't much focusing on the sea itself. So the reader isn't left wondering about the lands outside as much.
The East does seem to be a bigger barrier, although I'd say its not really a barrier, its actually the more normal/expected "area that is just not fruitful to bother going there much" for those in the West. Thus its never really explored.

 

[tinkerdan]

I would have to agree that if there are things like impassable mountains mentioned that don't get used later they really shouldn't be there. I can't say that I've read any that I recall; although if the rest of the story swayed me, I just might not have noticed.

Sure books I've read have mentioned impassible regions; but only because you know later on the MC is going to get thrust right into the middle of it.

I wouldn't call it a crutch or lazy writing; I'd call it an error in judgement.

But then; again: I have nothing to measure from, because I don't recall reading a story like that.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

with no groundwork that flies in the face of all his careful world-building, and it sucks.

But I think in the case of his world building they were already there. They just hadn't entered the story before in any meaningful way.

A lot of writers keep upping the stakes just when it looks like the situation is almost under control. In the case of LOTR, though, Sauron's armies from the east and south were introduced to the story long before the battle at Minas Tirith. Frodo and Sam saw some of them entering through the Black Gate in The Two Towers, and they observed others in a skirmish with Faramir's men a little after. (When Sam sees the Oliphant.)

 

[galanx]

As for Tolkien, it

- At the risk of blasphemy, I've always kind of hated LOTR for this. After his minion is defeated at Helm's Deep and his black riders are driven from Gondor and you start to wonder how Sauron's going to conquer the world what with Mordor being a volcanic wasteland and his servile orcs on the run, Sauron just dials up "distant dark lands" and insources an army of evil dark-skinned (obviously) people. It's racist, it's a plot device of convenience with no groundwork that flies in the face of all his careful world-building, and it sucks.

In all fairness it's made clear that the army assaulting Mina Tirith is not the full force of Mordor. After Pippin looks into the Palantir of Orthanc, Sauron, knowing the Ring has been found, is convinced that either Saruman or another great person has acquired it and so he launches a quick strike before he is fully prepared.

As well, the POV for most of the book is that of the hobbits, who had no idea of the full extent of Middle-Earth's geography; the whole journey is a gradual unfolding.

 

[galanx]

As for the black/white racism thing, yeah. Middle Earth is essentially Europe in the Dark Ages- I know that is a most un-p.c. term these days, but it wasn't in Tolkien's. Eriador is Western Europe; Arnor is the Western Empire, Gondor the Eastern (Byzantium). Rivendell and Lorien are the monasteries and other outposts of civilisation; Orcs are the Huns, Northmen, brigands and roving bands of outlaws.

So, the natural place for the Enemy is the East and South, where the great threat to Christendom came from.
(Not saying that Tolkien believed Muslims were devil-worshippers; we'll leave that to Chesterton)

And, given the geography, it's natural that they should be dark-skinned, and given Tolkien's background assumptions, he adds in the standard Orientalist features- scimitars, elephants, great horsemanship.

Though this should probably be continued in the Tolkien sub

 

[Kylara]

Dragging this back on topic and away from Tolkien (who I love, but... Topic people!) there is a fun series (my avatar is from the second) where the impassable mountains are actually really important.

1st book focuses on a bunch of people on one side, and the second with people on the other side (that explains some of the atuff on the other side) and the third back on the first side (with reader knowledge and first book people knowledge of "impassable mountains" being not necessarily "impassable" just super super dangerous to go over. There is a fun bit at the end that involves the "impassable" mountains but that would be spoilers.

The series is interesting in how it hops on both sides, and how it is just as much the mental "impassable" as it is the physical. And how important the mountains being impassable really is. But no more as I delve into spoiler territory. Very fun and interesting books though starting with Graceling if anyone was interested.

 

[Montero]

So - what is the series ? Sounds interesting.

 

[Kylara]

It's a series by Kristin Cashore, Graceling, then Fire, then Bitterblue. Quite nice writing actually, I'm still unsure if it falls into YA or not, but it probably is just beacuse of the ages of the protags. I really like them, and reread them regularly, but then I reread most things regularly! Part of what is called the Graceling Realm Series. It's a very interesting world, and clever uses of "abilities" (?) and you get the feeling there is a lot going on that could make further novels, no idea what she is working on at the minute as it is all hush hush. I do know that it has been optioned to be made into a film series, but unsure of who ended up with it and if/when it would be made.