Iva Koleva
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois, Is there a map of the World of the Five Gods that also includes the locations for the Penric and Desdemona stories? I know you have mentioned that Chalion and Ibra are loosly based on the Iberian peninsula (inverted), does the similarity to Europe end there? I kind of imagine that Weald is somewhere around Germany, and Cedonia maybe Italy, am I way off?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Cedonia is vaguely Greece and Italy munged together. This world lacks an Italian peninsula as such, although I posit a chain of islands in their place.
I have not yet devised a map for this region, as I haven't finished making it up yet. Stories have to pass through to call their landscapes into existence.
The Weald as an inverted sort-of Germany is correct, and Penric's native cantons are vaguely Swiss. Further correspondences may or may not happen, depending on my tales' needs for pre-fab world-building. People should not get too carried away with matching games; this is not historical fiction with the serial numbers filed off, for all that I may use dismembered bits of history as plausible (or, sometimes, completely incredible, because history offers a lot of no-one-could-make-this-up moments) jumping-off points.
Ta, L.
Cedonia is vaguely Greece and Italy munged together. This world lacks an Italian peninsula as such, although I posit a chain of islands in their place.
I have not yet devised a map for this region, as I haven't finished making it up yet. Stories have to pass through to call their landscapes into existence.
The Weald as an inverted sort-of Germany is correct, and Penric's native cantons are vaguely Swiss. Further correspondences may or may not happen, depending on my tales' needs for pre-fab world-building. People should not get too carried away with matching games; this is not historical fiction with the serial numbers filed off, for all that I may use dismembered bits of history as plausible (or, sometimes, completely incredible, because history offers a lot of no-one-could-make-this-up moments) jumping-off points.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Matthew B. Tepper
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
An sf reader for >50 of my 62 years, I had until recently only heard of Miles. I'm now 3 books in (Warrior's Apprentice), & hooked. Work of this quality is why I read sf. Thank you for this great pleasure. I have minutes ago learned of Michel Petrucciani, a French jazz pianist of astonishing musicianship & refinement. He suffered from brittle bones, & was short of stature. Were you aware of his work before Miles?
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