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<blockquote data-quote="Azuresun" data-source="post: 8635607" data-attributes="member: 7022312">For me, a really weird world still needs to feel like it's functional and coherent in its own way, rather than a sequence of flashy novelty. It's....like the difference between the Dying Earth novels (really weird stuff, but contributing to a coherent aesthetic and feel within the stories) and Axe Cop (&quot;Wouldn't it be SO COOL if THIS happened?!?!&quot;). Axe Cop works when the audience are just chewing popcorn as the lunacy unfolds, but as a setting where you're meant to get invested with the characters and look forward to stories paying off in a coherent way, not so much.I'm thinking of an urban fantasy series I started reading where, in the first book, we find out that the protagonist is an immortal druid, he's friends-with-benefits with a goddess, his best bud is a werewolf, his lawyer is a vampire, he's hunted by demons, a ghost is possessing a girl down the coffee shop.....and it just felt completely weightless. How do all these supernatural beings work together as part of a world with internal logic and consistency? Dunno. What does it mean to be a vampire here? Dunno, they seem pretty much identical to humans.Also, &quot;weird&quot; can too often turn into novelty for the sake of novelty. Replacing elves with psychic jellyfish is a surface level change, and it won't make a setting any more interesting if the psychic jellyfish are bland and one-note. It's why so many sci-fi settings basically end up with Space Elves, Space Dwarves and Space Orcs.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Azuresun, post: 8635607, member: 7022312"] For me, a really weird world still needs to feel like it's functional and coherent in its own way, rather than a sequence of flashy novelty. It's....like the difference between the Dying Earth novels (really weird stuff, but contributing to a coherent aesthetic and feel within the stories) and Axe Cop ("Wouldn't it be SO COOL if THIS happened?!?!"). Axe Cop works when the audience are just chewing popcorn as the lunacy unfolds, but as a setting where you're meant to get invested with the characters and look forward to stories paying off in a coherent way, not so much. I'm thinking of an urban fantasy series I started reading where, in the first book, we find out that the protagonist is an immortal druid, he's friends-with-benefits with a goddess, his best bud is a werewolf, his lawyer is a vampire, he's hunted by demons, a ghost is possessing a girl down the coffee shop.....and it just felt completely weightless. How do all these supernatural beings work together as part of a world with internal logic and consistency? Dunno. What does it mean to be a vampire here? Dunno, they seem pretty much identical to humans. Also, "weird" can too often turn into novelty for the sake of novelty. Replacing elves with psychic jellyfish is a surface level change, and it won't make a setting any more interesting if the psychic jellyfish are bland and one-note. It's why so many sci-fi settings basically end up with Space Elves, Space Dwarves and Space Orcs. [/QUOTE]

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