I had ideas recently of making cosmology in my fantasy world, and to discuss alternate realities and the constellations of the planet of my fantasy world. I love space science, the study of stars being born and reborn, planets and their atmospheres , the shaping of constellations, comets and everything else you can think of. I saw this done by J. R.R Tolkien, creating a cosmology so distinct and beautiful. Such as a briefly mentioned topic has so many wonders. One of the many reasons why i wish he was able to do more. I had plenty of ideas to shape the universe of my fantasy novel but i was wondering if readers would have the slightest interest and scope that would make a difference. I thought making my own stars and orbiting moons would help uplift the scope and depth of my fantasy universe. Does this have valid place in fantasy? A few would say it's not important, but i just wanted the valid opinion from fellow writers on here.
It seems to me that a fantasy world should seem, well, fantastic. Anything we take for granted about the real world is something that can potentially be changed in a fantasy world to create a sense of the surreal. I think the stars and planets are good candidates for that. I've always been fascinated by the idea that the stars in Earth's sky have changed radically over our planet's history. The constellations the dinosaurs saw were nothing like the ones we see. Yet it was still Earth.
Depends on relevance of course. If it becomes a part of the story then naturally its important to the reader. if you just wanna have fun developing th depth of your world - go nuts. I am currently creating a fantasy world from scratch and drawing up all of its creationist history. Currently I have no idea how much of it will reach the reader, but it's helping me define the universe. An apropos example is my main dieties reasons for creating the stars and the moons as a way of commemorating a great battle - at least that is the legend. @peterC - The stars that the dinosuars saw were very different? I find that very hard to believe. Minor differences yes but even 400 million years is a minor fart in universal time terms. I don't think they'd be hugely different would they?
In the Elder Scrolls (video game series) it has an effect on gameplay and helps to immerse the player in the universe. Those games also have in-universe versions of Months and whatnot.
This question made me think of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. In most of his books, he spends a page or so explaining that the Disc sits atop four enormous turtles, who in turn ride on the shell of a vast turtle named the Great A'Tuin. Most of the time, this has little to do with the story, other than to help establish an idea of what kind of world this is. Personally, I would only insert this cosmological information on a strict as needed basis, otherwise, it can REALLY bore the reader. (Have you ever tried to read the Sylmarillion?)
The sun goes around the center of the galaxy in about 250 million years. All the other stars in the sky are doing something similar but not in synchronized orbits. Thus after a few million years very different stars would be visible than now. The stars we see now would still exist, but they just wouldn't be nearby and all the constellations would be completely rearranged. Sorry about the OT post
