What is it all about?

These questions don't get easier do they?

In my mind, Palurin is as vast and wizened a world as Arda (for non-Tolkien nerds, that's the world of Tolkien's Legendarium, which Middle Earth is a part of). The only difference between Arda and Palurin is that Tolkien has got nearly a century on me!

Of course that's not the only difference, but you know where my ego's at, and where my goal is.

As an early teen, manipulated by the worlds of Greek Myths, Tolkien, Lewis, Le Guin, Rowling, Ghibli, and so on, I found myself wanting to join them and live in their worlds. I wanted to create places where other people could get lost and have adventures.

Which is probably why a lot of my early characters are loosely based on people I knew, and friends, and classmates, and bullies. That was me trying to make my reality a fantasy, or vice-versa, I'm sure. There were illustrations, short tales, some which survive to this day.

I didn't stop, even when I went into higher education, little did I know how under-developed everything was, looking back at it now. A version of my world was pinned to my wall in multiple A4 Sheets of white paper, but there was so much blank space it was needlessly big, but I knew that's how big I wanted it. It was in those days that I decided that Palurin would resemble our world more-so than most other fantasy maps I'd seen previously, and I tried to justify it to myself by making up a nonsensical plot that Palurin existed in the third Universe, and we're in the fifth.

The premise went, if the Universe continually expands and contracts, then there have been Universes before this Universe, and there will be Universes after. Of course there's no research behind this, it's just a writer's way of explaining things after hearing some 'science' about it.

I suppose if you look at it, I could say that Arda existed in one of those Universes - but I'm pushing my luck with it all.

What I'm trying to say, is that Palurin is big, I mean really BIG, and I hope to one day show you all around.

Of course I've aged, and in my thirties I understand that there's no way I could possibly write all the stories of my world down (but that won't stop me from trying!). Also, as I've matured, so has my style been manipulated. There's more peril in my world, there's more realism, there's more sadness, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Of course it alienates a large audience who don't necessarily want to read Adult Fantasy which, in theory, has no boundaries, but I believe, that with all the sadness, and violence, and pain, it makes the positive aspects so much more sweeter.

Love is true, and fought for, Justice is deserved, and delivered, Peace is won, and actually lived in.

Have you seen worlds like our own brought to life? Let me know in the comments!