This post originally appeared on Simon Williams newsletter. He writes dark fantasy, and we’ve hosted his characters on The Protagonist Speaks. Go check his work out!
Readers are often surprised that straight-up historical fiction requires “world-building,” a term most often associated with fantasy and science fiction. I mean, it’s just history, right? Don’t we know what happened, how our own world was at the time?
Well, not quite. Depending on the period, primary sources (writing, artworks, archaeological finds, or any other recorded information from that period) may be sketchy. Much did not survive, and we might only know of it from quotes in later works. Then there are the biases of the period, in later quotes, and in the interpretation of data.
Plus, you know, history is written by the rich, powerful, and educated for the benefit of other rich, powerful, and educated. Often after the fact, with an agenda to promote. The common people? Oh yeah, them – they just fill the ranks in army, who cares about them?
When you need to tell a story about an event you need to also consider portraying the people, clothes, dialogue, food, architecture, grooming habits, personality quirks, travel arrangements, acceptable manners, swear words – there’s a lot of research and world-building that goes into writing before the actual plot and characters.
Add to that how historical novels often focus not on the earth-shattering events of the period, but on the ‘little people’ behind the drama. Now, when you want to introduce a ‘what-if’ into that and explore alternatives, there’s even more world-building.
Which brings me to the subject at hand. When faced with a puzzle which is missing many pieces and you also wish to change some and fill in others, what do you do?
The term “alternate history” covers quite a bit. It could be a what-if some key event played out differently. Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle explores a world where the Axis won WW2, for example. Harry Turtledove had made a name for himself exploring many such areas and alternate developments, from Roman and byzantine times to modern rise of fascism. This isn’t quite science fiction which projects a possible development (like Orwel’s 1984, written in 1948, or Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, written in 1968), but a change in past history and how it affects later events.
Sometimes it’s about re-writing history completely with the introduction of some fundamental change, like magic. How does the world look like when fairy folk roam the world and spells are accessible to people? From Poul Anderson’s A Midsummer Tempest (where the works of Shakespeare are all true accounts), to Ben Aaronovitch’s River’s of London (with a shadow underground), there are plenty of examples. Some of my friends write such alternate histories: Douglas Lumsden’s works involve a world like that, where human affairs are controlled by ancient dragons; Ellis ‘Skip’ Knox write an ‘Altearth’ series, with low magic, fantasy races, and the implications throughout two millennia of history; and Brent A. Harris explores a Dickensian world (literally involving Dickens’ characters) in a steam-punk 19th century society.
Lastly, there are novels which are almost purely fantastical, but where history is still a very strong theme and takes centre stage. Not your D&D-ish faux-medieval setting, but actual history, just… different. Set in another geography, or using real people and real events mixed up but still recognisable and important for the parts they played. I happen to love those historical-fantasy blends. My favourite work is Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, about a ‘China that never was.’ Coincidentally, it’s also a mystery that’s solved by a wiseman, and has mythological themes.
Which brings me to my own writing. When I sat down to write the first novel of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, I knew the following:
- It’s going to be a ‘locked room’ detective mystery, in the classic styles of Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler (because I grew up reading those)
- The cases will be of an occult nature (because I love fantasy and grew up on it too; ‘locked room’ is a lot more complex in a world where magic is real)
- The background setting would be ancient Roman (because I was reading a lot of Roman-era detectives, the likes of Lindey Davis and Steven Saylor, at the time I started to write)
This drove some of the world-building decisions: the ‘Big Events’ or people of the Roman Republic were never the focus, just the background. I was also worried of getting details and specifics wrong. But I did wish to portray the life of the people as accurately as possible, while layering magic in the way that ancient Romans perceived it (an integral part of the world).
And so I ended up building an alternate world, not just an alternate history. That freed me to both explore the magic, but also pull in aspects from various times but are still uniquely Roman. I pulled in an Alexandrian museon, and explored how Romans typically took Greek philosophy for it’s practical, aqueduct-building aspects; in my world, they did the same to magic. I brought in Cicero for a court room drama, quoting his real works about magic. And let’s not forget all the curse tablets, magic unguents, petitions to the gods, and, indeed, the actual gods that aren’t seen but permeate every aspect of life (the Romans had mind-bogglingly number of gods; next person to say that they are just Greek gods with Latin names gets a slap).
The result? I’ve had three History PhDs beta-read the latest novel and love it, and Harry Turtledove, the grandmaster of alternate history, had this to say in his introduction:
“Assaph Mehr’s Egretia is Rome as the Romans themselves imagined it to be. Magic really works. Curses curse, love philtres create love, oracles do predict the future, and on and on. The genuine Romans enacted laws against magic not because they thought it was a fraud but because they thought it wasn’t, and feared what it would do if widely practiced.
Throw in the late Republic’s baroque and richly corrupt electoral system, a kidnapping or two, love affairs, bad guys, some good guys who are just about as bad as the baddies, and a coctus (hardboiled, to you) detective who knows all the angles and how to play them as well as any master of geometry, and you’ve got quite a book. I enjoyed it a lot. I expect you will, too.”
I’m quite chuffed, as an understatement 🥰
It seems like I managed to strike the right balance in blending history, mystery, and fantasy. Some of it has evolved between the novels as my writing skill improved, some choices I made early on I can only blame on sleepless nights, and I spend far too much time going down rabbit holes that never make it into the books (my social media feeds is peppered with Roman trivia from all the archaeologists and historians I follow).
So what’s in store for you on the pages of In Victrix? The Roman obsession with Chariot racing (if you saw the series Those About to Die), which was always much bigger than gladiatorial games (but we do have those too!), secret societies, and, important to me, the place of women in society, including their own mysteries and role in religions (something that upper-class male writers often ignored).
Overall, I am ecstatic about the reception of the series. No book is ever for everyone, but readers on the whole have embraced my unique blend. Mystery readers enjoy the hardboiled detective solving crimes, Roman aficionados enjoy the richness of the culture in the background, and fantasy readers find it a thrilling ride.
What gets your mind going, what you think what if?…
Enjoying reading about alternate history? Why not try my novels and short stories, and the worlds and histories they portray?
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 