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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/29634
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I know this isn't the conworlding forum, but I'm not asking for a critique on my conworld. I'm asking how people would receive such a thing as a constructed world not based off of ancient cultures, or our fantasies of what the future may be like, but off our own modern world.

Let me give some details. Its a superhero setting. I know, its impossible to make superheroes make 100% sense, and I'm not really trying to do that. I just wanted to put more serious thought into the affect superhumans would actually have on our world if they did exist. Also their history isn't based off of the different 'ages' of comics that you often see. In my world, superhumans aren't new. Imagine if fictional characters like Hercules and Merlin weren't fiction, but were 100% historical, and the history books were litered with characters like them, and there was still people just like them still walking around today!

Another thing that maybe a problem, is that the supernatural plays more a role in the setting than science fiction. For one, I had wanted to write a fantasy novel for the longest time, so I'm more familiar with that, and besides, science fiction always ends up looking dated after a while. Not that all characters are magic, but you often see magic where you would normally see science fiction in your more typical superhero story. And yes, I've had some people suggest I should do some research into urban fantasy.

Anyway, I'm not asking for a critique of this (its still a work in progress anyway), I was just worried that all of this may be too outlandish for your average reader. I've never heard of a case of someone making a completely fictional conworld full of people with a more or less modern technology level. The closest you see are worlds that are just 'our world, except when mentioned otherwise'. In my world, nothing is familiar (aside for the fact that its inhabited by humans, and the same animals as our world). The nations aren't the same for one. There is no US or China. Nor is it alternate history. The layout of the continents aren't even the same. Even the religions and cultures that reside in this world aren't the same as ours. Now, why would I make a world so familiar yet alien? Mostly for social commentary. I forget what the technique is called, but its a technique where you create something fictional but normal to the reader so that they can see their own beliefs from the outside.

But if I did this, I may confuse readers. So, I have a modern world full of skyscraper cities and modern technology, and there's people with fantastic powers wearing spandex running around. But the names of the nations and cities and cultures and religions are all entirely fictional, and you have people wearing magic suits of armor in place of power armor, and mages are everywhere, and you in general you see A LOT of characters who have powers based in magic. I mean, I already have sketches for a few characters that literally look like knights! Knights that can do weird things that you normally don't see in fantasy (one for instance has an energy sword he can reshape into whatever he needs, kinda like the Green Lanterns), but knights none-the-less. Magic isn't really that rare. Pretty much every superhero team has a magic member. Being a mage is no more rare than being a paragon or a not-batman. That's not so say science doesn't exist in their world, but no one's really any more advanced than us. Even if I do feel tempted to include a mad scientist character wearing power armor.

So what I have is a weird world full of magic, modern technology, superheroes, people in full plate armor with weird abilities, and names that people wouldn't recognize.

Am I trying too hard to create something new? I don't see why you don't see entirely fictional worlds based off of time periods later than the renaissance. Why can't you have a conworld where people have cars and jets and computers, but without it being set in the future or our own reality? I would like to do this, but I'm afraid of what kind of reception I would get.

Original score: 1