North and South

[Nickeris86]

I had an idea to try and mix up my world a little bit and was wondering if it was actually a good idea or if its dumb.

In my story I have cultures and landscapes some what reversed. The colder climates and more barbaric lands are in the southern part of the contentment and the hot desserts and tropical areas are in the north.

I had never seen this done in a story before so I thought it would be interesting to try it out, what do you think?

[Shecky]

Mmm, hot desserts. Hot fudge sundae? *ducks*

Seriously, you've touched on one unspoken assumption that's ALL through F/SF: the location of the story in the northern hemisphere of the world. Put one in the southern hemisphere and there's your story location.

[Nickeris86]

Oh derp I hate when I misspell that. lol

That was my plan that it would take place in the southern hemisphere of my world. My concern is that my readers would find it irritating cause I have never read nor heard of any book that took place in the southern part of any world and been anything but warm or hot.

[Gruud]

I'm sure there's room for two of us to do it. 

Although TBH, I have not flipped my climates, as that requires a change in the axis tilt and/or differences in the orbit, and I didn't want to get called out on getting it wrong.

Just be sure and put in early and often pointers that show your geographic change. You have no idea how fiirmly ingrained the "everything happens in the Norrth" mindest really is within Western/European thought.

But you'll soon find out once you get into writing it. 

[Paynesgrey]

A handy lantern might be reference to the world's equivalent of Aurora Australis.  "And if you go far enough south, onto the Deep Ice, you can see rippling curtains of lights dance and shimmer in the night sky..."

[FlaggerX]

Changing hemispheres really doesn't change anything other then which month is winter and so on (actually that is a bit of a problem for the stone table dominance, unless there are two tables.)    What matters more is how far south and north you are.

[mithrandirthewhite]

southern hemisphere IIRC is just like Northern hemisphere with flipped seasons.  Its the tropic belt around the middle that is changed

[The Deposed King]

you could do the whole flat lander philosophy to explain things.  the burning lands are to the north and the frozen lands are to the south.


The Deposed King

[DragonEyes]

The term North can also be translated as "Down" from the original norse language. South could have meant meant "Sunward", as in toward the sunny areas but the etymology isn't as clear. The reason we currently align north and south the way we do is because English evolved in the Northern hemisphere. In a place where the language (and the most powerful civilizations) evolved in the south, they wouldn't call it north or south the same way. Just something to consider.

[MClark]

HI,

I believe Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" world takes place in the southern hemisphere - indeed the world is basically europe upside down. (Chalion is Spain). Several books in the series won an award or another of some kind, so the idea will certainly work.