Paksworld

Words–existing words–come with their own cloud of witnesses–all the meanings they’ve had, the meanings of their origins, the associations they now have.    Some words strongly evoke the specific places on this planet–and specific cultures on this planet.   For that reason it can be hard to find an existing word that works for a specific person, place, or object  in a fantasy set other-where.   When I was writing the first Paks books, for instance, I was faced with a decision about what to call the places the Girdish met.    All the usual words connected to a specific religion alive here and now: church, mosque, synagogue, chapel, temple, etc.  They did not belong in Paks’s universe.   I spent a long time with various dictionaries–a lot of thought–before grange and barton proved themselves the right words.  Yes, they already existed…but they worked.

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