A Traveler's Musings: Book Reviews

The World-Building Meter

The criteria taken into consideration are: vividness/richness, believability, and uniqueness. In order to score the highest rating – Awesome – a world must score high on all three of these criteria.

Awesome

Vivid and rich background. A believable world that you can immerse yourself in and that you want to visit again and again. A unique flavour, the author has taken the time to do something new.

Great

Vivid and believable. Unique enough to make a good impression upon the reader. Not sure if I would visit again and again, but I might pick up a sequel.

Decent

The world is good enough to provide a nice backdrop for the story and characters, but not rich or detailed enough to stand on its own merit.

Shoddy

Not believable enough for the reader to settle into nicely and accept. Could do with more detail or fleshing out.

Annoying

There is something seriously wrong with the world-building that prevents the reader from getting through the story. Not only does it lack the awesomeness to enhance the storyline, it is so bad that it actively harms the storyline.