Book Review: World-Building from the Inside Out by Janeen Ippolito

There are a few reasons I don’t usually review craft books: 1) I don’t read that many, 2) I don’t feel equipped to review most of them, and 3) I’m more likely to lump them into a resource round-up and have a brief summary that contains most of my opinions on them and thus not feel like a full review is necessary. But this one is a worldbuilding book, so I feel equipped to comment on it, and I have enough thoughts to fill out a review (plus, I’m not doing another round-up any time soon).

This book has been on my TBR/wishlist for years, and what finally prompted me to pick it up was research into comparative titles for my own worldbuilding book. It’s really hard to find worldbuilding books that are really focused on the worldbuilding craft rather than being some sort of workbook, but this one is, so that was point 1 in its favor. Point 2 was reading the introduction and finding the premise focused around “cultural worldview” (which was actually in bold)! So I grabbed a copy for research. I will acknowledge upfront that the nature of my reasons for reading the book make it hard not to think about it in terms of comparisons between this book and mine, but I’ll do my best to be fair in my assessment.

What is World-Building from the Inside Out about?

Go to the heart of your world and build it well!

Memorable world-building enhances story, attracts readership, and sells books! Find the core of your science fiction or fantasy people and instill your narrative with universal themes and concepts derived from real-world cultures.

-Explore different religions and governments with concise entries that include ideas for plot and character development
-Develop key aspects of your society without getting caught up in unnecessary details
-Learn how the deeper effects of appearance and location can enhance your narrative

World-Building From the Inside Out challenges you to go deep and build fantastical worlds that truly bring your story to life!

Note: Janeen will be revising and re-releasing this book soon, so the new edition will likely be much stronger and the weaknesses I addressed here may be addressed in the revision.

The first thing that stood out to me about this bookwhen it arrived is how small it is; there are only about 60 pages of content to this book. The descriptions of it as a “primer” or “quick reference guide” are the most accurate. Janeen really does focus on the bare basics of each topic she covers in an effort to keep authors out of the weeds of “worldbuilder’s disease” as much as possible. If that’s what you’re looking for, this is the best I can recommend in terms of craft books.

Unfortunately, in some places it felt like this emphasis on simplicity cut out all nuance and turned things unrealistically black-and-white, which I believe can easily hurt the worldbuilding process and its support of themes and storytelling. There were also a number of places I felt the author’s bias on a topic came through very clearly, skewing the perception of certain worldbuilding options that could be used in more interesting ways. The appendix (chapter) on education felt especially narrow, and the government chapter had some inaccuracies in the way it defined certain systems along with a very American bias. Some bias is unavoidable, I know, but it made the options come across as very stereotyped. Again, if something very basic is what you’re looking for, this book might still be a helpful tool to start off with.

Another thing I noticed, as a side-effect of how brief Janeen kept the book, was that some of the organization was a little odd. When you only have a few chapters focusing on core topics, I guess you have to fit some smaller things in somewhere even if it’s not a perfect fit with the overarching topic. For example, the chapter on naming had a handful of points thrown in about language on a more general level, and “capitalism” started off the list of government structures despite being an economic system.

The strongest portions of this book, in my opinion, were the introduction, the chapters on art/media, the technology chapter, and the naming chapter. These felt the closest to the heart of the book’s premise and the most neutral in terms of how questions and options were presented (vs. the evident bias in some other chapters).

The book’s biggest weaknesses were, I think, largely side-effects of the focus on something simple and stripped-down for authors who need just the bare basics for a first draft. Some places felt like they’d been stripped down too far and key elements had been lost, the organization felt fudged in places, and a few points needed more research behind them. But if you’re an author who doesn’t want to get sucked down the worldbuilding rabbit hole and you’re looking for an introduction to the idea of building a culture around the idea of a cultural worldview, this is a decent primer.

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2 thoughts on “Book Review: World-Building from the Inside Out by Janeen Ippolito

  1. I’ve recently started writing my first science fiction story. And have been looking for a succinct overview on worldbuilding. So this book comes along at the perfect moment. Thank you for the recommendation.

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