The Fantastic City: The Importance of Setting Becoming a Character in Writing

“A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times.” -Terry Pratchett, Night Watch.

The greatest fiction is built upon scene and setting. When the landscape has a personality that the reader can feel, it breathes life into the story. Personally, when I think about some of the fantasy and science fiction I grew up with, I have a hard time remembering characters’ names and traits. But I can easily remember the towering colossus of Gondor from Lord of the Rings, or the…