Dear Authors: Other Worlds

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[@alexinator-hh5fe]

I'm so happy the Dear Authors series was created. It allows for so many differing opinions and thoughts to be shared

[@Zanador]

Saying that Isekai (the Japanese version of this) is saturated is an understatement. It's so absurdly common that most newer Isekai stories go really out of their way to do something different enough to distinguish them, and the tropes of the genre are so well-known that almost everyone tries to lampshade them or subvert them somehow. That's how we get stuff like "Isekai fantasy but the main characters are all incompetent and can't make it out of the starting town" (KonoSuba) or "Isekai fantasy but from the perspective of a relative of the guy who got Isekai'd meeting him for the first time after he comes back to the real world" (Isekai Ojisan) and so on.

[@Awsomeness103]

It has been so saturated and lampshaded, that the original isekai story that most are derived from, Jobless reincarnation, recent adaptation feels fresh and original to new viewers and readers. We have literally gone full circle in terms of telling isekai stories.

[@Zanador]

@@Awsomeness103 I agree with you main point and I'm a fan of Mushoku Tensei, but calling it "the original Isekai story that most are derived from" is not very accurate. It's certainly popular and influential to some degree, but many popular and well-known isekai like Tanya, KonoSuba, Shield Hero, SAO, Log Horizon, GATE, NGNL, and Re:Zero started publication before MT or at almost the exact same time. It might be fair to say that it's been a big influence on male-protagonist reincarnation isekai specifically, but the history of "isekai" generally and even "video game-esque isekai" goes way farther back than MT. I recommend this video for more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fILEmmSKgtqLbrs as well as the follow-up comment response video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXKrZaiXi56Xd7s

[@shadowlightning6590]

@@Zanador Well MT did basically popularize the main tropes in Isekai we see today so it's fair to say that it's one of the og ones kind of like Evangelion where there were a lot Gundam series before it but Eva revolutionized the mecha genre as a whole.

[@carlosdanielcalderonmontoy3723]

@@Zanador And Juuni Kokuki

[@Charistoph]

@@Zanador, even worse, there were ones like Escaflowne that came out over 15 years before Mushoku Tensei. It probably gets missed because it's seen as a Fantasy-Mecha series, but there is an isekai element to it. And let's not forget the old classic Mario Brothers who get isekai'd to the Mushroom Kingdom for their hit video game series. That's not even considering old literature like Urahima Taro, Alice in Wonderland, Doroty and the land of Oz, Peter Pan, and so forth.

[@ravenpotter4004]

As a wannabe author and avid reader, I adore this series. And I love the community aspect of it too, yall are great :))

[@eliasbischoff176]

The concept you described as "humans are still humans" is one of the main reasons why I love Sci Fi and Fantasy. Every one of these stories has to take some position on how much our world has shaped human "nature", how much we would change if we lived in a different world and, by keeping certain things the same, what can be seen as an inherent human quality. Doorway fantasy enables the author to deal with these questions more overtly, because they can contrast the earth-humans with the otherworld-humans.

[@verzeihturncoat27]

"Ascendency of a Bookworm" feels like a Merphy self insert isekai

[@facundoprieto1030]

If you like doorway fantasy you should totally watch Infinity Train!! Every car it's a different world and it is amazing how they use them to explore and grow the characters!

[@josiahdingus4541]

In the past few years many of the tropes of the "Isekai" genre have been adopted by the increasingly popular "Regression" or "Second Chance" genre, where instead of the character being transported to a new world they are sent back in time to inhabit their younger selves with a new understanding of the world and the resolve to take vengence or prevent undesirable events.

[@theheirslair9581]

Am I showing my age my name-dropping Quantum Leap here?

[@Naurik]

Regression is pretty much every other Manwha ever created

[@LightningRaven42]

They're also complete garbage in their vast majority with very, very, very, very few being exceptions (Ascension of a Bookwork, Jobless Reincarnation despite its major flaws and Grimgar of Fantasy And Ash being notable exceptions).

[@victoriamasters]

@@LightningRaven42 I really enjoyed erased as well

[@LightningRaven42]

@@victoriamasters I couldn't forgive its terrible ending. It was decent enough, but bad ends pretty much retroactively ruin good stories for me. I, sadly, can't get past them.

[@DL-idk]

I remember loving Digimon as a kid. I liked Pokemon too, but there's something special about being transferred into a new world and the fact that there are no adults there sounds especially appealing to kids

[@hotplotsandsynonyms]

The reason I preferred Digimon is because it felt more like genuine friendship. The digimon hunted the kids down and said "Hey, we're friends now!" and the plotlines were all about the kids learning to work together and trust each other in order to protect things they love. Pokemon (for all that it can be genuinely fun) is about forcibly catching creatures and training them so you can prove you're better than everyone else.

[@Mr.-Roybot]

Yeah Digimon was the perfect portal world for me as a kid. Not only because there were no adults but there were no humans at all. And the humans that were there didn't gain new powers (for the most part) but helped their Digimon partners gain new powers

[@dragon297]

@@hotplotsandsynonyms Yeah it really is a shame that Pokemon caught on while Digimon didn't. Because for a children's show, Digimon honestly had a substanial amount more depth to it's story and character relationships. Compared to Ash who is still 10. It's genuinely worth a watch/rewatch as an adult because many parts of it still hold up.

[@dorianzane2548]

I’ve always loved both but Digimon Adventure definitely had me more engaged with it’s story and characters. The whole concept was crazy too. It was like if Chronicles of Narnia and Tron had a baby.

[@svm9269]

I cried every time the Digimon ended as a kid, despite watching it numerous times. It is the dearest series I think of when I remember my childhood. You all made me want to rewatch it - playing the first episode now.

[@dianemiles2720]

A new dear authors always drops when I am walking away from my writing for a few too many days and it never fails to get me back in the saddle. I use these as motivation even if I'm not writing about the subject of the video.

[@marykedewitt1362]

As an author that has been working for years on a “portal world” this video gave me hope and I’m so glad this is still loved by so many people ❤ Shall keep working to get it out there for you all 😊

[@2gjones1]

Murphy: whole new world. Me : reflexively singing a new fantastic point of view 😂

[@sailinglin584]

Same 😂

[@kammy6340]

I will always love Dear Aunthors...I'm so glad Merphy decided to resume it. It's such a refreshing take to hear from other readers.

[@swolechihuahua4905]

Truck-kun certainly is the most magical of portals 😂

[@thewingedserpent5823]

I don't even know how that started considering that trucks are relatively rare as "causes for isekai". Being summoned is by far the most common

[@marocat4749]

@@thewingedserpent5823 i think jobless reincarnation one of the relative early works that was copied merciless later. Pretty sure thats why.

[@swolechihuahua4905]

@@thewingedserpent5823 I know, did it for the memes 🙃

[@thewingedserpent5823]

@@marocat4749 the truck-kun meme is mostly a western meme and mushoku Tensei wasn't that well known until the anime came out recently.

[@danielgwynne7266]

@@thewingedserpent5823 was it not? I read it about a year before the anime

[@gaara_of_the_desert1118]

I know you aren't a tv fan but The Owl House is an amazing example of this trope while also being a sort of subversion of common tropes associated with those types of stories.

[@rizzzou]

His dark materials is a super interest format of this. The first book you are entirely in a low fantasy world and you don’t think it’s a portal world but you get hints of other worlds. And then the second book snaps you the normal earth world without warning and stays there for a bunch of chapters

[@Yohannai]

What's fascinating to me in His Dark Materials is really the portals themselves too! Visually, they're those random holes between worlds you'd encounter in most portal fantasies, but they have a dark origin and there is weight to their creation.

[@espantapajaros33]

God I love dear authors ahaha I NEED to hear your thoughts on Witch Hat Atelier, I love the magic system and the way the rules are flawed and nuanced, and how the main girl "stumbles into" magic... I think you'll like it too

[@JAKEBB]

This is my up there as on favourite video types on this channel, keep being awesome merphy

[@keravnos2231]

Hell yeah!! 😄 Haven't seen a Dear authors segment in ages!! Another favourite thing about this trope that I love is when there's a central portal world as a connecting medium, where theyre like a transportation service for adventures or a dangerous black market tavern

[@brnadig394]

Please never stop this series. Keep it going in some way shape or form. This is probably mymost favorite series of videos in whole of KZbin. Please please please with a cherry on top.

[@VinnyTheory]

What I’m learning is avid readers are WAY more tolerant to stories than normal readers are. They can handle a little world building, a little slower of act 1 pacing for set up and fantastical elements. It’s really nice to hear. I was about to cut 3 crucial scenes in act 1 to improve pacing, but after seeing this video I’m keeping them

[@dunnejos8423]

My favorite portal fantasy is absolutely His Dark Materials, and I love the subversion of the trope by starting off in the fantastical/sci fi before getting into the mundane.

[@alexandregomes6784]

YES! Dear authors is back! I love this series! Keep up the great work Merphy

[@genevieveatwater4533]

I absolutely love portal fantasy, though as an author I find it very hard to write. The only one I have in development is one where the main character start in a world that’s already not the real world and go to another bigger more colorful fantasy world. Regardless, this video is very interesting and I enjoyed it. As a note, when you’re getting into the isekai genre, Watch yourself. Some of them are very fun, but the genre is well known for being oversaturated and very morally questionable. Make sure you get good recommendations and don’t just pick up one randomly

[@EMan753]

Happy to see this, I also love reading/watching/writing about the other worlds/magical world trope!

[@raoufallani5142]

I love this series- thank you so much

[@maxlee8780]

Do we consider Harry Potter and Percy Jackson to be portal worlds? I definitely do not.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

I mean, I can see why some people might; since the fantasy elements often enough do kinda of exist off in their own areas not totally integrated with our world. But, to me, they're more "secret world"/"hidden world"/"world-within-a-world" type stories at most. 🤔 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Sometimes it's difficult to say what exactly constitutes a whole separate genre versus what is really just a subgenre and/or a variant of some other genre.😅🙃😁

[@colibri224]

About parallel worlds : One of the reason the Pixar movie "Onward" was quite disappointed to me was because it was initially sold on the idea that fantastical and magical creatures had discovered modern technologies. I was like "YES!!! Show me a version of the modem world completely adapted for this creatures !!! This look interesting! " But instead we got a cute but a bit boring story about two brothers. And the modern setting was only used for jokes (ex: the centaur step-dad riding a little car not adapted for him) Aah... It was such a let down...

[@joehebert789]

I really enjoyed this as I am trying to implement this trope into a short story. Perfect timing.

[@carbonc6065]

This is an important video--as always, thanks for your contribution to the literary world on KZbin!

[@SageK.03]

One of favorite stories with doorway fantasy are by Brandon Mull. i.e. Five Kingdoms & Fablehaven/Dragonwatch He does an amazing job of tying the worlds into ours and showing the main character (especially in Five Kingdoms) being shocked and affected by this drastically new world that they’re in. I LOVE it SO much!!!! He’s one of my favorite authors. 🥰

[@blakewise5588]

100% agree. I didn't love The Beyonders as much. That "portal" was quite unique. lol But 5 kingdoms and Fablehaven were great!

[@haku1145]

This was great, Merphy! So glad to see another episode of dear authors. And I completely agree with One Piece feeling like an 'other worlds' story, even if it's not, because of the crazy variety between the islands.

[@JTZombiE]

waking up to see a new Dear Authors video is like waking up to Christmas Day

[@stormpetrel5645]

I have been waiting for a video like this ever since I found you. Now seeing this makes me so happy! Thank you so much ^-^

[@tyriquesmith8850]

I love this series, and this topic was very interesting too. I mentioned it a while back, but there is a dark portal fantasy light novel called Re:Zero that I think you would really enjoy. Thanks for the video! See you next time.

[@Mariamox]

I love this series and this is soo helpful for my own writing 💜

[@manymusings]

I soooo needed this video right now. I'm fleshing a portal fantasy story right now.

[@andrewwall4250]

It’s not a book (it’s a cartoon on Disney+) but I feel like you’d like the portal fantasy series “The Owl House”. It does stuff with its themes, humour, world building and magic that you’d probably enjoy based off of what you were saying in this video. It occasionally pokes fun at common fantasy tropes too. Like, one of the first things the series does is deconstruct the Chosen One trope.

[@darrellhon2868]

As an aspiring author, I love popping into this channel and check-marking aspects of my WIP whenever Merphy mentions them in the Dear Author series. I checked a lot of boxes during this video. That made me happy.

[@orochiran]

If you're interested in isekai manga and light novels I'd recommend Konosuba for an overall lighthearted and fun story; Re: Zero for a seemingly lighthearted world filled with many dangers, mysteries and psychological trauma; and Youjo Senki for more cruel world where war is just the everyday life of the protagonist (this one looks the most similar to the real world though, specifically to WW1 and WW2 era but with magic and slight changes to places and names). There's also Dr. Stone, which is technically the same world but feels like a different one. I'll just say that there's a hell lot of science done in creative ways, so if you're interested in that it's definitely worth checking.

[@BranniganCarter]

I’m so glad you did this one. Currently half through writing a novel where this happens

[@anakay1184]

I love this series of videos

[@GarrisonSchmidt]

I love this series!

[@megan88]

Golden compass! It has other worlds and parallels and doing it great!

[@unavezms8167]

I love when it's like "our world has suffered a catastrofe and now it's DIFFERENT". And like characters can find remnants of our world and then think what the hell is this thing for. Kinda like Horizon series (okay, not a book but still). 😍😍😍

[@mcdoobies7328]

Every time I open a book I step into a new world. It's why I love reading so much.

[@pRahvi0]

I totally agree with the point about childlike curiosity. I sometimes feel too "adult" (i.e. I know too much) to feel any magic or mystery in it anymore. My curiosity to find out anything new is dwindling as the unanswered questions remaining seem more and more far-fetched while the answers seem more and more ambiguous and/or difficult to get. But to think about a world I know practically nothing of? That would be awesome! It would really re-ignite the spark of adventure.

[@ApequH]

I love the enthousiasm in this video

[@FaithMurri]

Portal fantasy is one of my FAVORITE genres!! I even wrote a Peter Pan retelling because I love it so much hah

[@Justin.Danford]

you're killing it with these vid topics lately

[@user-wm1yc2gk2w]

About the price to pay - I think Infinity Train does it really well in the ways its world is not different from our own. Time passes the same way, so you'll be away from your home exactly as long as your journey needed to be. If you are harmed, injured or even dead it's the real you who takes this damage, no magical healing.

[@randomdoesstuff1267]

YES YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES!! BEEN WAITING THE LONGEST TIME FOR THIS SHHSHAKSFSOAKES8A As someone who loves this series and has also been putting together a multiverse story of my own, I've been on the EDGE OF MY SEAT since the community post was made and have been binging the LIFE out of it. OOO I WANNA GO WRITE! AND WATCH THIS VIDEO!

[@PBRatLord]

Not enough people talk about The Owl House for how well the parallel world, The Boiling Isles is set up, especially for a project aimed at younger audiences.

[@KrystalGamer]

My favorite series!

[@whitefang9758]

My favourite series returns!

[@annafirnen4815]

I feel like time travel stories where the main character is transported in time can also count as an "other world" trope. Technically they are still on Earth, something familiar, yet it's hard for them to adjust to the way people lived in the past or live in the future. Someone from the future can have a knowledge which helps them while exploring the past world but their way of thinking can put them in trouble (like Claire in Outlander was accused multiple times of being a witch lol). Meanwhile putting someone from the past into the future can completely shake their world with new innovation/discovered information. In a scenario like that I actually like when the main protagonist isn't as shaken with everything new they see. What I mean by that is, I've read/watched a lot of stories where the characters finds themselves in a new world (be it actually new or they were thrown into the future) and they just don't want to come to therms with the fact that things in this place are done different because of how shocked they are. They try to do everything THEIR way without listening to people/beings around them which puts them into unnesessary trouble. Instead what I like more is when the charcter is definitely shocked but ACCEPTS that everything they see is new and different and they are actually CURIOUS to explore the world and they seek a guidance of someone familiar with the know-hows.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Plus, time-travel stories often utilize literal "portals" of some kind or another! Only tangentially related here, but I kinda like stories where someone(or someones) from another world is transported into our world, too-like, reverse otherworld fantasy; or stories where characters swap places, or take turns traveling to each other's worlds at different times. ^--^

[@valentinomunoz9687]

If you do end up reading some Isekai light novels I would highly recommend 1) Overlord (darker series) 2) The Saga of Tanya the Evil (mostly darker) 3) Restaurant to Another World (super chill) 4) That time I got reincarnated as a slime (Comedy) 5) Konosuba (one of the highest rated comedy Isekai)

[@kamarassakka9922]

How come you didnt even mention the best at all. Mushoku Tensei and Re. Zero

[@carlosdanielcalderonmontoy3723]

@@kamarassakka9922 yeah xD

[@valentinomunoz9687]

@@kamarassakka9922 I'm still early on in those series so I didn't feel confident enough to recommend them.

[@Junosensei]

@@valentinomunoz9687 I'd put Re:Zero on top and Mushoku Tensei next, though Mushoku Tensei has too many divisive sexual themes to be a comfortable recommendation. You will grow into Re:Zero much like most people grow into One Piece. It has the same deliberate planning and long-term payoff that comes with the author having planned out the overall mystery and the plot of each arc before starting. He has such a deep understanding of his world and characters that he can write a bunch of side novels and short stories that both explore the history of the world and each character's motivations in depth, and sometimes even present "What if" scenarios that reveal nonexistence futures that could have resulted from Subaru's choices--the latter of which sometimes reveal more about the world, introduce new characters that will eventually appear in the main story, or hint at the future plot, despite being false narratives that never happened.

[@vincent-rf4hv]

Isekai is a big trope in manga the best known isekai story is probably "That Time I Got reincarnated as a slime" and "Overlord" The light novel is better since its more advance in the story than the manga

[@doofus_flamingo]

Merphy, if you like one piece and hitchhikers guide you would love discworld from Terry pratchett.

[@marocat4749]

If she doesnt, shame on daniel to not yet convert her.

[@zuffin1864]

There are these 2x2 trap doors to these crawl spaces in my house, and i think they would be great for being a portal to another world

[@jesusHchristofwellington]

A great example of this trope is the inkheart series by cornelia funke, I won't get into spoilers but the way people move through the different worlds is amazing and really well realised

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Missed these

[@Karutapja]

One of the series I really love is Myth Adventures by Robert Lynn Asprin. I guess it is written mainly for teens, but it is just so chill read with amazing world building. The most enjoyable magician's apprentice trope, travelling to different worlds and having fun adventures. I only wish there were more books in the series.

[@KhTOON]

I really love the Dear Authors Series as someone who is writing his first story i find this really helpful

[@allanc_me763]

For me, one of the "other worlds" done very well is the Edolas Arc from Fairytail. I loved that part

[@leopard2690]

lord of Mysteries gotta be my Favorit "other world" story because of the way that Element is used in later volumes. there is also owari no chronicle where the survivors of 12 worlds flee to earth after theirs got destroyed in a war

[@donkevinbrown9906]

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson is my Favorite Portal World.

[@andrewfielding8126]

This was one of the first Fantasy series I read and I loved it. I still to this day hate Thomas Covenant though. Stephen Donaldson is a master of creating wonderful worlds filled with likeable characters who who you cannot help but root for. While you despise the Main Character. Mordant's Need was another great series that I used to reread all the time.

[@jacama-bobjohan7516]

I love this series and I love your reading voice. Have you done any audiobook narration? I believe you would do great at that

[@PatrickRyanBookReviews]

I just read The Legend of Black Jack, and not only is it my favorite portal fantasy... it's my favorite book of the 60 I've read so far this year.

[@caitlyn.m.t9618]

I'm surprised you never mentioned The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Coraline is also a big one for me, the book and the movie. But another big one for me that is in this area is Over the Garden Wall. It is a children's miniseries, that is honestly basically a movie, that follows these two brothers who get lost in this dark and strange wood that features talking animals, walking pumpkins, and a beast that everyone is frightened of. It is very autumnal, halloween-eque, and folkloric in some ways too. I always say it is somewhat wayward children esque because it has a similar feeling with how the woods is done. You should look into it.

[@rafaela00002]

Portal fantasy is so much fun ❤ it can be so magical

[@daximil]

There was a book series I read as a child (so I can't vouch for how well it's held up over time) called The Apprentice Adept series by Pier Anthony. The series was about two parallel worlds where one was Technological while the other was Magical. The protagonist was a member of the lowest cast in the Tech world, but one day he could suddenly see a mysterious curtain of energy that, when he passed through it, he found himself in the magic world and he would gain all these magical powers while there. It turned out that everyone who lives here has a version of themselves in each world. Normally when you die in one, the version of you in the other world dies at the same time. But somehow, when someone murdered the version of him in the magical world, he survived. So the rules of the worlds demanded that he be both versions of himself, which is why he could travel and had powers while in the magic realm.

[@taylorhagen3916]

This is by far my favorite form of Fantasy

[@dan4606]

I’m writing a portal fantasy book right now, so this is perfect timing!

[@BrebearMckae]

I loveeee other worlds😍😍😍 hard agree to the general consensuses here!!

[@Hildervinge]

This was so much fun to watch! I have published one book, a middle grade portalfantasy. So this was truly amuzing. In my book, the main character loses her best friend and have to handle grief for the first time. The friend comes back in a little boat and take her to the afterrealm. The whole adventure is a symbolism of her grief and the prosess of moving forward. I am really proud of it, and kids really love it. I like the fact that my consept seem to be a bit uniqe as well 😄 unfortunatly its in norwegian, or else I would gift you one since your channel was a huge inspiration and motivation when I wrote it.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

That is so cool! Congratulations ^-^

[@Hildervinge]

@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 thank you 😍

[@meganborella3300]

Keeper of the lost cities is a lesser known decent example of portal fantasy. As well as faerie wars.

[@kenm.a.d.7196]

One of my favorite story beats in fiction

[@ryans6442]

I just finished rereading The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. It’s kind of childish and pretty similar to Coraline (although I think this book came before it), but I read it when I was younger and was nostalgic for it. I’m not sure how much I can say about it without spoiling it but I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read. Basically there’s a young boy who is so board that he a spirit comes to show him a magical house that’s a paradise for children, however as he explores it he gets more curious about it and learn how dark the house really is

[@cheesebooks26]

I really liked your point about with parallel theming! The idea that sometimes no matter how you structure a society, and how different it is from ours, some things remain. I think usually it's something like authoritarianism in some degree, poking at the idea that no matter how the society is structured someone will always find a way to take advantage of people they consider "less than." On isekai manga/anime, I do like them but I will say sometimes they can feel like a power fantasy for the author haha! A big trope with them is usually something like "nerd dies and reincarnates into a fantasy world and then they're super overpowered now and ALL the ladies like him." Isekai manga/anime are the most fun to me when they break that mold [rarer than you think]. I think "Ascendance of a Bookworm" is a very good one tho, where a librarian dies and when she's reincarnated into a fantasy world all she wants to do is make a library/bookstore so she can read. But she's born into a poor family, and books are reserved for royalty becuase this was Pre-Printing press times. So she goes about trying to invent a book industry. Love it

[@late_prince8945]

What bathers me a bit with these stories, is how easily the mc adapts to the new world. I don't expect every story to be like that, but it would be nice to see more that tackles problems someone may face after being sent to another dimension. Like, how convenient it is these creatures from the other end of the galaxy speak perfect english. It would be fun if they even still used an earthly language, but a different one from the ones the mc knows. But you also can make an easy explanation for that. But please, don't just resolve it with a quick magical translator. One thing I really liked in the Owl House, is that it was mentioned Luz can't eat most of the things in the Demon Realm, or that one ep in Amphibian where two characters from different worlds drunk each other's energy drinks, and it worked on them like drugs. Here on Earth, you can't go to another country without a proper vaccine, because there are new viruses you have never encountered. The would be a gloomy story, but imagine one where the whole plot is: You just started a pandemic in magical universe.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

That's something people fail to consider in time travel stories too! Different diseases &/or natural-immunities depending on what was common exposure in which time period versus what would be new exposure with no natural immunities built up against it or whatever! Like, the most they usual consider is "well, my character is from the future so they've been vaccinated against x-things" or whatever; they rarely consider new things someone from the future could be carrying back to the past before anyone's ever had exposure to it yet. 👀 😅🙃🙃😁

[@kodytiffany5686]

Paused at 10:50. Tim Powers "Anubus Gate" and "Awaken Online" by Travis Bagwell to are good examples for parallel worlds just not as direct as some. Anubus gate is about a scholar and his time travelling to meet his fav author... if I say any more it spoils something. In this case its the parallel of what the scholar "knows" and "experiences"; its the same Earth and arguably the same timeline just present/future (based off "when" in the story) vs past/present. Worth reading for the full adventure. Awaken Online is a story of our nearish future at the advent of our next era that's all sparked off from the creation of a single AI. Awaken Online is a Full Dive Alternate Reality Role Playing "Game" (FDARRP"G") Its 100% in a persons head, but all minds are brought to the same "game" world. Whether or not the world is a game is actually a main plot point. You see as your in the game the AI can manipulate your body to some extent as it actually accesses your brain this way it can help prevent muscle aptraphe and what not. The AI was given a simple prime directive and the story is a result of it carrying it out. Make people want to be in game for max amount of time, and all players can have fun I think was the second. The Parale in this story is society. In Awaken Online every Non-Player Character has personalities indistinguishable from IRL humans. So the only dif between PC and NPC is that players respawn rather than die permenintly. But the "game" world is equal fair to actual reality. The AI shows no real favoritism and there are many points outside its direct control. You still feel pain (reduced as it is) so death still sucks. There are Gods that are a step or 2 down from the main AI in authority and its simply hard to see the "game" world as anything but a 2nd arguably better or worse reality and the legal ramifications the company that made the game face... along with many other story threads being wove together.

[@andrewfielding8126]

Some of my Favourite Portal world stories are: Mordant's Need by Stephen Donaldson. The Gwen Farris series by P S Power. A Medieval Tale by Lina J Potter. Schooled in Magic by Christopher Nuttall. And since some how Harry Potter can be a Portal world story😕. I will add the Keeley Thompson, Other Places & Alternate Places series by P S Power.

[@Odd_D_User]

A portal fantasy I would absolutely recommend is "The Wandering Inn". The other world the main character lands in is dense with history, politics, magic systems and more. It is enough to justify an entire series on its own. Then the conflicts the main character gets into as she learns to survive in that world while bringing the best of our modern world make for such a fun and gripping story. I would almost call her Luffy-esque in the way she tackles problems. Every question I have about what would really happen if someone from present day Earth was sent to a fantasy world is explored and answered. It is everything I would ask for from portal fantasy and it's free to read online.

[@NameNotAChannel]

So, I'm mainly into this in the TV genre... Star Gate (SG1, Atlantis) - I love the egyptian and sci-fi settings, so perfect mix for me. Sliders was a favorite show for a while, before it went off the rails in later seasons. Dr Who (before the retcon) People will likely (or have enmass) suggest Inuyasha, manga-wise. I watched the anime on Cartoon Network when it aired.

[@gheroshinkai5823]

i think she gonna like mushoku tensei jobless incarnation especially the light novel, its really is make you drawn in this new world

[@akstar100]

I’m glad you’re enjoying He Who Fights with Monsters! I hope it becomes one of your favorite series as it has become one of mine!

[@James-wr3dj]

Okay yeah it's a good trope. In my opinion you shouldn't hint it at all, we should all stumble upon it but it should still make sense, not like: "The door to my bathroom randomly became a passageway to another dimension" it needs to make sense. And the door portal is over used, we need something unique like for example a water type of portal, like you jump in the water and the other side is a different world, or like walking in a forest and suddenly landing in a new world, not a hidden world, a new world. That being said, Harry potter is exemplary, and although they kind of hint the magic element, we don't really know that there's another world. We know the world right? But its mind-blowing how they are literally under the noses of normal people and i think that was very interesting.

[@hotsake7819]

Tanith Lee's The Secret Book of Paradys is a great example of this trope and the themes you spoke about.

[@taylor_green_9]

My favourite portal fantasy is the Dragonwall series by Melissa Mitchell. A 20-something woman from modern US goes to a magical world, to a country ruled by dragon shifters, and gradually discovers her place in that world

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Sounds interesting-I'll have to look into it; Thanks!

[@xyznightwing]

I love this topic so much. Recently, I finished an anime series called 'The Twelve Kingdoms', and essentially the main character gets chosen to be the queen of one of the kingdoms and she and two other characters get get sucked in this storm and end up stranded in this world. What's fun is watching these characters learn, adapt, and grow in this world. It's beautiful and painful, and the worldbuilding is fantastic.

[@Junosensei]

The two side characters from the anime exist in the novels at the beginning as classmates, but they don't actually travel with the MC. In the novels, MC is usually silent and we get her thoughts more than her speech, so the anime director decided to add her two "friends" in to give her inner voice more screentime and conflict. The novels are good. I hope we get an English re-release some day.

[@armanisar-feinial1789]

Merphy, it's been awhile. Thanks for this, you gave me an idea for another book. Now, let me show you a magic trick while I make said idea disappear!

[@isaacthecorncob]

I love the Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull. The world is a dimension that prople slip into randomly. There are five kingdoms (duh) where each one has a different type of magic unique to it. The culture is familiar at times but still whimsical and terrible in different ways. The world is like a place between realities and dimensions. There's a really cool spirit world within it and a wall of clouds where floating castles are spawned from dreams. The skies change each day/night, each one from a different dimension or world.

[@TheM1844]

One portal world series I enjoyed as a kid was the Secrets of Droon. While it's for kids it goes between the two worlds throughout the series which I find really unique as while you learn more about the portal world, you also begin to question and wonder about the normal world as well

[@naedid2512]

I love seeing new places and meeting new people. If I could go to another world, I'd love to see a partly submerged town with tall buildings. I'd see locals trying to salvage from underwater. It'd be a great location for treasure hunting.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

other worlds are one of my favorite things, but also one that I've found I am very picky about because a lot of them are underwhelming but then I suppose that can be said of most fiction, there's a lot of underwhelming stories for all the good ones

[@Bushwhacker-so4yk]

Finally some love for Neverwhere!

[@LenShirl]

you're my favourite KZbin book person. I started Malazan because you recommended it. Would love your thoughts on Tad Williams as just on the second book of his big trilogy.

[@lindapenttinen3382]

I have faced this dilemma of late world building. I have written my story for 9 full chapters so far and several finished side stories when I realized I should have build the world first 🤣 it is not too late but still 😅

[@marinamclain2287]

If you like doorway stories, you might like Nightmares by Jason Segel & Kirsten Miller. It’s middle grade and has really great friendships in it. Also, Dragonfly by Frederic S. Durbin is another great middle grade doorway story. Both of these are in my top favorite books of all time.

[@RainyLS]

This Dear Authors reminded me of an isekai I really like. It's called Ascendance of a Bookworm where the main character is a bookworm transported to a world where she has no access to books, so she has to make her own.