Torn World is a science fantasy shared world, blending motifs from science fiction and fantasy genres. Out of the Ancient civilization with its advanced temporal technology came the Upheaval, which shattered the world into many shards in which time flowed at different speeds. The modern world is slowly healing and rejoining its shards. Torn World provides a space for writers and artists to create material using a common setting, background, characters, and even constructed languages. I am one of the writers; for the purposes of this review, I’ll be giving my opinions on OTHER people’s writing and art.
Torn World is different from other venues I have read. One interesting thing about it is the strong tendency for contributors to riff off each other’s work. A painting might inspire a story. A story inspires a sketch or a poem. Sometimes different contributors write about the same or related events from different character viewpoints, when they wonder, "Hey, I wonder what so-and-so was doing during that event . . . " Another fun aspect is that the "torn" characteristic of the world reflects into the fiction; there are a number of vignettes and a lot of flash fiction, very brief glimpses of the world and its people. It’s hard to write really short fiction that really works, but Torn World seems to lend itself well to this.
Some of my favorite fiction includes:
"City of Lights Pt 1: Ithei" & "City of Lights Pt 2: Ithai" by Ellen Million
Denel, a young engineer, is involved in the planning of a new city in the Southern Empire. Social challenges and some weird anomalies are making the construction difficult.
"Skycat and Woodpecker Make a Bet" by Deirdre M. Murphy
One of several Torn World myths, this one comes from the Southern Empire and features a feline trickster who can glide. Very funny; if you like animal fables or myths, you’ll probably enjoy this.
"It’s Not Just About Firolk" by Amy Waller
The Southern Empire has complex ideas about sex and gender. This story features two actresses who portray male characters onstage in a female-only troupe.
"Beads and Memories" by Deirdre M. Murphy
Northerners live a close-knit tribal lifestyle and to them, death is just another part of life. Here a girl learns how to keep beloved memories alive through storytelling. It’s a lot more positive than the death-phobic American attitude.
Some of my favorite art includes:
"Birka" by Laura Jean Melis
Birka on her snow-unicorn was one of my first glimpses of Torn World and pulled me right in! Laura’s choice of colors in her artwork also created the characteristic light and dark teal tones that are now ubiquitous in Northern culture. I love her graphic novel style of art.
"City of Lights Pt. 2: Ithai" by Ellen Million
The delicate black-and-white line art shows Emeroma and Denel overlooking the new city.
"Draiden" by Lorna Cowie & Melissa Nelson
This very realistic portrait shows Draiden, a con artist, taxidermist, and circus manager. He’s a pain in the butt, but he’s OUR pain in the butt and we love him anyway.
"Size Comparison Chart" by Holly Hutchinson & Ellen Million
This simple but cute cartoon shows the relative sizes of a horse, a human, and a mountain goat; plus three unique Torn World animals, the yiirk, snow-unicorn, and silk-hare. You just want to pet them.
Fans of fantasy adventure, sociological science fiction, postapocalyptic fiction, time travel, and/or shared worlds should definitely give Torn World a look. With multiple contributors, there are many storylines to follow and something new happening almost every day. Once a month there is a Muse Fusion when you can give contributors prompts to write or illustrate your favorite characters or topics! The site also offers various ways you can get involved or follow the updates.
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