A request for all fantasy writers

[conuly]

1. For crying out loud, learn the names of some plants already, or else set all your stories in cities.

2. Relatedly, it is very jarring when somebody who is clearly in Not!Europe suddenly is runs away from a skunk and lands in a patch of poison ivy. Decide what real-world place analogs to your story and stick with it. I know, I know - in your secondary fantasy world you can do whatever you want, but somehow people never find randomly misplaced kangaroos, llamas, penguins, or lemurs in Definitely England settings, so it seems that actually, in fact, people do care at least a little about where they put things. Care a little more, why don't you.

2a. This goes doubles for all post-Columbian exchange crops. If you're not willing to have your Let's Admit It's European king chow down on turkey and cornbread, don't have your peasant eat some stew flavored with potatoes, tomatoes, or peppers.

Comments

[mindstalk]

Allegedly Tolkien revised tomatoes out of later versions of the Hobbit, changing "cold chicken and tomatoes" to be "and pickles". But he kept potatoes and tobacco. I'm not stressed about the botanical 'realism' of a purported ancient past that included both ancient explorers and God turning a flat world spherical.