I do think, however, that in some cases the research on our world works to the detriment of the author if that author uses details that are too specific, or doesn’t exert their creativity enough, to the point where they’ve dropped an existing real-world culture into an otherwise rich and original world. You can probably tell that I have a specific example in mind.

You mentioned Tamora Pierce, and I am a huge fan of her early works, particularly the Lioness Quartet and the Immortals Quartet. However, I was very disappointed in the research that went into the Protector of the Small quartet. I’ve studied Japanese history and language, and have lived in Japan, and while I don’t take any issue with Pierce’s use of Japan as inspiration for the Yamani Islands, I think she applied it too heavily. Her world is fictional, yet she uses the Japanese language as the Yamani language, the Japanese customs as the Yamani customs. This isn’t what I’d call a good use of research–I call it substituting creativity with research.

I finished the quartet, because I enjoyed the Heroine’s rise to the role of Commander, and because I love Tamora Pierce, but I’ve lost confidence in her ability to use research as inspiration to create her own world, or to simply add sensory details that enrich the world. I don’t see it as a writing failure, I see it as sloppy worldbuilding, and it takes a lot for me to say that about an author who created a universe I love.

If she had used that research to create her own culture, I would have been fine with it. Heck, if she’d even gone so far as to created her own language, or just simply NOT use one, rather than lazily using Japanese words, I might have bought “the Yamani”. As it stands, I now have an image of a portal in the middle of the ocean where citizens of Tortall can travel to feudal Japan. Suspension of disbelief, gone.

Had Tamora Pierce’s world been, from the beginning, a lightly-veiled version of our own world, such as Jaqueline Carey’s Kushiel world, I would not take issue. But it’s not. Tortall is its own, fully-fledged kingdom that I wouldn’t have placed in an alternate-universe Earth. Therefore, Japan has no place in the same world as Tortall, even if it does have another name.

I think if Tamora Pierce had used her immense capacity for creativity to influence her research, she could have done a great job creating a new culture, which is what I think she should have done. As it stands, I found myself rolling my eyes every time her horse “Hoshii” (which the narrator helpfully informs us is Yamani (read: Japanese) for “star”) was mentioned, or every time Kel practiced with her Naginata (Yamani for “bladed polearm!”). Or drank tea. Or bowed. Or wore a kimono. Or…you get the idea.

So while I do agree that research is important, and am a history-lover (Classical Studies Major in University), I’m also concerned about authors forgetting that research for stories–to make a research-paper analogy–needs to be used in spirit rather than word for word.

Write (and research!) on.

PS: I loved Pamela S. Turner’s use of Japanese history. And noticed.