I'm working on this speculative fiction idea set in a world that's not fantasy but just isn't ours. Everything is familiar, but the politics are different to suit my needs. I'm currently worldbuilding and I'm considering the types of technology I want to include. So far, it seems to be a bit all over the place with the types of tech that are and are not in existence in the world. How annoying is it when a book is anachronistic?
A few questions for you to chew on: What is the overall tech level?
What exists and what doesn't?
Why doesn't some tech exist if it would in our world? What's preventing this world from developing it?
Are there social or cultural mores preventing research into fields of tech, or is it just some tech scattered across multiple fields that hasn't been developed?
Are there any noticeable development differences in different states? If so, what prevents more advanced tech from spreading?
I will return with more detailed commentary on the morrow as well.
Sometimes, anachronisms work! Look at A Series of Unfortunate Events, sometimes 1930s, sometimes Victorian and then all of a sudden there's an early computer!
It's also worth considering that if your characters live rurally or in a particularly slow society that they might not encounter technology in the rest of the world.
I think the worst thing you could do is not embrace it. Remember that societies in fantasy settings might have developed differently. For instance, I have a fantasy world that, for my own reasons, I wanted indoor plumbing in. So I wrote it up that their country was famous for its advanced plumbing! Things like plumbing and medicine could be centuries ahead if we hadn't gone around destroying each other's empires
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