The expression of imagi-nations take can varied forms, although most commonly in fiction writing.  Harry Turtledove’s Darkness series, being but one example of the transposition of a fantasy setting onto a retelling of major portions of the Second World War. Without going into detail, the first novel of the series, Into the Darkness, relates the invasion of Poland, first by Germany, then followed by the Soviet Union, through the forms of fantasy kingdoms which share some cultural and national characteristics with their historical counterparts. Additionally, other national policies are depicted as taking place, which mirror those which also occurred during WW2.

As I previously mentioned in the background essay for this site, H. Beam Piper’s Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen is an excellent alternate-Earth setting and is the foundation of more than one wargame rules and RPG setting. On its own, it qualifies as an imagi-nation setting, although it is but one novel set within Piper’s Paratime alternate timelines for Earth. If you happen to have not yet read this book, do yourself a favor and make it happen…soonest.

Perhaps the earliest example of an imagi-nation setting is Anthony Hope’s 1894 novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, and a later sequel Rupert of Hentzau. The events described in both novels take place in the fictional European kingdom of Ruritania. The trend of certain romance-theme cable networks is to portray “royals” of other fictional European nations, often kingdoms or princedoms. That Hollywood has produced at least two film adaptations of The Prisoner of Zenda may be at the heart of this trend. I guess imagi-nations are not just for wargamers and wargaming.

Which brings me to my own little imagi-nation world. My setting is an alternate Earth, naturally, as if it were set on a different world, then it would be pure science-fiction, although that is not a bad thing, either.

In my version of Earth’s history, the cataclysm that stemmed from the dinosaur-killing meteor impact(s) had a far greater effect on our planet, including a rise in the sea level, and some regional changes in climate that turned Scandinavia from a wet and frozen area into a drier and colder zone. In turn, the physical changes to Earth caused anthropological and migratory changes amongst various human populations. Not every society changed, but a great many have.

Additionally, I went with a more satirical bent towards the subject of religion, not out of any anti-religious sentiment of my own, but rather to be freer to poke fun at belief systems, without causing alienation for those who may be adherents or non-adherents to any real-life religious beliefs, practices, and dogma. I figure that this worked for A Canticle for Leibowitz, wherein the Church in that story was Catholic-ish, but not strictly the modern Catholic church with 1800+ years of additional history. In the reading of it, we understand the similarities with Catholicism, in form and structure, but it is not an explicit and exact representation.

As time will reveal, the cultural aspects of differing societies are mixed and matched, to make for a more interesting setting for background stories and wargame campaigns. For one example, imagine a combined Sweden and Norway as being a breeding ground for religious zealots firm in the conviction of spreading their beliefs at the point of a spear, sword, and bayonet.

On second thought, this may have some semblance to an emerging reality.