Why a Cosmopedia?
Simple. I love fictional facts. And I’m not the only one.
As a fantasy author, I’ve naturally read J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings more than once. Great story, epic tale of good versus evil, making hard choices, the common man (or hobbit, as the case may be) rising to the occasion, and all that. But what I always liked best about LOTR was, I will admit, the appendices, with all the background information about Kings of Gondor and the Elvish alphabets and what happened in the Second Age. Before Tolkien, Edgar Rice Burroughs did this too, with glossaries of words from Tarzan’s Ape language or Martian words from the John Carter of Mars series.
These days it is easier than ever to obsess about your favorite fictional world. Whether your taste runs to Star Wars or Star Trek, Lord of the Rings or Lost, Harry Potter or … er, something else that starts with H (Heroes maybe?), your fellow fans and/or the corporate overlords of your entertainment creation of choice have no doubt produced at least one online compendium — and quite possibly several competing compendia — of everything you could ever want to know about your favorite characters, settings and storylines. If not, there is always Wikipedia.
Can I do any less for the Jason Cosmo Universe?
Yes, I can. Much less. What I have for you is the Cosmopedia. This online reference to Jason Cosmo’s world is woefully incomplete … and will probably always remain so. It is a perpetual work in progress, to which I frequently add fascinating fictional facts (if, in fact, fictional facts fascinate you). I am gradually uploading my 20+ years of background notes on the Eleven Kingdoms, as well as new material.
I’ve tried to avoid posting too much in the way of spoilers, for the sake of those who may not have read the Jason Cosmo books (which, according to the Census Bureau, is more than 99.9999999% of the population) but a diligent study of the Cosmopedia may uncover certain hints and allegations and previously undisclosed information of interest. So if you want a peek at my writer’s notebook, or simply want to know some useless bit of made-up trivia with which to amaze your friends, the Cosmopedia is for you.
I will confess that many of the entries are sparse, even blank. Some posts are more data dumps than carefully crafted. As I said, a work in progress. My present focus is making progress on the books themselves, not making the web reference pretty. But if there is a particular Jason Cosmo-related subject that interests you, leave a comment here or at the Cosmopedia and I’ll see if I can flesh out that topic a little more!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
