I love them all! My two favourites are the Middle Eastern one (no, I didn't know the plural of djinni was djann, that's exactly the sort of thing I like. I just discovered that brightsmith is another name for a silversmith) and the fire eggs one. I can completely see the difficulties in doing the Middle Eastern one for nano, though. It's exactly while I've gone in a fantasy direction instead of setting my story in the Spanish conquest of Peru.
That said, don't put it aside and never write it. I have a book full of bits and pieces on eighteenth dynasty Egypt because I want to write a novel about Tutankhamun's wife (accidentally read something about her - don't even remember where - years ago and have wanted to write about her ever since) but I don't know nearly enough yet.
Both the Satan's succubus and the "Monkey's Paw" sound entertaining, although they grab me less than the other two. I can see how you might have trouble expanding them into 50k, but on the other hand you might have a sudden new idea for a development about a third of the way in and then it will all roll along beautifully.
The final suggestion I like a lot. I like the idea of exploring how a culture would behave in light of this biological oddity, both in how it would develop itself and how its citizens would behave to one another, and what they would believe about their own lives, and also in addressing the conflict if you did bring in the scientific developments. Would there be a "religious" reaction from those to whom dying for their offspring was noble? Or even just normal? Would it be greeted with a sense of awe? A chance to know their own children? Could only the female carry the eggs? Or only the male? Do they even have such a thing as female and male?
You sound like you have some great ideas to explore and I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with them, or with something new!
As to my setting, it's fantasy, but not medieval. I was initially basing it on the conquest of the Americas, so late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. However, the conquerors are not based on a "European" model completely, I've taken a lot of ideas from sixteenth century Chinese culture (think Dream of the Red Chamber).
It isn't set right at the point of conquest, but several generations later, so there's a mixing (and clashing) of culture and ways of thinking. The "native" rulers have been courted by the invaders and many allowed to maintain their places - one of the characters comes from a "vassal" culture. The conquerors, of course, think of themselves as being the noble and the right, and they classify everyone in terms of how many generations away they are from having pure invader blood (going to need country names soon) and in ranking the vassal states in order of their compliance and use to the newly set up government.
At the moment I don't even have any of this written down, so it is subject to change based on my mood as well as the strength of my memory!
no subject
That said, don't put it aside and never write it. I have a book full of bits and pieces on eighteenth dynasty Egypt because I want to write a novel about Tutankhamun's wife (accidentally read something about her - don't even remember where - years ago and have wanted to write about her ever since) but I don't know nearly enough yet.
Both the Satan's succubus and the "Monkey's Paw" sound entertaining, although they grab me less than the other two. I can see how you might have trouble expanding them into 50k, but on the other hand you might have a sudden new idea for a development about a third of the way in and then it will all roll along beautifully.
The final suggestion I like a lot. I like the idea of exploring how a culture would behave in light of this biological oddity, both in how it would develop itself and how its citizens would behave to one another, and what they would believe about their own lives, and also in addressing the conflict if you did bring in the scientific developments. Would there be a "religious" reaction from those to whom dying for their offspring was noble? Or even just normal? Would it be greeted with a sense of awe? A chance to know their own children? Could only the female carry the eggs? Or only the male? Do they even have such a thing as female and male?
You sound like you have some great ideas to explore and I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with them, or with something new!
As to my setting, it's fantasy, but not medieval. I was initially basing it on the conquest of the Americas, so late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. However, the conquerors are not based on a "European" model completely, I've taken a lot of ideas from sixteenth century Chinese culture (think Dream of the Red Chamber).
It isn't set right at the point of conquest, but several generations later, so there's a mixing (and clashing) of culture and ways of thinking. The "native" rulers have been courted by the invaders and many allowed to maintain their places - one of the characters comes from a "vassal" culture. The conquerors, of course, think of themselves as being the noble and the right, and they classify everyone in terms of how many generations away they are from having pure invader blood (going to need country names soon) and in ranking the vassal states in order of their compliance and use to the newly set up government.
At the moment I don't even have any of this written down, so it is subject to change based on my mood as well as the strength of my memory!