I recently finished Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch series and enjoyed it immensely. Much of the winding narrative of the series is wrapped around the mysteries and mythologies of the ancient castle Southmarch. So, lo-and-behold, when I found out that somebody had recreated Southmarch castle in the do-it-yourself/mega-sandbox game Minescraft, I was terribly giddy.
If you’re not aware of Minecraft, it’s an open-world, retro-styled game that places the the player in a never-ending, dynamically created game world, gives them the ability to build (nearly) anything they want and then sets them free to explore. Needless to say, there have been some incredible constructions, including an accurate scale-model of the USS Enterprise and the entire overworld from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!
This model of Shadowmarch is easily one of my favourite creations so far.
An overview of Southmarch:
Market Town:
The Tower of Spring:
Skimmer Lagoon Docks:
Now that’s serious dedication from artist LightWarriorK!
As of right now, Funderling Town (and the rest of the underworld) is unfinished; but once completed, it should be a sight to behold for fans of the series.
You can find out more about the game on the Official Minecraft website.
Hi Aidan,
Those are some cool renderings. More importantly, I’m pleased to see you enjoyed the series itself. I think the two books last year really fell under the radar in the genre, but they really were terrific. There’s something about these books and the way Tad described both the Qar and the world beneath Southmarch that, if you’ll please forgive the term because it is the only one that comes to mind, sparkles.
Wow! Some of these Minecraft players really are dedicated… I still need to read those last two Shadowmarch books, though.