: Re: Using Latin words in fantasy I have seen at least a few cases of Latin being used in both fantasy and scifi, and I wonder how it is perceived and how much is tolerated. Being primarily a

@Cody1607638

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If I was reading a fantasy or sci fi story in which Latin was the predominant language, I would expect some explanation as to why. Perhaps the Roman Empire had not imploded and instead had gone on to develop space travel and colonized the planets. Or maybe your fantasy is about a kingdom where magic exists and it is in the path of Roman conquest. In either case, as a reader I would expect the author to provide me with a sufficient explanation to allow me to suspend my disbelief. It wouldn't have to be much, but it would have to make sense.

A further complication you would have is that Latin, while arguably a dead language, is still enough alive that some readers would have studied it in school or at least be familiar enough with it that you would have to ensure you used the right vocabulary, verb tenses, etc. Not doing so would definitely affect your credibility as an author.

Using your own created language automatically makes you the linguistic expert and you wouldn't have to contend with the above issues. It is certainly more work, though. Another option is to use an artificial language, such as Esperanto. Harry Harrison took this route in a number of his novels, such as those in his the Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld trilogy. You might consider reading a few of them to see how he handles using the language. Harrison talked about why he used Esperanto back at the 45th World Science Fiction Convention. Philip José Farmer also used Esperanto in his Riverworld series.

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