A Goodreads user asked Cinda Williams Chima:

Where did you get the idea for the seven realms?

Cinda Williams Chima I've been reading epic high fantasy for as long as I can remember, beginning with David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey, Tolkien, et al. Back in the 90s I was reading George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series, and I loved the sprawl, I loved the layered characters, I loved the politics -- and the dragons. And, I thought, I want to write fantasy like that. So I began an epic fantasy for adults called The Star-Marked Warder. The map, the magical system, and many of the characters in my published works are drawn from that.

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