The Four Fantasy Worlds I'd Most Like To Visit...
Everyone creates lists. We all love lists. The 100 Greatest Epic Fantasy Novels, the 50 Best Fantasy Series, the 10 Greatest World-Building Authors... Well here's another one, it's just a little different. We could argue all day about the greatest, most detailed fantasy worlds or who the greatest world-building author is (Of course it's Brandon Sanderson, right? I mean, there isn't really an argument for that one is there?), but for this list I wanted to consider only the fantasy worlds I would most want to visit. So I asked myself, if I were going to take a vacation to a fantasy world, where would I want to go?
By framing the question that way, I immediately began eliminating some of the most famous and most popular fantasy worlds. For example, Tolkien's Middle Earth would not be high on my list of vacation spots. It's a world that is clearly on the decline. Even with Sauron defeated, the elves are leaving and it seems we are well past that world's magical peak. The same could also be said of Tad William's Osten Ard and even Paolini's Alagaësia. These are both fantastic worlds and in some ways they are on an up swing at the end or their respective series, but still, their magical peaks were in the past.
I also quickly eliminated most of the fantasy worlds that have been decimated or are in a constant state of danger or warfare. Michael J.Sullivan's world of Elan (from Riyria Revelations and Legends of the First Empire) is a world where elves are far superior to humans and there is no real peace or intermingling of the races, so that would not be ideal for a vacation. Likewise, while I absolutely LOVE the worlds Brandon Sanderson builds, I would have no desire to vacation to them. Roshar from the Stormlight Archives is continually pummeled with high storms (though admittedly it would be quite a treat to see the spren) and Scadrial of the Mistborn Series is an ash covered ruin. We can see that it's recovering and may be a better place to visit as the series moves into the future, but only if you're an allomancer.
Which brings me to one of my most important criteria in deciding which worlds to visit: Can I experience and interact with the magic of the world? If I can't, then what is the point of visiting? There are plenty of wonderful, well-built fantasy worlds to choose from, but often what makes them most special is a hero or group of heroes who are unique because they can interact with magic or who end up in a very special position to be able to learn it or other secrets that most in the world will never know exists. For me this eliminates places like Robert Jordan's Westlands in his unnamed world from The Wheel of Time, Terry Goodkind's New World from The Sword of Truth, Patrick Rothfus's world of Temerant, as well as many others. I would also eliminate worlds like that of Harry Potter even though they would make a fun vacation spot because they are intertwined as a part of the world we already live in (plus, you can kind of already vacation there if you go to Universal, right?).
So what worlds did make my list?
Without further ado, here are The Four Fantasy Worlds I'd Most Like To Visit:
4. The Forgotten Realms as created by Ed Greenwood.
How could one not want to vacation to the Forgotten Realms? In a way, it's the ultimate high fantasy world. It's huge, contains a wide array of races, creatures, cities, and cultures, and is filled with magic. In this world you do not necessarily have to be a natural magic user to appreciate it's magic. Not only could you learn magic here if you chose to put in the time, but the Forgotten Realms are so filled with magical objects and artifacts, that as a vacationing tourist it is extremely likely that you could purchase some of these items to interact with during your stay. My first foray into the Forgotten Realms was through R.A. Salvatore's Cleric Quintet and the world in which it was set instantly hooked me. Cadderly's Spirit Soaring would be the first place I'd want to visit (provided I visited during the period of time it was still standing, of course).
3. Thesa as created by Peter V. Brett in The Demon Cycle.
Okay, so this doesn't exactly fit my criteria of avoiding worlds that have been decimated or are in a constant state of danger. In fact, Thesa is both. It has been overrun by demons that come up from the Core on a nightly basis and ravage it freely. Humans are only safe at night if they are behind their wards and then only barely. However, in this world anyone can be a hero and become stronger, faster, and more powerful if they have access to the correct wards and know how to use them. So a vacation here for several nights of kicking demon's butts while properly and safely warded sounds like a thrilling vacation to me!
2. The Council Kingdoms as created by Rachel Aaron in The Legend of Eli Monpress.
Maybe you haven't heard of this series, but it is extremely fun, humorous, and lighthearted while still maintaining a script with rising stakes. Why would I want to vacation to this world? Because in this world every single object from the smallest pebble to the largest mountain has an animate spirit of its own. In this world, being a wizard mainly involves convincing spirits to enter into contracts with you to help you achieve your ends. Of course, most spirits are pretty deeply asleep and hard to wake up and interact with, but not all of them. And who wouldn't want to vacation to a world where you could finally learn what they'd say "if these walls could talk..."
1. Alera as created by Jim Butcher in The Codex Alera.
For me this was an easy first choice. This is a world in which every Aleran has command over elemental spirits of the land called furies. These furies inhabit all of Alera and a furycrafter can not only control them but can also command them to join together into greater furies with more power. A vacation to Alera would come with the ability to command the furies and work next to furycrafters learning how to gain greater control over them. Talking to the spirits of objects as in my previous entry would be interesting, but being able to command spirits of the land in order to make everyday tasks easier or to accomplish things we never could on our own would be an incredible experience!
Okay, so those are my top four fantasy worlds to visit. Now it's your turn! I obviously excluded many of your favorites because of my own criteria. And of course, there are thousands of great fantasy worlds out there that I've yet to read about, so please tell me why my choices are wrong below and let me know what your top four fantasy worlds to visit on vacation would be!
By framing the question that way, I immediately began eliminating some of the most famous and most popular fantasy worlds. For example, Tolkien's Middle Earth would not be high on my list of vacation spots. It's a world that is clearly on the decline. Even with Sauron defeated, the elves are leaving and it seems we are well past that world's magical peak. The same could also be said of Tad William's Osten Ard and even Paolini's Alagaësia. These are both fantastic worlds and in some ways they are on an up swing at the end or their respective series, but still, their magical peaks were in the past.
I also quickly eliminated most of the fantasy worlds that have been decimated or are in a constant state of danger or warfare. Michael J.Sullivan's world of Elan (from Riyria Revelations and Legends of the First Empire) is a world where elves are far superior to humans and there is no real peace or intermingling of the races, so that would not be ideal for a vacation. Likewise, while I absolutely LOVE the worlds Brandon Sanderson builds, I would have no desire to vacation to them. Roshar from the Stormlight Archives is continually pummeled with high storms (though admittedly it would be quite a treat to see the spren) and Scadrial of the Mistborn Series is an ash covered ruin. We can see that it's recovering and may be a better place to visit as the series moves into the future, but only if you're an allomancer.
Which brings me to one of my most important criteria in deciding which worlds to visit: Can I experience and interact with the magic of the world? If I can't, then what is the point of visiting? There are plenty of wonderful, well-built fantasy worlds to choose from, but often what makes them most special is a hero or group of heroes who are unique because they can interact with magic or who end up in a very special position to be able to learn it or other secrets that most in the world will never know exists. For me this eliminates places like Robert Jordan's Westlands in his unnamed world from The Wheel of Time, Terry Goodkind's New World from The Sword of Truth, Patrick Rothfus's world of Temerant, as well as many others. I would also eliminate worlds like that of Harry Potter even though they would make a fun vacation spot because they are intertwined as a part of the world we already live in (plus, you can kind of already vacation there if you go to Universal, right?).
So what worlds did make my list?
Without further ado, here are The Four Fantasy Worlds I'd Most Like To Visit:
4. The Forgotten Realms as created by Ed Greenwood.
How could one not want to vacation to the Forgotten Realms? In a way, it's the ultimate high fantasy world. It's huge, contains a wide array of races, creatures, cities, and cultures, and is filled with magic. In this world you do not necessarily have to be a natural magic user to appreciate it's magic. Not only could you learn magic here if you chose to put in the time, but the Forgotten Realms are so filled with magical objects and artifacts, that as a vacationing tourist it is extremely likely that you could purchase some of these items to interact with during your stay. My first foray into the Forgotten Realms was through R.A. Salvatore's Cleric Quintet and the world in which it was set instantly hooked me. Cadderly's Spirit Soaring would be the first place I'd want to visit (provided I visited during the period of time it was still standing, of course).
3. Thesa as created by Peter V. Brett in The Demon Cycle.
Okay, so this doesn't exactly fit my criteria of avoiding worlds that have been decimated or are in a constant state of danger. In fact, Thesa is both. It has been overrun by demons that come up from the Core on a nightly basis and ravage it freely. Humans are only safe at night if they are behind their wards and then only barely. However, in this world anyone can be a hero and become stronger, faster, and more powerful if they have access to the correct wards and know how to use them. So a vacation here for several nights of kicking demon's butts while properly and safely warded sounds like a thrilling vacation to me!
2. The Council Kingdoms as created by Rachel Aaron in The Legend of Eli Monpress.
Maybe you haven't heard of this series, but it is extremely fun, humorous, and lighthearted while still maintaining a script with rising stakes. Why would I want to vacation to this world? Because in this world every single object from the smallest pebble to the largest mountain has an animate spirit of its own. In this world, being a wizard mainly involves convincing spirits to enter into contracts with you to help you achieve your ends. Of course, most spirits are pretty deeply asleep and hard to wake up and interact with, but not all of them. And who wouldn't want to vacation to a world where you could finally learn what they'd say "if these walls could talk..."
1. Alera as created by Jim Butcher in The Codex Alera.
For me this was an easy first choice. This is a world in which every Aleran has command over elemental spirits of the land called furies. These furies inhabit all of Alera and a furycrafter can not only control them but can also command them to join together into greater furies with more power. A vacation to Alera would come with the ability to command the furies and work next to furycrafters learning how to gain greater control over them. Talking to the spirits of objects as in my previous entry would be interesting, but being able to command spirits of the land in order to make everyday tasks easier or to accomplish things we never could on our own would be an incredible experience!
Okay, so those are my top four fantasy worlds to visit. Now it's your turn! I obviously excluded many of your favorites because of my own criteria. And of course, there are thousands of great fantasy worlds out there that I've yet to read about, so please tell me why my choices are wrong below and let me know what your top four fantasy worlds to visit on vacation would be!
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