Welcome to The Ready Room, where I explore random topics to help you kick off your week.
This past week, everything until Wednesday was pretty normal. Then I had a wonderful surprise happen, and an hour later life just kept throwing lemon-soaked daggers in my direction. I lost three days of editing, two days of work, and a lot of sleep. By the time noon rolled around yesterday, all the fireworks were over and everything was back to normal. But it got me thinking about how much I love escaping to fantasy worlds, and this week was no exception.
Which brings me around to this week’s topic. I challenge anyone to pick five of their favorite fantasy worlds and blog about why they loved them. Also, I’m going to do this without blabbering on about how much I love the fantasy worlds I created. So, here we go:
Moss World
In The Companions, by Sheri S. Tepper, readers are introduced to a planet covered in moss and flora. As people start disappearing, Jewel and her brother Paul discover that random odors and bursts of color created by the Mossen is language, something they must decipher before everyone is dead. I love this world because the Moss language and how it’s depicted is so fantastic.
Jayvee 9
In The Eyes of Light and Darkness, by Ivan Cat and Darren Sarvari, there’s a race of indigenous people called the Fuzzies because no one can pronounce their name. The Fuzzie’s world is a gorgeous, lush setting in a two-star system after one of the stars burned out to a black hole. Their technology once superior to humans, they’ve become little more than tribes of warriors, and their song, The Rote, is dying. They’ve been visited by a hostile, enslaving species in the past, and a derelict starship is floating in a nearby ring belt waiting to be awoken.
Qual Gate Worlds
This isn’t so much a world as many worlds. In The Morgaine Cycle, by C. J. Cherryh, the Qual race is long deceased save for one woman who still possesses their knowledge and technology. The gates between worlds still stand and she’s trying to shut them all down. This whole saga is so fantastic, and the worlds are amazing. Even at the end of the series, I couldn’t help but wonder how many more were out there and what they might look like.
Lands in the Shadow of Obsidian Mountain
Okay, so I can’t remember the name of the Elven village in The Obsidian Mountain Trilogy, by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, but it is so fantastic. The world of Elves is old, very meticulous, and they have teas and tea ceremonies for about every celebration and ailment. And they have dragon and unicorn buddies. What’s not to love?
D’ni
I saved the best for last. To be honest, I love every single world inside the Myst and Riven universes, but in The Book of D’ni, by Rand Miller and David Wingrove, Atrus and his wife Catherine open a doorway more than a thousand years old. The dusty tome inside is a relic of another world of technology, where the gateways between worlds were much richer and more stable. They step into a gorgeous world of flora, rivers and cities, everything built to be pleasing to the eye. But the underbelly of this world is built upon a dark and tragic secret.
I am in love with all of these worlds, and they’re from books that I still read every few years they’ve become such favorites. It’s also why my journey as a writer started with building exotic worlds like these. If you have any fantasy worlds you get giddy about, don’t hesitate to leave a message in the comments section. I’m always on the hunt for more books.
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