Worlds to Visit

Mr and Mrs NW

We’ve all done it. Especially when we were kids. We thought about how cool it would be to visit the worlds we read about. Imagine meeting the characters and visiting all the amazing and fantastical locations! I somehow seem to have carried this through to adulthood. My mind is often wandering through the worlds I have read about or even into worlds that I make up myself in my own crazy mind. Yes I know, it’s pretty geeky. But I like it, so leave me alone Mrs NW!

Not necessarily all the worlds I find interesting would actually be great places to visit though. Westeros seems a tad dangerous, and Luthadel would be pretty grim with all the ash falling from the sky and those nasty inquisitors stalking about with wedges of metal stuck in their heads. Some places seem quite nice though. They would be great for a holiday away from the real world. Let’s pack our bags and take a look at the places that I would visit, you know… if I could.

Hogwarts (Harry Potter series)

Yeah, this one is pretty much a given for anyone who read these books as a kid. I would totes be in house Gryffindor and have the mad Quidditch skills. Taking classes and learning how to cast spells and make potions would be pretty fun too.

Hogwarts

 

Ringworld

Larry Niven’s novel Ringworld blew me away. The book is mostly about exploring this mysterious and magnificent structure known as a Ringworld which is basically one big ring that surrounds a star. Niven went to a lot of trouble to explain how it all works, the night and day cycles, the structure of it, and also the mysterious empty buildings and strange plants. As you can imagine, the thing is absolutely massive so you could easily spend a lifetime exploring it and seeing all the sites. The best part is the hotels are free – but they do lack that critical ambience you might be shooting for with a romantic getaway.

Ringworld

 

Arrakis (Dune)

DuneRiding elephants in India? Riding camels in Egypt? How about riding fudgin’ gigantic sandworms across an alien desert!? Nuff said.

I’ll send you the selfies.

 

 

 

 

Battle School (Ender’s Game)

This place is great. You get to jump around in zero gravity and shoot your friends. Not lethal shots, it just immobilizes them. You get to do this over an amazing vista of planet earth that you can see out of the transparent structure surrounding you. You might get signed up to fight in a war against aliens but just try to ignore that bit.

Battle school

 

Middle Earth (don’t pretend to be too cool, you know what book this is from)

There’s something for everyone here. Strolling through the quaint and picturesque Hobbiton and exploring the glorious Misty Mountains. Getting lost in Mirkwood and making your fortune in Erebor. Only the hardcore crowd should go to Mordor though, it’s a long walk, and I suggest taking a ranger or a wizard with you so you don’t get lost.

Middle earth

 

What fantastical places would you visit if you could?

53 thoughts on “Worlds to Visit”

  1. Amber. And Malazan Empire. And of course Earthsea. World of the Apt would be nice too 🙂 I’d also love to see Wonderland, and Neverland, and… I can go on and on, so I’ll stop here 🙂

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  3. I’m with you there! Apart from the obvious Middle Earth and Harry Potter world, the Game of Thrones world would be awesome. My first choices, though, would have to be the mythological realms of Álfheimr and Svartálfheimr (home of elves and of dark elves), Ásgarðr, Vanaheim. And let’s not forget the Gaelic mythological realms of the gods and the Sidhe. Next I would love to visit the Discworld, particularly Lancre, go up to the mountains where there are witches, or visit the vampires.
    But there are times right here in our own world that I’d love to visit, primarily viking age Scandinavia and the British Isles in the time when they still were pagans and the druids were still highly respected. 😊

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    1. Ah yes, our own world. There are times I would like to visit too. Seeing the Roman Empire at its height would be at the top of my list. Perhaps as a senator rather than a gladiator though. Hopefully my time travel machine would let me pick.

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      1. I’d like to see that era of the Roman empire from the perspective of the Gauls and Germanics. Particularly, I’d love to play fly on the wall during the epic struggles of Vercingetorix and the free Gaulish tribes against the far reaching claws of Rome. Maybe even join in the fight, not that I’d do them any good. I’d likely be a hindrance rather than an asset! Haha!

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  6. On top of all the ones you mentioned, I’d say:
    1. Neverland
    2. Prydain
    3. Earthsea
    4. Camp Half-Blood
    5. Narnia
    6. Miraji (Rebel of the Sands)
    7. the Whoniverse (even though it’s a TV series, I’d LOVE to time travel with the Doctor)
    8. Camelot
    9. Ga’Hoole
    10. Terabithia 😉

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  7. That Dune cover was awesome.Do you have a larger version or a link to a larger version?

    As for travel. I’m a confirmed homebody. I did my traveling in my late teens, early 20’s and now I feel no need to travel, at all. So let me know if you survive and I’ll happily read your accounts. But me going anywhere? Ha! Hobbits are adventurous compared to me 😀

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  8. Hello Mr NW, yes Arrakis would be an impressive location to visit (gotta ride a Sandworm!). I can also vouch for planets such as Naboo (especially the capital city Theed’s palace and architecture) The raw power and vistas of Mustafar’s lava fields and Tokadano is quite lush and green with forests and lakes. Sadly though Coruscant, the giant city covered planet, was destroyed by Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens so we can’t go there now. One final planet I like is Bal’Demnia in the Auric Sector. I fought against the Confederation of Independent Systems there to defend the inhabitants, the Kon’Me people. You know about all these unconfirmed UFO sightings? They were me in my Nubian J3 Star Skiff when I went planet hopping! Thanks for a great article.

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      1. Hi there, the J3 can carry 3 passengers (as well as a crew of 3) so enough room for you and Mrs NW! Mustafar is the planet where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have their fateful lightsaber duel in Revenge of the Sith and Anakin loses. Bal’Demnia on the other hand is a little more obscure. During the Clone Wars era the planet was mined for a special mineral that was immune to damage from lasers and even Lightsabers. The Confederation of Independent Systems attempted to gain control of the planet and it’s mineral, Cortosis, for it’s own war effort (to use it for shielding ships and droids). A contingent of Jedi were sent to protect the natives and prevent the CIS getting the valuable asset. For pictures of the J3 Star Skiff you can check out this link:
        http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/J-type_star_skiff
        I’ll go back to dreaming of space travel now…thanks again.

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  9. Fun post! Is it weird that I would totally go to Westeros? I mean I’d want to be in Winterfell while Ned was still around or in Dorne but still… I’d also go to Wonderland, the North Pole, pretty much any world set in space, etc. I don’t think I could pick!

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    1. It’s not that weird. Just steer clear of the politicians and the far North in Westeros and you might come back in one piece. And make sure you take out some travel insurance. Just curious… do you mean Santa’s North Pole or the real North pole?

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  10. Though technically rooted in television, I always wanted to live in the world of Star Trek! Especially the TNG era – peace and exploration! I am especially fascinated by the Vulcan, Romulus, and the Klingon homeworlds!

    Arrakis is also on the list – not having read the remaining five books in Herbert’s original series, I always wanted to see more of Caladan. But, Arrakis reminds me of my desert fieldwork here in SoCal so I have a special fondness about it.

    Some of the planets in Star Wars, such as Tatooine, Coruscant, Scarif, and the Force planet where Rey found Luke… fascinating worlds.

    UKLG’s ice world of Gethen in The Left Hand of Darkness – especially across the ice in the last half of the book. What a world of desolation and beauty she crafted. So much symbolism! I don’t much like the people, except Estraven is a singularly beautiful character and makes up for the rest his dreary race.

    Bradbury’s Mars of the Martian Chronicles is both beautiful and sinister, and would make for an interesting visit! I love all of the ol’ pulp fic interpretations of Mars.

    I was not a fan of Enders Game, but I must admit the battleschool would be pretty cool 😉

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    1. Oooh, I forgot! I recently saw Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and I would love to explore that world! Vaguely turn of the century + alchemical superpowers/magic + cutural diversity. Great combo!

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      1. Yeah, I would definitely head off in a Star Fleet ship. I’m still getting round to reading UKLG’s Left Hand of Darkness. I think it’s been on my bookshelf for about a year but my TBR list was already so long when I picked it up.

        I really enjoyed Ender’s Game when I first read it but I had mixed feelings about the movie.

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  11. I’ve always wanted to live in the world of Star Trek, and after that maybe the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because MAGIC! Actually, I mostly like to just make them up out of whole cloth.

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      1. Really? That is an amazing coincendence. Let’s just say that for me, it is the best fantasy series I have ever read. The characters are simply amazing, especially Raistlin (and now you know where the name of my blog came from). Both the Chronicles and Legends series are incredible. Hopefully you will enjoy the read 😀 Thanks for the follow by the way 😊

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  13. I have that very same cover coppy of Dune that I still have not read. Regarding Hogwards, room of requirement where I’d require all the fantacy and scifi books along with all the time in the world to read them all…

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  14. The Land, of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant fame – before the second trilogy, or after. The Land was not a fun place during that time.

    Resident Evil – as long as I could fight like Milla Jovovich when she had those enhanced abilities

    Hogwarts – (I’d be in Ravenclaw) if for nothing else than to give Ron the kick up the pants he so richly deserves. (I’ve read the series several times now, and each time I discover another idiotic, thoughtless, gormless thing he’s done. Which doesn’t undo the useful things he did do, but I don’t think I’ll forgive him for walking out on Harry and Hermoine because he was scared and hungry)

    The Fast and Furious franchise – because really their cars are magical, and just once I’d like to drive like that. 😀

    Hobbiton – of course! 😀

    A Knights Tale – Women blacksmiths with a steampunk twist – I could get on board with that.

    How to Train Your Dragon – dragons! 😀 … and speaking with a Scottish accent

    The Hunger – c’mon Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie

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    1. Yes! Driving Fast and Furious style would be so awesome. Resident Evil is an interesting choice.. some pretty bleak stuff going on there. I suppose if you are as badass as Jovovich you might have some fun haha.

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  15. Midkemia and Kelewan. I grew up reading and re-reading Feist’s Riftwar books. There are so many places on those 2 worlds I’d love to visit. Meeting some of the people would be awesome, too.

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    1. I can definitely get on board with that as well. I loved Magician and the other two books in the initial trilogy. Still getting round to reading all the others – there are so many it’s hard to know where to start. Did you see Feist has just finished writing a book set in a new universe?

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  17. This is such a great post!! Totally agree about Hogwarts!! And yes a million times over to Middle Earth- especially Mirkwood- I know it’s a little strange, but that’s always been the place I’ve wanted to go to most (if it existed of course 😉 )

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  18. What a great post:)). The world I’d like to inhabit is the one created by Becky Chambers in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – a world with plenty of aliens and faster-than-lightspeed travel. Yeah!

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  22. I just started reading Ringworld recently. The book is amazing. The concept of a civilization constructing rings around a star that can support life is just a phenomenal concept. The way the four characters who are exploring it interact with one another, coming from different backgrounds, is a lot of fun. Also, a novel like Ringworld could easily be made into one of those open-world sandbox video/computer games. Gamers would love it, being able to explore a every nook and cranny of a giant ring around a star. Ringworld is a book I am going to have read a second time, and a third. I also recommend Niven’s book Protector, which takes place in the same fictional universe.

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