Top Ten Tuesday 20

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week, our topic is our favorite settings and worlds in books.  I will be honest - convincing world building is an absolute MUST for me to enjoy a book.  Conversely, if I find a world unconvincing or with too many holes, I tend to dislike the storyline.  Though I've read a lot of great books with fantastic settings, here are some of my favorites:

Top Ten Favorite Worlds/Settings:


1.  Middle Earth:  I am sure I am in good company with other Lord of the Rings fans when I say this is far and above my favorite fictional setting.  I can't lie - there have been times when I sort of wished it was real...

2.  Harry Potter's England:  One of my favorite aspects of Rowling's Harry Potter series is her incredible attention to detail in creating an alternate side of England.  I mean, she even made up plants! This attention to detail makes the novels much more engrossing - and fun to imagine as I read!

3.  Camp Half-Blood:  Really, I adore all aspects of the settings in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series.  His modern imaginings of ancient Greek and Roman myths makes for a fantastic world in which to spend time.

4.  Panem:  I am sure I am going to be one of many with Panem on the list.  Collins did a fantastic job vividly re-imagining the United States in her Hunger Games trilogy.  I particularly enjoyed her integration of imagined technology with familiar locations; as a matter of fact, I am writing to you all from District 12!

5.  The Colony:  Roderick Gordon's imaginary world underneath the streets of London in his Tunnels trilogy is a very vividly created world.  Any book with a modern world re-imagined holds appeal to me, and this book definitely made me wonder what lies below my own feet!

6.  Faerie:  If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's Stardust, and you are the type of reader who enjoys fantasy novels, I highly recommend it.  The world he creates is beautifully described.

7.  New York City a la Cassandra Clare:  Re-reading the first three books in her Mortal Instruments series, as well as adding the next two to my "read" list, has made me appreciate just how much fun her New York meets the Shadow World is.  She describes the city with remarkable clarity, but her added twist of demons, warlocks, werewolves, and the like make the story seem even more real.

8.  The Glade:  Right now, I am re-reading James Dashner's The Maze Runner in an effort to finish the trilogy before school starts.  I forgot what an inventive setting this novel has!  A completely automated maze set apart from the rest of the world - well, I never would have thought of it.  However, Dashner describes it in a way that makes it almost seem real!

9.  Incarceron:  Catherine Fisher's novel of the same title has one of the most creative settings I have seen in YA literature.  Incarceron is not only a futuristic prison, but also a living, breathing entity with a mind of its own - and a will to thwart any character who tries to escape.

10.  Arthurian England:  Regardless of the novel, any book taking place in the time of King Arthur is bound to be one of my favorites.  I don't know why, but this particular time holds such appeal to me!  While my favorite of books set in this time is The Mists of Avalon, I've read many others that make the legend come to life.