What are your favorite sfnal worlds?

Victoria sez, "Underland Press and author Jeff VanderMeer are building a book of the top 30 science fiction and fantasy worlds--from Ringworld to Dune, from Middle Earth to Lankhmar and beyond. This link goes to the web form that allows readers to nominate their three favorite worlds, and gives readers a chance to write about why they love the world. When it comes time to publish the book, a few of the responses will be excerpted in the book itself (with the authors' permission, of course). They're thinking of the book as a compendium of sorts, but also as a travel guide. We've all spent years in these worlds--in imagination if not in fact. This book is a both a walk down memory lane, and a place to start new dreams."

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

I don’t grok the reason for this
Anonymous

William Hope Hodgson’s “The Night Land”
E.R. Eddison’s ‘planet Mercury’ in “The Worm Ouroboros”
Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique and associated worlds

and more recently

Vera Nazarian’s “Dreams of the Compass Rose”
GarrettCook

Interzone, Dante’s Hell and Kafka’s Amerika.
jmzero

I can’t nominate one of my favorite fictional worlds, because it doesn’t have a book.

The Star Control universe (which is ours technically, but with a specific set of aliens and background) is, to me, one of the most interesting fictional settings ever. Every one of the alien races was beautifully thought out – entertaining, well-written, unique, well integrated to their environment – and the universe seemed bursting with richness and diversity.

It’s tragic that this fantastic place has never been revisited; meanwhile you can fill a truck with novels from comparatively bland video game places (World of Warcraft, Halo, etc..) – and I’m betting at least one of those sad, templated places gets a nod in this anthology.
shadowfirebird

* Ursula le Guin’s Earthsea. (Although, not sure it would be a good idea for me to go there: as a non-swimming computer programmer, my ability to survive in a bronze-age island culture would be minimal at best. For “Dragons on the air at morning”, though, it might be worth it.)

* Ian M Banks’ Culture. (This seems a considerably safer bet. And if I could persuade them to implant drug glands, I’d probably see dragons anyway…)

* P.C.Hodgell’s Rathillien. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Hodgell#God_Stalker_Chronicles. (I’d be horribly dead within a week.)
shadowfirebird

* Ursula le Guin’s Earthsea. (Although, not sure it would be a good idea for me to go there: as a non-swimming computer programmer, my ability to survive in a bronze-age island culture would be minimal at best. For “Dragons on the air at morning”, though, it might be worth it.)

* Ian M Banks’ Culture. (This seems a considerably safer bet. And if I could persuade them to implant drug glands, I’d probably see dragons anyway…)

* P.C.Hodgell’s Rathillien. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Hodgell#God_Stalker_Chronicles. (I’d be horribly dead within a week.)
Anonymous

Tine’s world from Vernor Vinge. The world itself is nothing special, I guess, but the TInes are the best aliens ever.
RebNachum

Larry Niven’s Known Space, especially post-boosterspice.
HP Lovecraft’s Dreamlands.
Does Matt Howarth’s “Bugtown” count?
shadowfirebird

Well, I followed the link … I’ve never had a web form give me a blessing before! And certainly not one I liked enough to take seriously.

“…may you travel well and far. May strange beasts guard and keep you. May you dream of electric sheep.”
Anonymous

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places pretty much has this covered.
I suspect a book with only 30 worlds might have to have articles that were large enough to invite litigation from the original authors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictionary_of_Imaginary_Places
- jeligula
  
  I have that on my book shelf. I forgot how much it was, as I got it from the Science Fiction Book Club when I was a teenager and my parents paid for it. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places is quite exhaustive, but it also contains very obscure references while missing some of the obvious ones.
- Geoduck
  
  I agree that the Dictionary of Imaginary Places has already thoroughly covered this; I’ll bet that the articles will end up being of similar length.
  
  But if I had to vote, I’d also pick EarthSea. The Kingdom of Wisdom in the Phantom Tollbooth is another good one.
Anonymous

Delany’s Velm, Sterling’s Nullaqua, and Heinlein’s Mars (really Barsoom, I think).
Anonymous

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, L.E. Modesitt’s Recluse,& LeGuin’s Earthsea, of course.
Anonymous

Great A’Tuin, why has nobody yet mentioned Discworld?

So many beautiful sights to see, so many unusual, exotic yet strangely familiar people…
- TheSpaghettiman
  
  I just put Discworld three times.
Anonymous

I like ‘wuffy’
valis

I picked Farmer’s Riverworld, Dune, and Arbe from Neal Stephenson’s Anathem.

So many more I love though. The Zones of Thought/Tines world by Vinge, Peter F. Hamilton’s Confederation and his Pandora’s Star universe, the Star Wars expanded universe, Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc. etc.
gwailo_joe

I really only know Middle Earth.

But friends. . .I know it pretty good. Give me some lembas and something pointy (and a compass: I’d need the compass. . .Tolkien never drew a star chart); I could get from the Iron Hills to the Bay of Belfalas in no time flat. Relatively.

These other fantasy/sci-fi places. . .I’d really be lost.

I am enjoying the Game of Thrones books now (thanks HBO!): checking the maps is always part of the fun. I give the maps a B: enough to let the eyes wander. . .not so simple (or complex) as to frustrate.

Still: I’m a J.R.R. partisan…even the best of Fantasy seems but a wraith compared to the works of the Master IMHO.

GoT reminds me of a local family Italian restaurant: it might not be the best, but there sure is a lot of it!
Ito Kagehisa

The unmoving Tellus of Zelazny’s Jack of Shadows.

Hey, if Cory can use “sfnal” then I can use “Tellus”, OK?
knoxblox

I think Russell Hoban’s Inland from the novel Riddley Walker, or Ursula leGuin’s Portland at the end of The Lathe of Heaven after Orr’s final dream.

Both places slightly off and brutal, but still holding out hope for humanity.
Alan

I’d nominate Mars. So many good stories are either set there or have damn good aliens from there. Yeah, it’s old school, but it’s classic and such an inspiration.
Anonymous

>facetedjewel

>The inside of the Stanford torus, that was the
> satellite ‘Gaea’ inhabited, in John Varley’s >’Titan’.

A minor point, my dear jewel, Gaia WAS the torus, she did not “inhabit” it.
Lynda Williams

Escaping into a favorite fictions world, my own and those better known ones I’ve loved, is looking pretty good to me these days. If it’s not the economy looking scary its the oceans.
Anonymous

in terms of the actual universe, I really love Revelation Space from the alistair reynolds books. It’s just so fantastic maintaining a grip on reality. no FTL travel, no force fields, every planet seems to be colonised by a different method that was soon outdated, and most alien cultures encountered are completely foreign and incomprehensible.
facetedjewel

That was a lot of the reason I read scifi and fantasy for so many years, to travel (and sometimes, to escape) to other worlds imagined by some of the very best authors of that genre.

The inside of the Stanford torus, that was the satellite ‘Gaea’ inhabited, in John Varley’s ‘Titan’.

Pern – for those of us who always wanted to fly with the Weyrfolk and have such an empathic relationship with a dragon.

A utopian Earth just before uplift, such as was imagined in ‘Childhood’s End’.

The dystopia of Barbara Hambly’s ‘Darwath Trilogy’, starting with ‘The Time of the Dark’.

The purgatory in Niven and Pournelle’s ‘Inferno’.

I visited so many worlds and I’ll always be indebted to the authors for letting me ride along.
CANTFIGHTTHEDITE

Terahnee, from the Myst universe. I really wish the Miller brothers would write more about this place, or at least some books on the split of the Ronay culture.

Mars, from the Red Mars universe. Mars with large aquifers is so much more interesting than Mars with uncertain amounts of water.

Middle Earth, from LoTR. Every grain of sand in that place is rich in history.
Anonymous

Steven Brust’s Dragaera and Piers Anthony’s Xanth.

Total opposites, but equally fun in their own ways.
travtastic

Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga & Void Trilogy were easily the most engrossing 3,872 pages I’ve ever read.
Anonymous

The winner will be any world where nerds can get luv’n from hot elves or green skinned babes.

Also, according to science fiction book covers there are no flat chested woman on other worlds.
edjusted

I’ve always been partial to Philip Jose Farmer’s the World of Tiers.
Zig

Hard to say three only, but here goes:

Roger Zelazny’s Amber — As long as I can walk through Shadow.

John Varley’s Eight Worlds — Love the ease of complete body modifications.

And Middle Earth no doubt.

However, if I was to sit here and ponder for a while I’d probably switch the list, and then switch it again. Just too many fantasy/SF worlds/realities out there that I would love to visit. Not to mention the ones I’ve built in my own noggin.
Anonymous

Hard to nominate any one thing from all the reading done over the years.

My recent favourite is the OkalRel universe as laid out in the novels of the same name.

Best,

– JP