Top Ten Tuesday: Books Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl!

Summers in Washington State are one of the best reasons to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Between the gorgeous state and national parks, the easily accessible beaches, and the ample opportunities to get out and explore, there are so many reasons I love to live here.

Of course, I don't spend all of my time soaking up the sun... I prefer to escape, and often, into the pages of books! In terms of novels traveled, I've got a very well-stamped passport. That being said, not all of those places made for an easy vacation, and very few can stack up to the beautiful of the land I already call home.

Today's "Top Ten Tuesday" topic is "Book Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In," and man, are there a lot of them!


   

1. Obviously the first world that comes to mind is Westeros, aka, the fictional land from the George R. R. Martin Game of Thrones series. Too much blood, sex, and court intrigue... and not nearly enough dragons to go around!

2. Same goes for the Tearling, from Erika Johanson's Queen of the Tearling series. Seriously, if I want to live any place, it will be one not on the brink of war or civil ruin. Magic is great, but not when it's trying to kill me.

3. And speaking of magical lands, you can keep Narnia, from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, too. I'm more welcome to moralizing than you might think, but it seems like the Pevensie children go through a lot after going through the portals to this particular fictional destination... and the warping time would make for a weird return to normal chronologies when you wish to vacation.

4. Other children's book lands I'd wish to avoid? Neverland, of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan fame. I've got enough of a dislike for that particular boy wonder to know that things would not work out for me there... and there's a surprising amount of violence, the crossfires of which would probably make things difficult.

   

5. While it may come as a shock, I'm including Wonderland, of Lewis  Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, on this list, too. Despite my love for this locale as both a child and an adult - as well as my literary understanding of the story behind it - I'm not sure my hips would even fit through the rabbit hole. Besides, nothing down there makes a lick of sense!

6. Rounding out this particular train of thought, I'd like to steer clear of the anything that runs through the Series of Unfortunate Events, too. From Damocles Dock at Lake Lachrymose, to the Village of Fowl Devotees, to the Caligari Carnival, and so on, each setting is altogether too terrible and tragic for occupation... and who would be able to relax, with that villainous Count Olaf running around?

7. Other settings that are just plain unsafe? White London - and Grey London, for that matter - from V. E. Scwhab's A Darker Shade of Magic series. Too vicious, too bloodthirsty, too bland and muted a color palette.

8. And while we're on that tangent, any book set in Victorian England would be a no-go for me, no matter the genre. It's nice to daydream of wearing lots of beautiful gowns, while roaming around on long walks, taking tea and spending my days embroidering, but the reality would be living in dirty, dingy, smoky environments, and a lot more akin to a Dickens novel.

9. The planet Vogon, home to the Vogon alien race from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If I wanted to spend time with dim bulb, bureaucratically-obsessed nitwits with a crippling lack of artistic appreciation, I'd be friends with more people in politics.

10. Final place: Thneedville, from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Like I said before, I'm a proud, native Washingtonian. I'd die of a broken heart, if I ever had to live somewhere without plenty of trees.




This feels like a lot of negativity, though. Well, just because you were so sweet about asking, here are a few of the places I would actually love to live: Nancy Drew's River Heights and Tamora Pierce's Tortall. I already consider myself a proud resident of Dictionopolis, from Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth, though if anyone knows where I might find a tee shirt about it, let me know!

What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!