Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week has a different topic. Check it out! This week’s theme is bookish settings I’d love to visit.

 

I chose only a few of the bookish worlds I love. There are two not on this list because a) low priority & b) I wanted to showcase some perhaps less familiar books/series, and figured the two not listed will show up often. What are those?

1. Alter Earth/ Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling. I love this books, and the world would be neat to visit, but some of these other worlds below have more interesting magic to me.
2. Unknown/A Song of Ice and Fire by GRR Martin. I say ‘unknown’ because the planet isn’t known, but we know several regions and countries. I think I’d most enjoy Braavos. However… I prefer places I might actually manage to stay alive.

 

De Sikkari/Evalyce by JA d’Merricksson

‘When a group of miners on the sky city of Port Jericho accidentally release an ancient magick, a force they have never dealt with before assaults the Jerachi.

As the killings continue, the city of mercenaries and hunters begins to fall prey to the fear. Collapse and utter destruction threaten the city, until unlikely allies set things right and put Port Jericho on a new path.

But what if they are faced with a killer they cannot see?’

Why: This is the world my mind spends much of the time in. 

 

Abeir-Toril/Faerûn/Forgotten Realms/Legend of Drizzt by RA Salvatore

‘Drizzt Do’Urden made his first mistake the moment he was born: he was a boy. In the rigid matriarchy of the dark elf city of Menzoberranzan, that makes his life forfeit. But when his own mother tries but fails to kill him, Drizzt’s path is set. He must find a way to escape the treacherous Underdark, even if that means setting out alone into the no less dangerous World Above.’

Why: The chance to meet Drizzt. Also- dragons.

**Other writers play in this world, but it is Salvatore’s take I prefer by far.

 

Scadrial/Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson

‘For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Mistborn: The Final Empire — Kelsier, a brilliant thief has turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler as the mark. Kel’s plan is the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into the fold. But she will have to learn to trust if she is to master powers of which she never dreamed.

The Well of Ascension — Evil has been defeated; the war has just begun. Vin, the street urchin who has become the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.

The Hero of Ages — The Deepness has returned, along with unusually heavy ashfalls and powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed. Vin and Eland investigate the past to save the future, and in the end, sacrifices must be made.’

Why: I love the metal magic!

 

Corona/DemonWars Saga by RA Salvatore

‘A great evil has awakened in the land of Corona: a demon determined to spread death and misery. His goblin armies and fearsome giants ravage the settlements of the frontier, and in the small village of Dundalis their merciless attack leaves behind two shattered orphans: Pony and her lifelong friend Elbryan. Taken in by elves, Elbryan is raised to become a formidable ranger—a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontation.

Meanwhile, on a far-off island, a shower of gemstones falls onto the black sand shores. These heaven-sent stones carry within them an incredible power—the key to all that is good and all that is evil in the world. Now it’s up to one young monk to liberate them from the corrupt monastery that harvests them. Pray that they don’t fall into the wrong, clawed hands.’

Why: I love the gem magic!

 

Carna/Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

‘For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies—elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy—the Marat horde—return to the Valley, Tavi’s courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war…’

Why: I love the Fury magic! 

 

Unknown/Rogue Agent Series by KE Mills

‘Gerald Dunwoody is a wizard. Just not a particularly good one. He’s blown up a factory, lost his job, and there’s a chance that he’s not really a Third Grade wizard after all. So it’s off to New Ottosland to be the new Court Wizard for King Lional.

It’s a shame that King Lional isn’t the vain, self-centered young man he appeared to be. With a Princess in danger, a talking bird who can’t stay out of trouble, and a kingdom to save, Gerald soon suspects that he might be out of his depth. And if he can’t keep this job, how will he ever become the wizard he was destined to be…’

Why: I love the magic. And I’d like to meet Gerald, if for no reason than to give him a hug. 

 

Alter Earth/Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik

‘Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.’

Why: Dragons!!! And I’m fascinated by the Napoleonic Wars

 

Pern/Dragonriders of Pern by Anne MacCaffery

‘DRAGONFLIGHT

On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly, and Pern will be changed forever.

DRAGONQUEST

Since Lessa and Ramoth, her golden queen dragon, traveled into the past to bring forward a small army of dragons and riders to save their world from deadly alien spores, fear and desperation have spread across the land. But while the dragonriders struggle with threats both human and otherworldly, a young rider named F’nor and his brown dragon, Canth, hatch a bold plan to destroy the alien scourge at its source—the baleful Red Star that fills the heavens and promises doom to all.

THE WHITE DRAGON

Never in the history of Pern has there been a dragon like Ruth. Mocked by other dragons for his small size and pure white color, Ruth is smart, brave, and loyal—qualities that he shares with his rider, the young Lord Jaxom. Unfortunately, Jaxom is also looked down upon by his fellow lords, and by other riders as well. His dreams of joining the dragonriders in defending Pern are dismissed. What else can Jaxom and Ruth do but strike out on their own, pursuing in secret all they are denied? But in doing so, the two friends will find themselves facing a desperate choice—one that will push their bond to the breaking point . . . and threaten the future of Pern itself.’

Why: Dragons!!! I love that they are colonists who genetically engineered the dragons from fire lizards.

 

Ancient Mongolia/ Conqueror Series by Conn Iggulden

‘Genghis Khan was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Shaped by abandonment and betrayal, Temujin endured, driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon.

Through a series of courageous raids, Temujin’s legend grew until he was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of a thousand warhorses, to subject all nations and empires to his will.’

Why: I’m an archaeologist, and Temujin fascinates me. 

 

Ancient Americas/ North America’s Forgotten Past/ W Michael & Kathleen O’Neal Gear

‘It is a time of fire. A small band of pioneers struggle valiantly to keep their ancestors’ dreams alive in an unforgiving, drought-stricken land. Driven by the promise of an awesome vision, a heroic young dreamer and a fearless woman warrior unite to lead their people to a magnificent destiny.

A towering epic filled with tragedy and triumph, courage and conflict, People of the Fire is the second compelling novel in a majestic saga of America’s first peoples.’

Why:  North America was one of my foci as an archaeologist.