Guest Post: Top Ten Fantasy Realms

Today, I have Brent Hartinger. He is the author of Geography Club, The Last Chance, Texaco, The Order of the Poison Oak, Grand & Humble, Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Dreamquest, Project Sweet Life, and his newest book Shadow Walker has just been released. He is also a fellow Washingtonian, so I hope you enjoy his post and check out his books.
10. Fantastica. It’s the world of the imagination where much of The Neverending Story takes place. (I loved the idea of the “Nothing”!)
9. The World of Indiana Jones. The real 1930s and the real Nazis? Not so much. But I’ll take the Lucas/Spielberg fantasy recreation of a world where magic is real and everything is really, really fast-paced and exciting.
8. Westeros (and Essos): Have you read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice? If not, you’re missing one of the most interesting, and most realistic, fantasy realms ever created.
7. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Okay, maybe this isn’t a fantasy “realm” per se, but I’m still so there! What I’m interested in are all the candy rooms they didn’t visit, and all the Great Glass Elevator buttons they didn’t push.
6. The Realms in The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. I don’t particularly want to visit the effectively creepy fairy world in this gothic homage series, but it sure was well done.
5. Earthsea. One of the most perfectly realized fictional worlds of all time. I totally believe it exists!
4. Sunnydale. I really only want to visit to get to know Tara and Willow, who would totally be my BFFs.
3. Ancient Greece (in the world of Xena: Warrior Princess): I like my fantasy realms with a dash a camp and strong sense of humor, which Xena definitely had. Plus, it looks a lot like New Zealand.
2. Middle Earth. Most people want to go to heaven when they die. Me, I want to go to the House of Elrond.
1. Narnia. Yes, it was between this and Middle Earth, but asked himself: which would I rather visit? And the answer is obvious. Less grit in Narnia, with fewer orcs and more Father Christmas and giant owls.