Most beautiful fantasy setting/world/w/e

[Mighara Sovmadhi]

If this hasn't been done before...

Anyway...

My x-cents, in no order but with some arguments:

1. Roshar from Sanderson's Stormlight Archives
The greatshells, gemhearts, spren, political complexities, words and terms like "Aharietam" and the Desolations/Heralds, the symmetrical bases of various cities, and so on and on. Even the damn bridgeman system is "sublime" maybe to think about, not in the modern sense of something as sublime though...

2. The Nausicaa world
Mostly due to the Sea of Corruption/ohmu stuff, but the structure of the Dorok ships was interesting, as was the God-Soldier or even the Dorok emperors' robes and so on.

3. Middle-earth
We all know why.

4. The His Dark Materials world
Daemons, alethiometers, those wheel creatures in the last book, the Cloudy Mountain or w/e it was called, etc.

5. The Land
Since this seems meant as a reification of the archetype of beauty in Covenant/Linden's hearts/minds or something, ultimately, and is written well enough to convey the meaning ever and anon.

There are also video games with beautiful settings, as well as science fiction tales with sufficiently advanced technology that some of their epic realms are indistinguishable from worlds of magic, as it goes (e.g. the Way stuff by Greg Bear, maybe, for an example off the top of my head).

Lovecraftian demesnes might also fit into such a category.

[sgt.null]

Watership Down - an English countryside, if not already extinct, in danger of encroachment.

[Mighara Sovmadhi]

Excellent choice haha! I remember Lapine or w/e the language was being really interesting.

[Avatar]

All epic worlds are beautiful in some way I think.

--A

[sgt.null]

Excellent choice haha! I remember Lapine or w/e the language was being really interesting.

me and Julie (my wife) still use "hrdudududdu" for car. as the rabbits do. say the word out loud...

[Linna Heartbooger]

Hey, Mighara - I like this thread.

Here's mine:
1a. the Land
1b. Narnia
2. Middle Earth
3. Earthsea... especially that one archepeligo
4. The world in that one Daniel Abraham book I read..
5. Wheel of Time world (is rich and fun? only read book 1 and scraps of others)
6. Recluse
7. the world of "Imager"

Have you ever wondered where the name "the Land" came from?
I was like, "I swear, that wording seems familiar..."

[Mighara Sovmadhi]

My parents own property on an island, property they always called "the Land" so when I first read the Covenant books, the name did seem familiar haha. But where SRD got it from I've no clue!

[Fist and Faith]

Earthsea

[Holsety]

Leguin's books. Right now I've been reading some of the Hainish cycle. Like Fist said, Earthsea.

I think that despite being very hilarious, offensive and strange, Dying Earth manages to convey a sense of beauty to its world. That may be because the first of the three volumes is a bit more serious.

Also, video games:
Open worlds from contemporary sandbox games are sometimes very nice looking. I like Xenoblade X's a lot.

Warning: large image
https://laurakbuzz.files.wordpress.com/ ... bladex.jpg

[lucimay]

i'm sure most here could predict my answer on this one.

[Avatar]

Dunno if "beautiful" is the word for Malazan, but "amazing" pretty well covers it.

--A

[deer of the dawn]

I'm just reading The Silver Chair to my 3rd graders and that world is quite awesome. Middle-earth and the Land, of course... I was just thinking I need to re-read some LeGuin, it's been many years... I loved The Last Unicorn (by Peter Beagle) and although the landscape wasn't as prominent as some of the others, its inhabitants were very wondrous. And Perelandra by C.S. Lewis.

[aTOMiC]

All stories rely on the author's description to provide the reader with the information they need to determine how they feel about what is being depicted, however the individual reader's reaction is always somewhat unique so the choices being made are subjective.

Though I have not read all of the books being mentioned, I do have a very specific reason for why I believe The Land and specifically Andelain rises to the top of my list.

I think SRD's work is unique in that the character's own reactions to their surroundings elevate the perceived level of beauty beyond that of other stories largely because of Thomas Covenant.

Covenant comes from reality and early on he establishes the perception that the people from his world view the surrounding flora as non essential "scenery" and as readers we are embarrassed for Covenant and for ourselves by the admission. Covenant also begins the story as essentially an agitated curmudgeon and when he falls in love with the Land's people and its beauty it is a uniquely powerful thing to experience.

This isn't an internal character feeling appreciative of the beauty of their home like the Hobbits loving the Shire. Thomas Covenant is not just and outsider but a complete alien to his new surroundings and is being overwhelmed in a powerful, emotional way by the awesome majesty of places like Andelain.

To me it is this aspect of the story of the Chronicles that differs from many other stories I have read that take place in a landscape of surpassing beauty. The reader falls in love with the Land right along with the protagonist. This happens, to some extent, in other stories I have read but there's something noticeably unique about the way SRD presents his world and that makes it stand out to me.

[Avatar]

Yeah, I always loved that "We call it scenery" scene.

--A

[Horrim Carabal]

I for one would never choose Middle-Earth. I don't consider it "beautiful" and Tolkien's prose never imparted that feeling to me.

Middle-Earth feels like Earth to me. Earth can be beautiful, but it's too commonplace, too familiar. Sorry, never saw the "beauty" of Middle-Earth as a fantasy setting.

The Land, Kay's Fionavar, and Tad Williams' computer-sim virtualscapes from the Otherland series would top my list.