Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Worlds I’d Never Want To Live In.
It was hard getting to 10, so I had to switch it up a bit. First off, five fantasy worlds that are fun to read about, but not great if you actually have to live there:
1) Arrakis (Dune series by Frank Herbert): Giant sandworms. Need I say more?
2) Westeros (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin): There’s a pretty good chance of ending up dead, tortured, or mutilated. And/or watching everyone you love — including your pets — end up dead, tortured, or mutilated. And if you somehow survive all that, there’s still a bunch of white walkers to deal with. No thanks.
3) Mordor (Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien): I wouldn’t mind hanging out in most of Middle Earth, but I’ll pass on a voyage to Mordor.
4) Panem (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins): Televised slaughter of children. Nope. (But I think I would really rock the bow-and-arrow look.)
5) The Muggle world (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling): I believe in the world of Harry Potter, but sadly, I think I should stop expecting an owl to drop off my Hogwarts acceptance letter — and what could be more depressing than living life as a Muggle when all the cool folks are playing Quidditch and drinking butterbeer?
For the next five, five different versions of life on Earth, post-catastrophe. I hope I’m not around for any of these:
6) Earth after the moon is hit by an asteroid, in The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
7) Earth after the alien invasion, in The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.
8) Earth after the supervolcano eruption, in the Ashfall series by Mike Mullin.
9) Earth after the “gendercide”, in Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan
10) Earth after the slowing, in The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
(I guess if “Top 10 Fictional Apocalypses” is ever a topic of the week, I’ll be in good shape!)
Okay, made it to 10 just barely! What fictional worlds would you never want to live in?
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
ooh, Mordor! Didn’t think of that one but definitely a place I’d never want to be in. Same goes with Panem. That kind of world is sick, sacrificing children to teach the rest of the population a lesson.
Thanks for sharing Lisa. Here’s My TTT post 🙂
Yes, a lot of these are interesting to visit in a book, but wouldn’t want to actually go there! 🙂
As much as I love Harry Potter I wouldn’t want to live in that world! Great choices!
Well, I’d want to live there, but only if I had the powers to go with it! I always felt I’d make a good Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. 🙂
Interesting post! 🙂 I agree wholeheartedly with Westeros.
Thank you! Fun topic to think about. Originally, I was thinking it might not be so bad to be from one of the noble houses in Westeros, but on second thought, that didn’t work out so well for the Starks, among so many others. 🙂
Great list! Yeah, I’d definitely skip Mordor as well. Arrakis is too hot, lol, and the chances of me surviving in Westeros is pretty slim so yeah, I’d skip them too xD
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to wear one of those liquid-recycling suits on Arrakis either, even if the sandworms weren’t a problem. 🙂
I really like the second half of your list, and think I might have to check some of these out. What, for example, is The Slowing?
The rotation of the Earth has slowed, adding first minutes and then hours to the length of a day… and that ends up being a pretty bad thing, LOL. I get weirdly fascinated by end of the world scenarios…
Great list! Westeros made my list as well, as well as several of my favorite dystopian worlds, so I totally feel ya there! 😀 (and TT fictional apocalypses should totally be a topic! :D)
My TTT
Westeros, for sure! I thought about doing an all-ASoIaF version, including the Dothraki lands, north of the Wall, etc, but I started falling too far down the geek rabbit hole. 🙂 I’m going to try to remember the fictional apocalypses idea next time there’s a TTT freebie week!
Yeah, the thought Middle Earth crossed my mind, but as a whole I don’t think it would be much worse than the majority of the other fantasy books I read. (I wonder what that says about me then as I could only come up with a list of five… So I totally understand searching to make ten.) Anyway, here’s my list:
http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/2014/01/top-ten-worlds-id-never-want-to-live-in.html
Well, and there are so many places in Middle Earth that I’d love to hang out — Gondor, the Shire (although I might not fit through the doors), etc. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I think it’s safe to say that any sort of dystopian/post-apocalyptic world is a no-go. And DEFINITELY not Westeros. I mean, would YOU trust George R.R. Martin with your life? Natch.
Ha ha, GRRM is a talented guy, but he’s definitely not to be trusted!
I would never want to live in Westeros. Your promises of sexy fun and alcoholic debauchery do not tempt me, GRRM!
Maybe if I could get some of the dresses that Sansa wears… but no, then GRRM would turn around and behead some puppies or something. 🙂
hahaha Yeah, no giant sandworms for me thank you very much. The Ashfall series and The Age of Miracles are so realistic, I completely agree I would hate to have to live through something like that. Great list!!!