What are your 1 3 personal favorite civilizations you've read about be it any real life ones (from any period in earth history), or any fictional past or future civilizations (created in any admired fiction books) and please say why, for each favorite civilization named named.
Beleriand - Tolkien.
The Culture - Iain M. Banks.
Westeros - George R. R. Martin.
Middle Earth - the clearly defined struggle between good and the forces of evil.
Camelot - knights, kings, queens, sorcerers, etc. - What's not to like?
Sherwoood Forest - Steal from the rich and give to the poor..............
Middle Earth, specifically Lorien and Hobbiton - so simple, romantic, battles, high adventure, mystery. Its perfect!
The world at Jane Austen's time - again simple and romantic with genuine struggle (1700-1800).
"Who are a little wise
the best fools be." John Donne
If a drop of water falls in lake there is no identity. But if it falls on a leaf of lotus it shine like a pearl. so choose the best place where you would shine..
1. Middle Earth(Lorien, Rivindell, Gondor, and Mirkwood Elves)
2. Narnia (main Narnia)
3. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures.
-Macon Ravenwood
Artemis Fowl version of earth
The dream Peter from family guy had about "A guys universe"
The future with all the atheists from South Park, dam otters
The concept of the town from the movie :Silent Hill: creeeeeppy
friggin dialup
The world of Harry Potter is pretty exciting, even if millions of others share my excitement with countless fanfic pieces
Setting of Mists of Avalon is historically and philosophically fascinating
Brave New World would be an interesting experience
those might not be my top 3, i love the setting of many books, but they are certainly up there.
I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Ancient China
The Old Jedi Order
The DC Comics Universe
Por una cabeza
Si ella me olvida
Quι importa perderme
Mil veces la vida
Para quι vivir
Like many of you, my first choice is Middle-earth, more specifically Beleriand and Numenor, two different Ages and geography but still the same place...generally speaking.
And then there's Discworld. I'm not sure I'd want to actually live there, I think I'd just want to visit. Although if I could hang out with the Wizards, life would always be entertaining and as long as I had Captain Carrot to look over me, I'd be ok.
Finally, the 'alternate' London Underground as described by Neil Gaimen in Neverwhere
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
I most prefer the present day Earth with all of its variations, from the wizards thatt Harry Potter hangs around with, to the paranoid lunatics who run governments, to the silent mystics. Fictional civilizations are much too limited in scope for me to actually want to live in them, although the pre-historic world depicted in "The Tritonian Ring" might be interesting; it had a lot of diversity of culture.
-Narnia
-Harry Potter's world
-Watership Down, where Hazel is the Chief Rabbit
Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the sun's rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes.
Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera
Middle earth is so well fleshed out down to the tiniest detail, it seems criminal not to mention them. So yep middle earth, especially the Dunedain, and certainly Rivendell. Narnia, and in a more contemporary way, the Wheel of Time series, are also great fantasy settings. If i ever lived in one of these high fantasy worlds, i'll of course spend most of my time smoking pipe, and contemplating the passing of life.
Discworld on the other hand... I'll definately be an aspiring hotdog seller.
I think the most appealing futuristic civilisation would be some sort of post-apocalypitic one. There really isn't a definate culture, but this sort of world has been explored in the the likes of mad max, or even the fallout series of computer games. I suppose i'm cheating since this is a literary forum, but no post apocalyptic book comes to mind right now.
Star wars of course deserves a nod too.
Historically speaking, i think fedual Japan would be an interesting place to live. As would renaissance europe. I'm rather fascinated with the idea of a rigid social classes and there a plenty of romanticism involved in these preiods.
The Wizarding world in Harry Potter, simply magic!
Middle Earth (Hobbiton or Lórien)
Narnia, during the golden age.
Oooh goodness...choices choices...
The post-armagedon world of the Books of Ember is fascinating, but not a place I would want to live in.
The world of Fairies, Trolls, Sprites, Demons, and everythign inbetween from the Artemis Fowl series will always amaze and inspire me.
And, of course, a place of my own Creation: KomKarli (Kom is a suffix, its not just a random capitol hehe. It means Sacred City, Karli means sky.) Unfortunetly, in my book, I end up sending it crashing to the barren plains below, but its still pretty. A flying city filled with palaces, musuems, and populated by a race as old as time, the Vaul.
Last edited by brainstrain; 01-01-2007 at 02:24 PM.
"...thought is the arrow of time, memory never fades."
Lothlorien and Gondor of Lord of the Rings fame
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
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