User blog:ForsakenPear/Ramble - Fantasy Worlds

Hi there. My name is ForsakenPear. Or 'bby'. Or 'what does this guy do around here again?'. And some other things I dunno.

Anyway, this week on Ramble, following the 'solid' success that was Concrete (I'm hilarious), I'm moving on to the topic of fictional realms, and in particular three of the big guns - Middle Earth, Westeros and Tamriel (more specifically Skyrim Province). There are countless others that I will not mention here, purely because these are my favourites and the ones in which I am most well-versed. I will be discussing what I find fascinating about them, what makes them unique from all others, and, most importantly of all, which one I'd most like to live in. This should be fun.

There is no doubting that J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the literary greats of the modern era. His epic tome The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece that takes readers on an incredible journey through his meticulously created land of Middle Earth. Middle Earth is the embodiment of a fantasy realm. Originally creating the world in the 1920s as a setting for The Hobbit, a mostly-improvised bedtime tale for his children, Tolkien became encapsulated by his own vision, and set about fleshing out his creation, complete with a ridiculously detailed history and lore, a process that consumed more than thirty years of his life, through The Silmarillion and the aforementioned LotR saga. Long after Tolkien's death, Peter Jackson brought the world to life in his film adaptations, accenting Tolkien's work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy then ruining everything with The Hobbit trilogy (Trilogy! Oh gods why did it have to be a trilogy!?). The completed Middle Earth is huge, with massive mountains, sprawling cities, great nations, dark forests etc. It has everything you could want in a fantasy world, as well as a superbly illustrated (by Tolkien himself) map. Some highlights of the land include the white spire of Minas Tirith and her estranged sister Minas Morgul, the secret vale of Rivendell, the great falls of Rauros and the subterranean sprawl of the long-abandoned Moria.

What makes Middle Earth special for me, is the ludicrous, mind-bending enormity of the lore that Tolkien has put into it. The majority of that history is detailed in the epic The Silmarillion, a chronology that spans several thousand years, from the birth of Arda, all the way through the rise of Morgoth and the wrath of the Valar, to an end following the War of the Rings and the passing of the Fellowship. I love the little details Tolkien puts in: in the Lord of the Rings, Aragorn sings the Fellowship the Lay of Luthien, a song which tells the story of Luthien and Beren - a tale that is told in much greater detail in The Silmarillion. It's details of history like these which makes Tolkien's world utterly unique. It also makes it one of my favourites.

I think I spoke for too long there. Moving on.

Next up, the much loved Westeros. Setting for the incredible book and TV series Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, it is created by the man with the worst punctuality in the literary world, George R.R. Martin (fantasy novelists love double R's). It is a world seemingly based on medieval Britain, with the south being strong but torn by civil war, and to the north a wild land separated from civilisation by an enormous Wall (c'mon George we aren't that bad). The TV series is superb, as I presume most of you would already know, but, (as a hipster book purist who likes to tell people that they're wrong) there's no doubting that the books are better. Hot damn those books are fantastic. The family feuding and increasingly complicated politics are just the surface of the vast world that Martin has created. Sprawling cities like Kings Landing, where nobles live so high above the peasants. The bitter cold of Winterfell and the North. The desolate outcroppings of the Iron Islands. Sean Bean's rugged beard. All Westerosi highlights. But what takes the biscuit for me is the brutal realism of Westeros and its inhabitants. Enough of that magical talk of elves and Gods and all different races. Disputes in Westeros are solved with cold steel and colder blood. Man vs man. No niceties. Compared to Westeros, Middle Earth seems to be exactly what it originally was - a children's tale.

Finally we come to Tamriel, and the northern Province of Skyrim. Setting of the game that shares its name, Skyrim is nowhere near as large or as detailed in lore as the previous worlds discussed, but it has one thing for which is trumps the lot - you can explore it how you want. I know it's kinda cheating because it's in a game, but the fact that you can go anywhere and everywhere in Skyrim makes it incredibly detailed. I love the almost surreal world design, like the entire landscape has been stretched vertically, creating abnormally steep and tall mountains. It gives it an incredible beauty, and even though graphics have advanced greatly since its release in 2011 with the arrival of next-gen consoles and 4K and the like, Skyrim remains without a doubt the best looking game I have ever played. Some of the sprawling vistas are just staggering. Beautiful cities like Markarth and Solitude are wonderful to explore, and the autumnal forests of the Rift are a sight to see. And of course, beneath it all is the cavernous Blackreach, an experience in its own right. As well as nailing it on the large scale, the creators have also added in a surprising amount of detail in the game, with each location and each person having a little piece of their own lore. No two caves are the same, though a lot of voices are. Apart from Brynjolf and his smooth smooth Edinburgh tones. Mmmmmm. Oh and Barbus the dog. Never thought I'd heard a New Jersey mutt in my time.

As for where I'd want to live, I suppose I could settle down in Skyrim, perhaps live in Honeyside in Riften (once I'd dealt with the dragon crisis of course). It's a lovely area, though they say there's a little shady business beneath the streets...

What about you? If you feel so obliged, tell me about your favourite fantasy world is, or where you'd live. I'll probably disagree with you, but hey. Shit happens.

I remain,

FP ( Now 10% edgier!!! )