# Main > General Discussion >  Your favourite fantasy world?

## Smårock

What's your favourite fantasy setting, everyone? Keep in mind I'm not talking about fantasy stories, just the background universes. For me it's probably Westeros or Faerun, though I have some gripes with both of them.
I often do encounter fantasy stories that take place in a shoddy universe, and that just puts me off. Then there's shoddy stories in a really good universe, which is rare but it happens.

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## Firwin

The Lord of The Rings have the best and more complete universe ever times infinity ^^
And i do like the Warcraft Universe, but only the time before wow expansions.

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## Carbus

Warhammer, and Warhammer 40000, in terms of diversity I think is the best. In terms of story and drama, I would go with Westeros. But for Epicness I think the Silmarrilion time frame, the 1st and 2nd Eras, is the best.

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## jtougas

I'm a little biased as I'm OLD...  :Smile:  but I'd say that on my list of top 5 would be:

1. World of Greyhawk- Hard to argue with the original "fantasy RPG" setting. I've played and written there for almost 30 years and I'm still in love with it.
2. The Land (from the Thomas Covenant series) amazing history and richness. I realize it's very "middle earth" but it does have it's own soul and character.
3. Middle Earth- Of course the classic and father of them all. I read the Rings trilogy when I was 10 and they are still some of the best books I have ever read.
4. The Kingdom of Shendenflar- Never heard of it? Well that's because it's my own campaign setting. I've been working on it for nearly 25 years and it's hard not to love something you've been with for that long. Sure it doesn't have the sweeping "epicness" of Middle Earth or any of the others but there is a lot of history and adventure there.
5. Faerun- The middle child of fantasy RPG settings. Epic in scope and detailed unlike any other.

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## gbsilverio

I love Middle-Earth!

As an RPG setting, I like the Forgotten Realms, but not all of it. Most of my campaigns are in the Sword Coast or the Silver Marches.

Bye!

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## Schwarzkreuz

The Malazan Empire and the other continents of Steven Eriksons Malazan Book of the Dead series.

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## Ralok

the elder scrolls . . . because mroe or less its treated liek science fiction.

middle earth is booooooooooooring, I dont mean the books re boring . . . but the world is just soooooooo boring.

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## Gamerprinter

For me, it's whichever setting I am working on at the time. Currently, I am still in the development of the Kaidan (Japanese horror) setting for PFRPG. It's my own project development being published as an imprint under Rite Publishing (but still my IP). I happen to be half Japanese, and have spent a lifetime of study of all things Japanese, especially history, folklore, legends and ghost story tradition. Having played RPGs since 1977, I've been consistently unsatisfied with the various oriental settings created for D&D and other game systems over the years. While both Bushido and Sengoku were great games set in Japan, _they were set in Japan_, not a fantasy Japan-based setting - something closer to my goals.

Japanese horror has not been a genre developed for RPG games, so Kaidan is my attempt to create that niche. (Kaidan is a Japanese word that means 'ghost story').

So far, under Rite Publishing, I've published 5 adventures, including an introductory trilogy of modules, 3 Kaidan race supplements, 2 faction guides, and a haunts guide. I am currently working on both maps and content for the main setting handbooks after a successful Kickstarter project last summer, and a new possible map product/complex encounter product series - where my Japanese Bathhouse Map WIP is a part.

I've always preferred niche settings vs. more vanilla worlds like Middle Earth. Both Ravenloft and Kara-Tur are inspirations to my work with the Kaidan project. Although I am enjoying Westeros - waiting for the next book release in the series.

GP

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## Bogie

I have spent many years gaming in the Forgotten Realms setting and it is the one I have the most invested in.  Currently we are playing a Spelljammer campaign in the Forgotten Realms Sphere.

I am thinking about trying a campaign in The Dragon Riders of Pern world.  Does anyone know if there is a RPG based on Pern?  I've read all the books and it is a very richly detailed world with a lot of history.

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## jtougas

I can't believe I forgot Pern !! That would be such a great RPG Bogie. The quest back to technology could make for a fascinating game. If you ever decide to go forward with that, let me know I'd love to help. and from now on you can call me J'on..  :Smile:

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## gbsilverio

Oh yeah, Tamriel (of the Elder Scrolls series) does have some interesting twists in traditional fantasy. I'm not too fond of the antropomorphic (?) races, though.

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## Ilanthar

Besides fantasy worlds of my own for obvious reasons, I am a big fan of the Aarklash world build for the board game "Ragnarok". It's epic and poetic in the same time, mixing and revisiting numerous myths harmoniously.
In second, I would say Westeros for its characters and story mainly. The realistic side is of the world is a bit like the Hârn setting to my taste.

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## Midgardsormr

> I am thinking about trying a campaign in The Dragon Riders of Pern world.  Does anyone know if there is a RPG based on Pern?  I've read all the books and it is a very richly detailed world with a lot of history.


As far as I am aware, there is no official Pern RPG. I do recall once seeing a pretty good game made with Fudge, though, and there was a long-running Pern MUSH at one point (and maybe still, some of those old MUDs and MUSHes have turned out to be surprisingly robust). I think I was the only smithcrafter in that entire world. At least during the time I was playing. 

I really enjoyed elements of Tad Williams' Osten Ard, although I get a little bored with fantasy societies that merely mimic historical ones. The background on the Norns and Sithi was fascinating, though, and I felt like they were truly alien, and not just long-lived humans with pointy ears. And Williams' Otherland was pretty cool, too, although it's a sci-fi VR world, and not properly fantasy.

Portions of Robin Hobb's setting for the Farseer Trilogy and following novels are really inviting. The Bingtown Traders' culture is well developed: just familiar enough to be comfortable, but more than mysterious enough to be interesting. Other parts of that world feel a bit flat to me. The Mountain Kingdom is just about as interesting as its name.

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## Ilanthar

Quite funny because I've just finished the "Stone of Farewell" from Tad Williams.
As far as I know, sithis & norns have a japanese style, but altered by the 'immortal' point of view somehow. The Qanuc people based on inuits is quite interesting too.

I had forgotten the Farseer Trilogy ! An I agree with you, Robin Hobb is quite good to balance the familiar and the mysterious!

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## MTGEmperor

Arda is my favorite fantasy world, without a bloody doubt.  I am a Tolkien fanatic and will forever be one.

Halo universe is also one of my favorite universes; primarily because I adore the Halo series, games and books.

I do have to give credit to the Elder Scrolls universe, since it is very cool to have a Middle-Aged theme world with multiple races.

The one universe that will always be with me (besides Halo and Arda) is the Multiverse of the Magic the Gathering books and games.  It is primarily a fantasy setting in its truest sense and it does draw on many different sources for its individual planes.  After all with Planeswalkers, the story itself is damn good!

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## DMChoco

World of Greyhawk
The Lands of Ice and Fire
Middle Earth
Prydain - World from LLoyd Alexander
Narnia

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## amberroberts09

Narnia and Harry Potter School!!!

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## Rik

My current favourite SF universe is the one developed by Dan Simmons for his Hyperion Cantos. Apparently Warner Bros are planning a film adaption of the first two books - can't wait to see the Tesla Trees in action ...

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## The Doge

No love for the Witcherverse?
I absolutely love Sopkowski's world. It's small in scope and gritty, but so interesting.

I'm also a big fan of the settings of Wheel of Time (for its magic), Westeros, Avatar the Last Airbender (though I've only watched some of the series), The Black Company, and (of course) Middle Earth.

As you might be able to tell, I'm a little biased in favor of human-centric worlds.  :Very Happy:

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## bartmoss

Amber. No Contest.
Also:
Graybox FR (but soon after it turned to a messy hodge-podge).
Thousand and one night - the setting everybody associates it, not any particular written down version of it.

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## Diamond

Some of my favorites, in no particular order:

1.  Thieves' World
2.  Jack Vance's Dying Earth and Lyonesse
3.  Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun
4.  Earwa (Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series)
5.  Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn

Earwa especially is just so freakin' realistic, and extra geeks points to Bakker for including a 100+ page glossary/encyclopedia in the third book, The Thousandfold Thought.

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## Eilathen

> 4.  Earwa (Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series)
> 
> Earwa especially is just so freakin' realistic, and extra geeks points to Bakker for including a 100+ page glossary/encyclopedia in the third book, The Thousandfold Thought.


Well, it seems even in fictional worlds of others we have the same taste  :Very Happy:  And i looooved that glossary.

You should really try Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. A very good novel with very deep and compelling worldbuilding!

So here is my list (in no particular order) :

World of the Malazan Book of the Fallen (by S. Erikson)
Earwa (Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker)

and, naturally, the still unconquered King of Worldbuilding and Myth

Middle-Earth (by J.R.R. Tolkien)

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## Diamond

I've tried three different times to read Gardens of the Moon by Erikson, and... I just couldn't do it.

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## Eilathen

> I've tried three different times to read Gardens of the Moon by Erikson, and... I just couldn't do it.


Yeah, GotM is a hurdle for many. Around page 200 it really picked up (at least for me). Well, i can only encourage you to try again...because it is a wild ride. And i think as a fellow rpg-er and worldbuilder, you'd really appreciate all the depth in the 10 books that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I was blown away by it. It's true, though...Erikson is a writer that really embodies the "show, do not tell" style. He really does not make it easy on the reader...you have to dig in and discover everything for yourself, he is never just flat out telling you important things about his world. But the depth and mythic power of his creation is really something.

Erikson is my top fantasy author to date. Bakker is close but much more ordinary in his worldbuilding and story.

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## Majere_Draven

Besides My own Effed up Fantasy world in my head. 
I really love Pern, Dragonlance(krynn). And I think that's about it. Tattooine has good back story that isn't really apparent.

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## Larb

I like quite a lot of fantasy worlds but one of my favourites is Scott Lynch's Camorr setting. There is even a map of the city on the author's website!

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## Juce734

For me it is Palladium Fantasy RPG. The setting is hands down my favorite!

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## Mr_potato_head

I really enjoyed Ravenloft.  I liked the horror themed campaign world.  This was also a bit before the current zombie apocolypse craze, so it was kind of interesting at the time.

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## krasimir

Gene Wolfe's Urth, Tolkien's Middle Earth, Amber... Really, what's the point of ranking these? I have a hard time coming up with fantasy world that I hated. Oh, I got one - Discworld.

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## Piscivorous

Athas or Midkernia.

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## steelwarrior

Kelewan and Midkemia (Feist),
Amber (Zelzany), of course
The multiverse of the "Elric of Melniboné" and Hawkmoon series (Michael Moorcock)
The whole Hyperion / Endymion universe, even if it's not really a "fantasy world" (Simmons)
And the Discworld , awesomely crazy (Pratchett)   :Very Happy:

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## Pryme8

I am a BattleTech Man myself!

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## Grunthar

Definitely, for me, the world of Malaz (Steven Erikson and Ian Esselmont series of books) is the most impressive, coherent, vibrant and exciting fantasy world ever described. I'm a big fan of Tolkien, but I rate The book of the Fallen even higher. The first step (Gardens of the Moon) may seem difficult, but the reward woth the effort once you've fallen in. 
Otherwise, The 7 kingdoms (Iron Throne) is a must and of course Dune. Purists will say it's not "fantasy" but it's an incredible imaginary world.

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## hobbit604

middle earth

world of warcraft

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## Niedfaru

All these mentions of Greyhawk, Faerun, and even Dragonlance, but not one reference to the most interesting D&D settings of all: Ebberon and Dark Sun.
I'd have to join the votes for Middle Earth, Westeros and the Warhammer world too.

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## mearrin69

As far as D&D settings go, I'd say Eberron and Athas (Dark Sun). I do like Paizo's Golarion (Pathfinder) as well. I haven't read a lot of fantasy literature but Middle Earth wins my vote there. Narnia is a close, fantastic, second.

On the science-fiction front, if we can go there, I'd say my favorite are, in order: 1) Herbert's Dune universe, 2) Marc Miller's Traveller (3i or earlier periods), 3) Niven's Known Universe, 4) Asimov's Foundation, 5) Lucas' Star Wars universe, 6) GW's 40k universe.

So. Yeah. I guess I'm more about SF than fantasy.  :Smile: 
M

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## Beoner

From all the fantasy books I've read, or those I know things about, the top five are, in order:
1) Arda (Lord of the Rings);
2) Westeros (A song of ice and fire);
3) Hyboria (Conan);
4) Eberron (D&D);
5) Narnia;

I also find pretty interesting the Dark Tower series world, even though it's kind of confusing sometimes - and steampunk, or something near by.

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## vorropohaiah

nice to see Athas get some love as i think its one of the most intersting D&D/rpg worlds. the ecologial themes and the dragon-sorcerers make it stand-out against most other D&D worlds.

I'd probably have to choose:
the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos (if that counts),Jack Vance's Dying EarthFrank Herbert's DuneRobert E. Howard's HyboriaD&D's Planescape and Dark Sun

add them together and (hopefully) you get the type of world i'd create myself  :Wink:

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## - Max -

Some of those which are already been mentioned and another one (don"t think it has been mentioned here) that always pleased me : Lankhmar from Fritz Leiber.

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## mearrin69

Oh, yeah, glad you mentioned Planescape. I hadn't thought of it as a "world" but I guess it should be. It's one of my favorites.
M

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## vorropohaiah

> Oh, yeah, glad you mentioned Planescape. I hadn't thought of it as a "world" but I guess it should be. It's one of my favorites.
> M


and now you mention it, i do love 40k very much  :Smile:  i do like me some grimdark

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## Counlin

Westeros  ftw, it is far my favourite world ever. 

If we talk about steampunk and SF I would say also the Iron Kingdoms RPG world - steampunk. And Star Wars world - SF.

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## Marth Fright

For me, it has to be the Iron Kingdoms.

If a map of the world makes you look closely for interesting spots (or "untreated areas") for inspiration, if you look up current and ancient sites of events and how close/far away they are from other contemporary events - I think that is a very dead giveaway.

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## le chevalier blanc

I like quite a lot of fantasy worlds but one of my favourites is golarion

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## lonewriter

Middle Earth
Earth Sea
Westeros
Narnia
Pern
Wheel of Time series
Harry Potter

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## tilt

My favorite would be Robin Hobbs world (Farseers and Liveships) and Joe Abercrombies setting is cool too  :Smile:  ... also enjoyed the Germanic Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying setting  :Smile:

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## aquarits

Pullman's World of "The golden Compass"
Deep China of "The Promisse"

and i love the Phantasy Star universe with all worlds of Motavia, Parma and Dezolis.

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## Steve Paluch

I'm a fan of the Dragonlance series and Zelazny's Amber series. I made a map for Amber & Chaos, which I'll post when I'm able  :Smile:

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## LordCartoart

ALAGAESIA! Without a doubt, my favorite world is Alagaesia. It's the world of the Inheritance Cycle series containing four books: 1.Eragon 2.Eldest 3.Brisingr 4 Inheritance. Is this anyone else's favorite? How could this world not be mentioned?

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## Clemence

I very much like Middle Earth, however Mark Rosenfelder's Almea is amazing, it's so in depth and fleshed out!

Also, while this may not technically count as fantasy, I really love the world of Ilion by Emily Holland, it's a speculative evolution scenario set on a tidally-locked planet.

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## Smaack

I think the world from Malazan Book of the Fallen is amazing. I love the multitude of different continents. The world just feels huge to me.

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## Falconius

Yeah the Malazan one is really great, though I find following the jump from book to book very confusing, unless you read them all in a row perhaps, whioch I've never done.




> 2.  Jack Vance's Dying Earth and Lyonesse


Got to second that one.  Mostly because Vance didn't really bother that much, it was a simply an empty canvas for him to create brilliant stories and the world just flows into and out of them, so it ends up being brilliant as well.

I like the world from the dragon lance series because I read a book about a Minotaur once.  And one about a black smith/warrior (was it the same one?).

One of my favorites is of course Darksun.  It's an archetype and a really good one.

Also Narnia.  Really one of the best series ever so how could one not include it?

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## Falconius

> I've tried three different times to read Gardens of the Moon by Erikson, and... I just couldn't do it.


Don't start with Gardens of the Moon, start with the one after it, Deadhouse Gates.

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## Propaganda Bot

Azeroth. Hands down. I grew up with the Warcraft universe as well as participated in a WC3 RP community for quite sometime. I've also spent many hours of my life playing WoW, so I have a slight bias to justify the time investment.

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## Diamond

> Don't start with Gardens of the Moon, start with the one after it, Deadhouse Gates.


I did finally read Gardens and then Deadhouse Gates (which was AWESOME).  But I stalled out about 80 pages into the third one and haven't picked it up in months.

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## Falconius

Haha, yeah it's a series that is very inconsistent from book to book.  Deadhouse Gates was the best though, (there were a couple more that came close).

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## Jariik

My favorite was the world presented in the First Avatar: Avatar Wan episodes of LoK.  The time taken to create a very different style of animation, and present a mythical world warrants far more exploration than it has thus far received.

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## Daistallia

Professor Barker's Tekumel!

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## damonjynx

Not worlds, as such, because for me it's hard to distinguish the settings from the stories.

R.E Howard's, Conan
Moorcocks, Eternal Champion Series, particularly Elric & Hawkmoon's worlds.
Lieber's Lankhmar
Tolkien's Middle Earth, of course.

For games, MRQII Elric, Faerun, I liked the Dragonlance setting from the books but never played in it, Ebberon and Golarion.

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## atomikdog

So many great ones. Someone make a poll?

I would vote for REH's Hyboria, Tolkien's Middle Earth, Lieber's Lankhmar, and Burrough's Mars.

Some recent additions might be:
Bas-Lag - Mieville
Eberron - DnD
Tamriel / Skyrim
The Trisolaris world in Remembrance of Earth's Past - Liu Cixin

And just to keep it all intellectual...
Invisible Cities - Calvino

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## Harkon

I'll go with Malazan Book of the Fallen universe, by Steven Erikson and I.C. Esslemont, the only shoddy thing in that universe is the world map, since all those you can see are fan made, but the level of detail and "sense" it makes are incredible.

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## Diamond

What about all the maps in the Malazan books themselves?  Those are professional maps, and they're all over the interwebs.  These ones:

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## Harkon

> What about all the maps in the Malazan books themselves?  Those are professional maps, and they're all over the interwebs.  These ones:


The maps in there are fine, I'm talking about the WORLD map, of which an official version doesn't exist afaik.
It's not that the fan made ones are bad, they're just unofficial.

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## Falconius

I don't really understand the maps in the books and how they relate at all to one another.  Although there is less disassociation between the maps and the writing in their specific books than most other fiction books manage.

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## Harkon

> I don't really understand the maps in the books and how they relate at all to one another.  Although there is less disassociation between the maps and the writing in their specific books than most other fiction books manage.


They usually don't relate to each other, as most books are set on different continents than the previous one, and the maps depict a continent at most. That's where a world map would come in handy but sadly only fan made ones exist, so no erikson feedback on that afaik :-/

I agree regarding discrepancies between maps/narration, you could actually follow the chain of dogs, or the malazan march in MoI  chapter by chapter, which is kind of unusual.

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## Diamond

Ah, sorry, I didn't read closely enough.  Yeah, a world map would be helpful.  I have a feeling one will never be released because Erikson doesn't understand himself how the various continents should sit relative to one another.

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## mapmage

I've heard of that. What's Age of Sigmar?

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## mapmage

Hands-down Middle Earth. I do wish Tolkien had crafted an entire continent, but others have done it. I also enjoy the Ranger's Apprentice series, so whatever that world is named.

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## vorropohaiah

> I've heard of that. What's Age of Sigmar?


the 'new' warhammer aftr they nuked the old world. It's grown on me

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## Greason Wolfe

Although there is only one (author admitted) poorly drawn map for one pair of stories in the setting, I would probably have to say Anne Bishop's Black Jewels setting is my favorite. Something about that setting and those stories really draws me in. Of course there is also The Land (Thomas Covenant series), Middle Earth, The Witched setting, and probably a dozen others that I can say are right up there among my favorites.

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## KaiAeon

My top 5 in no particular order are:

1) The Saga of Recluce
2) Spellsong cycle
3) Animorphs
4) Blue Phoenix
5) Wheel of Time

These are worlds I wouldn't mind living in with a trump card or special ability of my own, of course.

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## SharpPointyStick

Favorite fantasy world...that's a tough one! If I had to choose just one it would; of course, be Middle-Earth ( bet no one saw that coming! lol). Like many others I'm sure, reading Tolkien as a child; 40 years ago or so, drew me into my life long love of fantasy...& fantasy maps! To visit The Shire, walk ancient forests with Ents & Elves, tread the deep halls of Moria...who wouldn't jump at the chance? 

If allowed more picks...next on the list would be Mystara from the earlier worlds of D&D. Spent many years running adventures there & it's another world I'd love to visit! Many others are very cool, but my main criteria for a favorite is would I want to visit or live there. So while I may love reading about some of the "darker" worlds, wanting to visit is a hard NO! Warhammer, Warhammer 40K...awesome to read about, visit...HELL NO!!!! lol Most video game worlds also tend to be too gank heavy or over populated with nasty wandering monsters. For them, I'll restrict my visits to my gaming. So Tamriel, the world of The Witcher & Azeroth are also out, though I love playing games there! 

After, Middle Earth & Mystara I would probably have to choose Faerun. D&D has had many compelling worlds but Mystara & Faerun would feel the most like "home" to me from all the years playing there & reading about the worlds. Experiencing the magic, all the creatures & races...would be awesome as long as I could manage to do it without getting killed! Greyhawk, Golarion & Glorantha would definitely get honorable mentions. The last 2 would be higher on the list probably but I'm just not as familiar with them as the others. Sure something else will occur to me later but thats good for now.  :Smile:

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## 4maram

My favorite fantasy worlds are:

-Alagaesia: The first fantasy map I saw was in the one on the first page of the book. It was what made me start to draw ideas, and then came Minecraft and I saw that those ideas seemed huge on paper but in reality they weren't as much.

-Animorphs: I began reading the series on 2015 and ended it on 2017 (just a year before the web EspaPDF was closed) Now it's difficult to find the extra series: Megamorphs, Andalite chronicles, etc. Although Vegemorphs had something that left me like kinda depressed.

-Asimov's Foundation saga: from that series I've read The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Foundation trilogy, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth. Although I still have doubts about how the Hyperspace works.

-Temerant: If you don't recognise the name of the continent, you may at least know the name of the main character, Kvothe. Temerant is the continent where Patrick Rothfuss has located the saga The Kingkiller Chronicle. A world where, while there is magic of "real nouns" like in the Inheritance Saga, there is also something akin to a science around it (simpathetic magic) and engineering also (artificery).

-Kyralia: The world where telecommunications don't make much sense. In this world, there are mages as usual, but these mages can talk with their minds over hundreds of kilometers! Instantly! Without latency! Also, great world-building effort.

These are 5 of the best fantasy worlds about which I've ever read. LOTR doesn't appeal much to me. Begun reading but I don't like the style very much. Same for GoT, although those I read the whole series. Still waiting for book 6 to come up.

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## Redrobes

I agree that the LotR world can be a bit dry and tedious with a lot of back story that is very obscure arcane and needs a read of the impenetrable Silmaril. I started reading LotR 4 times before I first finished the book. Its a slow start for sure. There is no comparable world for the back story, language and detail tho but its not the kind of colourful interesting detail that paints a pretty picture in the mind.

Another world which people have mentioned is the GoT. I think the world in that is rather dull and pretty standard. But the characters in the books are electric. Same goes for Belgariad series.

My favourite world has been mentioned about 5 times on this thread and its the Dragonlance Krynn. Whilst I like the characters too I do like the background of Krynn with the cataclysm and also that it describes the moons and stars as being important to the fantasy universe by representing the gods. I also like some of the descriptions of the places as they are full of detail and life. Some of the places like the towers and the library of Astinus are imaginative as well as important story arcs. I also think that the world works. Its not just place after place of similar dry kind of towns and cities. Its very vibrant, dynamic and interesting but does not have any of the back detail of Middle Earth. To get a proper rounded view of Krynn you need to read the chronicles and the legends. The characters during the books of the legends bounce around the place a lot more and pick a better world view. I am told that there are 3 more books written for the series but there are some legal shenanigans to publishing them. But when they are out I will surely get them.

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## Greason Wolfe

Think a fair number of folk have trouble with the old style of English that Tolkien used in his writing. I know that the first time I read LotR, it was troublesome until I got used to the language flow. After that, I was fine. Dennis McKiernan writes in a similar fashion, and I completely forgot to mention his Mythgar world and Julian May's Pliocene Exiles world as a couple of my favorites along with the world of Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away.

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## eepjr24

For me the list would go something like:

1. Discworld
2. Dresdenverse
3. Amber
4. Middle Earth
5. Pyrdain

Lots of good series mentioned in this thread. I like The Land from Thomas Covenant but the story arcs turn me off somewhat due to the content and self loathing. I also like Temerant from The Kingkiller Chronicles. And A Wizard in Rhyme by Christopher Stasheff. Of course Xanth by Piers Anthony. Several of Mercedes Lackey's lands are nice. For darker stuff, Simon Green does nice worlds. 

- E

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## Ultrahuntr

I have a really soft spot for Pern (Dragonriders of Pern) and Ascalon (Dragonlance). I found these both at the perfect age in my life for going in hard into fantasy, and I have fantastic memories about stomping through the lands of both. For an RPG world, definitely Ascalon. It's the quintessential RPG setting for me.

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## carlomilton26

I have spent many years gaming in the Forgotten Realms setting and it is the one I have the most invested in. Currently we are playing a Spelljammer campaign in the Forgotten Realms Sphere. 

Regards,

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## Simkin

My favourite fantasy books are:
Lord of the rings
Dragonlance
Shannara (I created a RPG for this world a looong tine ago and played with a group of friends for 3 years a campaign)

But my favorite RPG is ARS MAGICA, so my favorite setting in medieval Europe, with all his legends and secrets and mysteries. One of my best books ever is Baudolino  (Umberto Eco), and I vividly suggest all of u to read it (if u didn't do it).

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## quirky_cartographer

> My favourite fantasy books are:
> Lord of the rings
> Dragonlance


I have to agree that Dragonlance was a great world.  I really got into that trilogy as well as the other books Weiss and Hickman wrote.  I was really sad to see they got shafted by WotC recently.  I would have loved to have read the trilogy that wrapped everything up!  Maybe in the future.  I hope.

Also, LotR got me hook, line, and sinker into fantasy.  I have to give a mad shout out to those books, too.

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## vicycletwo

My interpretation so far is that roughly at the halfway point of book 2, Kvothe decided to really start messing with Chronicler or at the very least is lying his ass off since he'd rather have a fantastic representation of whatever happened compared to the truth. Considering he goes from being a lucky guile hero to a ninja master who sleeps with sex fairies and fighter of racism (#notalledemaruh), I think stuff went down way differently in that book than Kvothe is letting on. My fingers are crossed for book 3 having people start appearing and calling out Kvothes BS. shareit get-vidmateapk.com

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## Falconius

> My interpretation so far is that roughly at the halfway point of book 2, Kvothe decided to really start messing with Chronicler or at the very least is lying his ass off since he'd rather have a fantastic representation of whatever happened compared to the truth. Considering he goes from being a lucky guile hero to a ninja master who sleeps with sex fairies and fighter of racism (#notalledemaruh), I think stuff went down way differently in that book than Kvothe is letting on. My fingers are crossed for book 3 having people start appearing and calling out Kvothes BS.


Book 3.  Lol.  Although it is far more likely than Martin ever continuing GOT.

Edit: I think Rothfuss built himself into a corner saying there were only three books/days and it's just not enough space, so that has been a real spanner in the gears.

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## brycechard

My favorite fantasy world is the world of the Lord of the rings. Perfectly designed and very rich in all sorts of elements! Tolkien was simply a master of creating fantasy worlds. Every time I read his books, I wanted to immerse myself in the world he wrote.  Then I was just thrilled! And in principle, the universe of middle-earth was very high-quality, leaving me in a state of tension throughout any book. In this regard, Tolkien is a real Genius! The same opinion is shared by everyone with whom I met on my favorite forum on Tolkien's books: https://www.thetolkienforum.com/wiki/Helms-Deep

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## Gamerprinter

I don't have such a thing. My favorite world setting, is whatever world setting I happen to be playing in, designing for, reading about at the time. Right now, I've been working on a larger setting, and a specific setting within the larger setting as the background material for all the Starfinder sci-fi/science fantasy adventure modules and rules supplements I've been publishing for the past 3 years. I have two other writers involved creating their own modules and supplements, but all loosely set inside the settings mentioned. Sure I loved Middle Earth when I was reading the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but that was 8th grade, and enjoyed whatever was the setting I was reading about the time, but I tend not to carry those settings with me more than some distant inspiration that might apply to settings I dream up on my own. As a hobbyist roleplayer, while I played in Greyhawk in the earliest campaigns, it wasn't more than a year or two playing D&D that I began building my own settings, and have never used the default setting of any game system since - I never used Forgotten Realms, Mystara, Rokugan. While I did play in Ravenloft and kept Barovia, I immediately began creating alternative domains beyond Ravenloft. I care nothing for the canon of published settings, and again seldom use settings that I haven't created myself.

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## Marcolino

I like so much fantasy settings.

Lord of the Rings
Forgotten Realms
Dark Sun
Dragon Lance
Westeros
Dune
Warlands (Image Comics)

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## Kâ Lys

The Continent - The WitcherWesteros - A Song of Ice and FireThe Fated Place - Warhammer (Old & New)In a galaxy far, far away - Star WarsNirn - The Elder ScrollsThedas - Dragon Age

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## Valtharius

The Young Kingdoms - Elric Saga - Michael Moorcock
Midkemia - Magician Series - Raymond E. Feist
The World - The Belgariad - David Eddings
Eosia - The Elenium - David Eddings
Errama - Lord of Dûs - Lawrence Watt-Evans
Middle-Earth - Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

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## Neyasha

Lord of the Rings was the book that made me fell in love with the fantasy genre, when I was a teenager and *Middle-Earth* is still my favorite fantasy world. I love the feeling of a rich history with myths, legends and songs lurking behind every corner. 
I also have a soft spot for *Phantásien* (Michael Ende: The Neverending Story). When I was reading the book as a child I so desperately wanted to enter this world just like Bastian did and I also love the original ideas like the colour desert Goab and the house of Aiuóla.

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## Tobijjah

The Lord of the rings , middle earth is one of the most biggest and the best in the world.  :Smile:

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## nito_lio

Im a fan of Middle Earth  I love the diversity. 
Wonderland and Neverland have always intrigued me.
I enjoy most parts of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild.
There are quite a few Ghibli invented worlds I would enjoy wandering around in.  
Lastly, I love the land on which the novel Ive been working on is set.

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## pikahchew

Easy, Lord of the Rings

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## Elizabeth_Bowen19

I Love Middle Earth. But my favorite might actually be the world my brother made for gaming. It's such a rich setting that I've absolutely fallen for it!

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## emmarosetait

Roshar (the world of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight archive) - I found  really fascinating. Particularly the way that the society, culture, architecture etc was based so much around the landscape and the storms. 

Dune has a special place in my heart since it was one of my first introduction to science fiction

the world of The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.  

Apparently I really like worlds where the landscape/climate plays a vital role in the culture, society, politics etc. of worlds.  :Smile:

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## XCali

> I Love Middle Earth. But my favorite might actually be the world my brother made for gaming. It's such a rich setting that I've absolutely fallen for it!


Has he started mapping it?

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## Elizabeth_Bowen19

> Has he started mapping it?


Yes he has! I can't remember the name of the program he uses, but it looks great, and it's very detailed. It's made gaming so much easier, and since he's also got maps for several of the major cities, there's always new encounters being generated simply by virtue of how the world is laid out.

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## rredmond

Looking forward to seeing it  :Smile:

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## XCali

Yeah, I agree. I would love to see some of those maps.  :Very Happy:

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## Clyph

> ...there's always new encounters being generated simply by virtue of how the world is laid out.


Wow, the maps sound so exciting. Reminds me of hearing about rpg _In the Belly of the Beast_ and recommendation to check it out because setting is the driver.

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## Clyph

Lord of the Rings and maps through the ages for sure. I'll always have a soft spot for D&D's Greyhawk/eastern Oerth, iirc, colorful maps and my first major campaign crawl. Sci-fi mention : Numenera's continent o' past galactic building ages.

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## Truelight

An anachronistic blend of high fantasy and scifi with inspiration from 80s & 90's cartoons and anime!

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## Jebus

Im a fan of Dresden as well as Brandon Sanderson

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## gamingwoof

For me it has to be The Realm of The Elderlings. From the Six Duchies, to the Mountain Kingdom, to the Out Islands, to the Rain Wilds, and all the way to Clerres. I absolutely love how different each one of these cultures are. Another big factor for me is that there are so many books that take place in the world, so I feel like I'm super familiar with so many different aspects of it.

______
https://apix-drive.com/en/flowxo

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## pikahchew

> I Love Middle Earth. But my favorite might actually be the world my brother made for gaming. It's such a rich setting that I've absolutely fallen for it!


I would love to see it! Especially because I'm looking to improve in my cartography/worldbuilding skills

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## heychadwick

World of Greyhawk!   There are a lot of great other worlds, but that is my favorite.

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## LaylaAlder

For me, it's a tie between the world created in the Spellmonger Series by Terry Mancour, and the Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson.  It's a tough choice too, since I love different things about the different universes they have created.  I love how Spellmonger handles divinity, for example - being faith based constructs of humanity and unique to the magic of humans, a concept I adapted to my own setting.  At the same time, I love how creative the Cosmere can be, particularly Roshar.  There's a lot of concepts that just inspire me.

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## ToxicMedia

When I was a kid I loved Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons, and Conan. As I got older I enjoyed the Out of the Ashes series of books as well as Call of Cthulhu. The older I got, the more I started to like Westerns. I guess I can't pick just one. I feel if something is released in the right time the right place it will take off and people will mimic it and the "ride" begins. 1 successful superhero movie started it all- remember ? Now the market is so saturated and the heroes they pick now are meh.

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## tooponn

I am thinking about trying a campaign in The Dragon Riders of Pern world. Does anyone know if there is a RPG based on Pern? I've read all the books and it is a very richly detailed world with a lot of history.

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## rredmond

Funny enough there are tons of maps that can be used for that sort of thing. But from what I understand the author of the Pern books was against an RPG based on them. I don't think there ever was one developed, though I've heard folks using dogfight rules (like maybe from Dawn Patrol?) to add to other games to get more of a Pern feel. Be intrigued if anyone else knows any more.

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