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Which mythological world would you rather live in?
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| 11% | 11 votes |
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- Don't complain about lack of options. You've got to pick a few when you do multiple choice. Those are the breaks.
- Feel free to suggest poll ideas if you're feeling creative. I'd strongly suggest reading the past polls first.
- This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
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Which mythological world would you rather live in?
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Any woman is a volume if one knows how to read her.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Thursday January 28 2021, @04:41PM (2 children)
I'd rather live on Nirn.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 1) by Ingar on Saturday January 30 2021, @04:00PM (1 child)
Bought myself a nice place there, Breezehome.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday January 30 2021, @08:55PM
Must be a common name--I also have a house called Breezehome! Small world. Took quite a bit of hard bargaining with my honeyed words to save up enough septums to get it.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 28 2021, @04:42PM (9 children)
2 votes for "other", but no specifications in the comments.
argh!
for what it's worth, I think we already had this conversation, and we decided that the Star Trek universe is a good place to be, as far as "worlds interesting enough to talk about" goes.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday January 28 2021, @11:12PM (4 children)
Ian M Banks' The Culture would do me.
Living on an artificial structure orbiting some star would be amazing. Then I suppose people would just get used to it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by pdfernhout on Sunday January 31 2021, @11:59PM (2 children)
Culture where skill is automated via Minds
Chironia (J.P. Hogan Voyage from Yesteryear, contributed to the downfall of the iron curtain, maybe) where skill is personal and a source of status
Xanadu ("The Skills of Xanadu" by Theodore Sturgeon, inspired Ted Nelson and hypertext and thence the web) where skills are drawn from the community
Interesting to realize how the three places I might pick from all have different sources from which skill flows....
Culture with its advancements and essentially almost immortality is more practical for older people but may struggle with purpose, Chironia is closest to human, and Xanadu is potentially the most trans-human in a fundamental way while still being human if that makes any sense.
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 3, Informative) by theluggage on Tuesday February 02 2021, @04:51PM (1 child)
Yeah, there's a reason most of books involve Contact/Special Circumstances agents and surprisingly often have non-Culture main protagonists...
Still, if you're bored with all that post-scarcity blandness, go lava rafting, grow an extra pair of arms to play an obscure musical instrument, help build a spaceship, get into board games that make Advanced D&D look like snap...
(I love that, in Excession, Banks effectively predicted the YouTube Influencer/Kardashian character type a decade or so in advance...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @08:43PM
Johnny Silverhand is literally *THE* influencer, albeit assumed more as a punk rocker working from within the corporate media franchise to bring down the system, too big to be killed with rabid fans willing to do anything for him in a cultlike manor.
The archetype he represented (I forget its name in the RPG) is basically the modern social influencer, or someone like Donald Trump. While he's normally one of the weakest of the 'cyberpunk' archetypes, he's an invaluable asset to a party because unlike them who are usually skilled but individualists, he's akin to a demigod, limited only by the followers his charisma and waxing or waning influence can inspire to acts of loyalty he requests.
And that is a role playing game dating to the 1980s, based on a fiction genre popularized in the early 80s and dating back a number of years prior (although not under the term 'cyberpunk'.)
It's really too bad the game taking up the namesake mantle overlooked the full breadth of the RPG in designing its storyline and character options. Being a major character like a social influencer could have had all kinds of interesting opportunities for advancing the plot or changing the landscape of the game world.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Friday February 05 2021, @04:40AM
+1. The Culture would be awesome.
Anyone choosing to live in Westeros is either a Sadist, Masochist, or insane.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 29 2021, @10:45PM
I think they were going more fantasy than sci-fi this time around.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Sunday January 31 2021, @05:41AM (1 child)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday February 19 2021, @07:37PM
Apparently everyone wears roller skates in Xanadu.
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(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:30AM
Star Trek is not mythological though - otherwise I'd definitely pick some sci-fi universe...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 28 2021, @06:21PM (1 child)
Wouldn't necessarily like to live in any of the given options. Even Oz would be "meh".
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 02 2021, @01:14AM
> Wouldn't necessarily like to live in any of the given options. Even Oz would be "meh".
I don't know about this. Australia has quite a lot to offer.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Thursday January 28 2021, @08:17PM (1 child)
I know there's dragons and such, but according to the series' backstory, technically shouldn't Pern fall under sci-fi and not mythological?
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 01 2021, @05:18AM
I would put Pern squarely into the fantasy category. It is neither "science", nor is it mythology, in my mind.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 28 2021, @08:45PM (2 children)
Give me Earthsea! I'd take a nice Hainish or Culture universe too, or maybe CJ Cherryh's Morgaine world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @03:33AM (1 child)
Either that, or WaterWorld™, where Kevin Kostner had gills where his brains should be.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Freeman on Wednesday February 03 2021, @07:43PM
You just described the entirety of the films' plot, too.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday January 28 2021, @10:39PM (4 children)
Either, during the reign of the four high kings and queens, or the time of The Last Battle.
I suppose The Voyage of the Dawn Treader would be good, but so short a season compared to the other two. One could probably live a lifetime during the reign of the four. During The Last Battle, one's life could happen at the point of the crossover from the "shadow lands" to the new creation where everything that ever was good would be present, and nothing bad would be present.
I can't think of any alternative better other than Revelation 21-22.
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(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday January 28 2021, @11:17PM (3 children)
Narnia is more believable than Revelation.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 29 2021, @02:55PM (1 child)
I did spend more words on Narnia. The Narnia books are rich in Christian allusions and allegory.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 01 2021, @09:34AM
Not surprising at all given the author. He was quite the prolific, albeit undisciplined, apologist.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday February 19 2021, @07:39PM
Narnia building codes would require all cell towers to be concealed.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday January 28 2021, @10:45PM (19 children)
As much as fantasy novels can be fun, there's this thing called "surviving" I'm rather fond of, and most fantasy environments are decidedly not in favor of that.
I guess we could try for Xanth, though, just because of how silly it might be.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @11:28AM
Just because it is silly doesn't mean you can't die horribly
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 29 2021, @10:46PM (3 children)
Fuck. Yes. Even more puns than Discworld.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Monday February 01 2021, @06:04PM (2 children)
I came here to post Discworld. If we are going fantasy, mind as well go somewhere so illogical that you cannot draw a map.
I have not heard of Xanth before. I'll add it to my reading list. Any recommendations to start?
(Score: 2, Informative) by crotherm on Wednesday February 03 2021, @01:17PM
I have read quite a few of the Xanth books. Read by release date as the older ones are the best. Castle Roogna is really fun. Fair warning, these books are are plentiful and increasingly silly.
(Score: 2) by zoward on Saturday February 06 2021, @10:28PM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by linuxrocks123 on Saturday January 30 2021, @12:42AM
That's why the right answer is Narnia. For much of Narnia's history, life as an ordinary resident of Narnia was supposed to be pretty okay. I wouldn't like the low tech level, but, compared to other fantasy settings, chances of surviving and thriving are much higher.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Zappy on Saturday January 30 2021, @12:17PM
I understood Risa is rather safe as long as the weather grid keeps working.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Saturday January 30 2021, @06:35PM (8 children)
The words "nasty, brutish and short" come to mind.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 31 2021, @01:43AM (7 children)
Not a Boy Scout, were you? Be Prepared, son! I could have electricity, guns, and motor vehicles in Middle earth within a few years. Because I know enough about the fundamentals necessary to each to have commercial scale production of all of them going inside a decade. Honestly, I'd probably skip the ICE vehicles though. I quite like horses.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Hartree on Sunday January 31 2021, @12:28PM (5 children)
Yes, I was a Boy Scout. And a cold war kid aware that technological society could be heavily set back or effectively destroyed in a very short time.
I've thought about rebuilding technology enough to know that while the knowledge isn't that obscure, the interlocking human organizations in order to get the costs down (economics still applies) by wide exploitation of technologies so they're not so expensive and rare that only a few kings can have them is going to be a challenge. Each piece is pretty straightforward, but the shear number of supply materials you need make setting up the means of extraction at the needed scales a hell of a task.
Especially when you try to displace the existing power holders in those worlds. They may not have modern armies, but they have armies nonetheless. With that much of a base needed, you'll be upsetting the order of things in that world. There will be losers that won't like it. Your best bet would be to ally yourself with an existing power base.
And that's if the diseases and lack of modern medicine doesn't get you before you establish a high enough tech level to preserve yourself and your followers.
The operating idea here is that just because you could in principle, doesn't mean you want to be forced to implement it. Oh, I dreamed a lot about doing it when I was a kid. My biology teacher dad and I would commonly discuss how to reestablish both the food infrastructure and modern medicine. He was born in 1922 and before WW2 was going to med school and he'd seen a lot of the things we just don't see so much of now. Ever seen someone with rickets? Wasn't that uncommon then. Strep throat was causing death in a goodly fraction of those it was diagnosed in.
As time has gone by, it's not that I've grown older and wiser, it's just that I've grown older, more tired, and have more aches and pains. I'll take Ian Bank's Culture universe as a first choice.
If for no other reason that I'm sure I could get coffee in it without having to grow the beans first. ;)
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 31 2021, @06:30PM (3 children)
Yeah, I was going with that you build the shit for a king as a given. I certainly don't wanna be one myself. Or at least that you have a dozen rifles that will shoot 300 yards accurately and folks who can use them before you piss anyone off. Bolt action with a spring-loaded magazine starting out but that'd be plenty to kill or at least route twenty times your numbers.
Not really worried about medical stuff. Yeah, they had more diseases but bottom tier antibiotics are relatively easy to work up and nothing would have immunity to them yet.
Oh, shit, I'd be ruined without coffee. I'd have to be hitting Africa pretty much first rattle out of the box. Can't be having with walking around decaffeinated.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Arik on Sunday January 31 2021, @07:46PM (2 children)
OK, but 20*12 is still only 240 you know. Run into just 250 orcs and you're toast. There were hundreds of thousands of the buggers running all over the countryside, remember?
Plus if you're thinking you can replicate Springfields quickly from a medieval start you're a better smith than I am, by a long shot. I figure I'd be doing well to get flintlocks going. Probably napalm and land-mines would be a better investment of time and resources. Or a 12 volt system for the castle.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 01 2021, @05:23AM (1 child)
Sounds like a helluva title for the introductory story to a new series/universe. I'd like to order my copy now!
(Score: 1) by Arik on Monday February 01 2021, @12:13PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @08:54PM
... this point.
Under a catastrophic technological failure we'd be unable to bootstrap most technologies again or within a reasonable time for one simple reason: The majority of the resources and the technology to map out new sources for those resources would be hard or impossible to come by.
Think about Cobalt for instance, or surface copper deposits. Sure there are mines you can find those in, but most of the 'close to civilization' ones have been mercilessly mined to the point where attempts to extract the resources with primitive forms of technology would be at best risky, and at worst suicidal to attempt. The deeper mines would require either a huge amount of physical manpower, or non-trivial respiratory technologies to travel deep enough to reach the remaining ore veins, assuming you had all the supporting chemicals to refine them one you got the ore out.
Hell, even just the wrong trade war could lead to a technological collapse if the stalemate between nations lasted too long.
Having said that, I think the current rush into space is an attempt on the world power's parts to eliminate that risk while also gaining dominion over the smaller nations by having orbital termination capabilities that will make the future of warfare 'you lose' for anyone without an existing space presence. We're not quite there yet, but the major players already have their shared dominion carved out, and will either merge or begin infighting once the influx of resources from the solar system are available to power the next war machine without reliance on diverse terrestrial sources by geographical or political limitations on commercial availability.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Arik on Sunday January 31 2021, @07:36PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday February 01 2021, @02:08AM (1 child)
Xanth is actually a pretty decent choice. You don't get technology, but you get magic instead, which gives a different selection of benefits and costs. Most people do pretty well, at least after Trent becomes King (and including the reigns of his descendants). It might be nice to just get on an enchanted path and follow it without a goal. There's lots of walking, but automatically rest stops appear whenever you need them, and no one you meet will ever injure you if you've got enough sense to stay on the path. (I'm not sure about harpies. It would be useful to acquire a skilled traveling companion, but that might also increase the risk.)
Yes, the central characters always have difficulties to overcome, but the minor characters seem to do quite well. So that's my choice. And if I get bored, I could always try to ask the Good Magician a question. Things would get sufficiently exciting quickly.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Thursday February 11 2021, @07:00AM
Ironically, after reading about twenty of Anthony's books I skipped the Magician Humphreys redundant shlag.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Monday February 01 2021, @02:36AM
The Democratic Peoples Republic
(Score: 4, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 29 2021, @12:24AM (1 child)
I'd like to live in Coontown.
No, I mean Coontown, like from Johnny Rebel. Getting paid to smoke Swisher Sweets while swilling malt liquor, sitting on the front steps of a condemned business bullshitting with passers-by all day. Then getting paid to do it again the next day. Pretty much what Socrates did, except before cigarillos and malt liquor were invented.
One might want to know more about this mythical place, but the good news is that such a place actually exists -- It's called California [bitchute.com].
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Sunday January 31 2021, @12:19PM
I buy boxes of mini-swisher-like cigars every so often, they're incredibly cheap and quite tasty. I get a carton of 200 cigars (10 packs, Talon brand) for like $12 plus shipping.
After experiencing those, I just won't buy swishers anymore. My health won't thank me, but oh well. Wonder why they're so cheap online vs regular boring cigarettes.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @02:10AM (3 children)
I want to live where My-Pillows grow on trees, and you can pick one whenever you want the best sleep in the whole-wide-world. And the roads are paved with My-Mattress-Toppers, so the commute to that is soft and cozy, every day of the week. And My-Pillow sheets will keep our unicorns and and esquilaxes will stay warm and welcome. And my enemies will sleep on cinder blocks embedded with fishbones.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30 2021, @04:14PM (2 children)
Cinder blocks for whoever marked this as a troll.
In a reasonable life, one spends much more productive time in actual, dream-filled rest, than in some soporific fantasy land.
(Score: 2) by dltaylor on Saturday January 30 2021, @11:09PM (1 child)
I suspect it was marked "Troll" for the founder's "politics" (delusions, IMO, but I'm not the one who moderated it).
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 31 2021, @04:50AM
Wow, some world! Good thing I didn't write about Craftmatic® Adjustable Bed Valley.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by looorg on Friday January 29 2021, @01:05PM (13 children)
Those listed are all quite horrific fantasy worlds filled with weird humanoids, monsters and magic. Death lurks around every corner. For most of the worlds we don't even know much about what life is like for ordinary people, we can only assume it's fairly miserable. After all most of the books focus is on heroes and villains and for them death comes swiftly.
That said when it was in the queue there was the option of Discworld, I guess it was the joke option in the bunch. At least that is a comical and whimsical place and appear to be more fun in that regard then the others. But perhaps that was just more about how good Pratchett was at writing.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 29 2021, @05:12PM (8 children)
The Chronicles of Narnia does not fit the mold you laid out. In fact there's a period in the series where the kids win their battles, go on to live something like 40-50+ years in Narnia as High Kings and Queens, then make their way back to Earth, where they revert back to their young selves. Yes, there are some definitely odd/different things, but it wouldn't necessarily be all bad. In the event that you could pick the time period you lived, it could be quite nice. I mean, certainly not worse than, if you couldn't pick the time period you lived here on Earth.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday January 29 2021, @09:57PM (7 children)
I give you that part. For the most parts I gather there will always be exceptions. It's been a really long time since I read any of the Narnia books, or even see the cartoons. I think most people if they hear it they will base it, or their view, on the first part The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. So you'll have lots of weird and creepy little creatures, a very wicked witch and I guess Astlan (or however it's spelled, the Lion) was nice tho. So as noted there are places it could and would be fairly okay or nice, sort of like you could probably find a nice little spot in Middle Earth to that is not filled with giant spider monsters, dragons, orchs and that Sauron doesn't care about. I'm sure it's lovely in the Shire for the most part.
(Score: 3, Touché) by linuxrocks123 on Saturday January 30 2021, @12:44AM
It's Aslan. But just say "Jesus lion" if you forget how to spell it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by coolgopher on Tuesday February 02 2021, @03:00AM (5 children)
Chronologically, that's the second part. The whole story starts with The Magician's Nephew [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Tuesday February 02 2021, @01:46PM (4 children)
Yeah, but when you're watching the movies The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is where you start.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday February 03 2021, @12:14AM (3 children)
It's arguably also where you should stop :D
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Wednesday February 03 2021, @06:20PM (2 children)
I wish I could comment your statement, but I haven't watched the other movies so I'm not sure if it is reasonable or not.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 03 2021, @07:40PM (1 child)
The second and third movies were fairly well done. The biggest annoyance I had was how they portrayed Peter. He did not act like a bully in the story, but that's how they portrayed him in the 2nd film. The third film was very interesting, but I'm not so sure how good of a movie it made. "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" reads like a series of short stories more than a single congruous story. I think it would have been better made, if they had created a series out of it, instead of feature films.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2021, @09:21AM
They should have gone straight to Magician's Nephew after Prince Caspian as was rumored and then done Horse and his Boy after that. Film adaptations always die at Dawn Treader, or if you're the Doctor then Silver Chair. Those two are not the strongest stories.
Personally I'd straight up do it in chronological order:
1.) Magician's Nephew
2.) Lion, Witch, Wardrobe (ends with kids on thrones happily ever after)
3.) Horse and his Boy
3.5) Lion, Witch, Wardrobe reprise, maybe a mid-credits scene for Horse and Boy with the stag hunt and a post-credits scene where the grown-up Pevensies tumble out of the wardrobe as kids.
4.) Prince Caspian
5.) Last Battle
I like the idea of working in Dawn Treader as a series. Silver Chair I'm just not sure about. It was my least favorite. I think Lewis was trying too hard to be Tolkien in that one.
What I would really like to see is Malazan [wikipedia.org] get the same treatment as A Song of Fire and Ice. Erikson saw Tolkien's world-building and moved the bar higher.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 31 2021, @11:15PM
Not Pern. That's a planet colonized by former Earthers. The "dragons" are genetically-altered local fauna known as fire lizards. Zero magic involved. The closest thing to fantasy is the telepathy the dragon riders have with their beasts, and even that is the result of centuries of heavily-reinforced empathy.
For most residents of the planet, it would be a largely agricultural lifestyle with periodic decades of Threadfall until the dragonriders finally dealt with that threat. After that, it would be a generally simple lifestyle: precisely what the colonists were looking for.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by theluggage on Tuesday February 02 2021, @05:23PM (1 child)
It may be whimsical, but because almost everything in it is a parody of something real, in many ways it's one of the most realistic (for a somewhat twisted value of "real") "high fantasy" worlds. Especially in the later books, it was becoming quite a civilised place to live. You can get a haircut, you can get a curry, someone collects the piss bucket every night, there there is a proto-internet, law and order (especially if you cut out the middleman and pay your Thieves Guild insurance, and the Watch are also increasingly effective against unlicensed crime), decent healthcare (either from your local witch, your local Igor or if all else failed at least one hospital where the doctors were discouraged from killing people) and even a burgeoning rail service. Mostly, though, there is a viable economical infrastructure and people grow food and provide services... There are sheep farms, cornfields, vineyards, mines producing treacle and low-BCB fat...
C.f. Middle Earth* where the Shire looks just about self-sufficient, the Elves presumably eat moonbeams and the world of Man consists purely of siege-magnet fortified cities with no visible infrastructure. I mean, look at the battle of Pelinor Fields - big alluvial plain, between two major cities... any student of Pratchett would be yelling out "Where are the -ing cabbages?! The good people of Minys Tyrith would be starving even without the army of darkness at their gates. Do the Riders of Rohan survive on an all-horse diet and, if so, what do the sodding horses eat?"
*look, cards on the table, I fell asleep after reading 10 pages of The Hobbit, so we're talking strictly Peter Jackson here and I may be doing Tolkien an injustice... Shoot me.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday February 06 2021, @07:38AM
*Pulls the trigger on an old 20th century slug thrower, *pop* *pop* *pop* subsonic rounds but they're hollow points*
Yeah, the trilogy is dense text. Not quite as dense as the Silmarillion but close. The Hobbit? That's a child's book, literally written to read to a child at bedtime.
Jackson's adaptions are a very pale shadow of the original.
"where the Shire looks just about self-sufficient, the Elves presumably eat moonbeams and the world of Man consists purely of siege-magnet fortified cities with no visible infrastructure."
Jackson's adaptions are a very pale shadow of the original.
"I mean, look at the battle of Pelinor Fields - big alluvial plain, between two major cities... any student of Pratchett would be yelling out "Where are the -ing cabbages?!"
The fields were dotted with barns and grain silos, sections were in grain, sections were pasture, sections were orchards. The cabbages? They were grown on poorer grounds, typically higher grounds. No one grows cabbage on land that will do better.
"Do the Riders of Rohan survive on an all-horse diet and, if so, what do the sodding horses eat?"
The horses eat grass. The Rohirrim reside on a vast open grassland based on prehistoric Ukraina. They live mostly in small villages, and raise cattle for milk and meat but also grow grain and a lot of cabbages.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 26 2021, @02:10PM
Ramtops for me. Sto plains would be an alternative.
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Friday January 29 2021, @03:39PM (1 child)
Apocrypha plane of Oblivion.
Plenty of books and pet Seekers...
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30 2021, @10:03AM
You n'wah!
(Score: 5, Funny) by GlennC on Friday January 29 2021, @03:44PM (2 children)
For me, that would be the United States where our leadership prioritizes finding equitable solutions over party ideology.
And yes, I would like a pony with that.
Sorry folks...the world is bigger and more varied than you want it to be. Deal with it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Friday January 29 2021, @06:27PM
Oh, so a Vermin Supreme supporter?
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Sunday January 31 2021, @07:34PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 29 2021, @05:18PM (4 children)
It's quite interesting that not a single person so far has picked "Middle Earth" as an option. There are only 19 votes, but I guess there are many mythological worlds you could choose from. Haven't heard a peep from anyone regarding "The Wheel of Time" series either, but perhaps both of them aren't listed for good reason. Lots of creepy critters that would likely lead to an untimely death, etc. The huge medieval+magical battles, probably don't help matters any.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @11:14PM (3 children)
The poll appears to be broken. When you try to vote for middle earth you get the error "This resource is no longer valid. Please return to the beginning and try again. "
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @11:16PM (1 child)
In fact it appears all options give that error. Maybe you have to be logged in to vote? I don't have an account so I can't test that.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 31 2021, @01:45AM
No idea. Works fine for me from another browser that isn't logged in. Using ToR or some such by chance?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 31 2021, @08:38PM
It's new technology. It only works when you select the right candidate.
(Score: 5, Informative) by The Vocal Minority on Saturday January 30 2021, @12:30PM (5 children)
I don't know what half of these are?
Yes, I will hand in my nerd card at the next opportunity.
(Score: 3, Funny) by PiMuNu on Monday February 01 2021, @05:16PM (4 children)
In the same boat. I looked up "The Seven Satrapies" and apparently it is Lightbringer series that I have never heard of. First review on Amazon has this which made me laugh (but I don't think I will be picking the books up any time soon):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3V3L6UJUISDVK/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0041G6RR4 [amazon.co.uk]
I stopped reading at the line 'two squat bricks of bread and a pale wine in a clear glass cup.' All bricks are squat, there's no such thing as a tall brick. And most people would just say a glass. A glass of white wine... a pale wine in a clear glass cup. I've lost sleep over that. I can't concentrate at work and it's ruining my marriage. A PALE WINE IN A CLEAR GLASS CUP. That's actually in a published book, written by a man and seen by an editor.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 01 2021, @05:48PM
The Lightbringer Series was very interesting and very convoluted.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 08 2021, @03:21AM (2 children)
It's a fantasy world! For all you know, this is a world where ordinary bricks are cube-shaped, and squat bricks must be special-ordered from the next dimension over. And as for "clear glass cup", perhaps glasses are so rare there that the vernacular has no single-word term for them; by translating the phrase word-for-word, the author is preserving this for you, the attentive reader, to infer from. Such careful and subtle world-building, and you, amazon reviewer, you spit on it.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 16 2021, @10:24PM (1 child)
In a world of wonder, the inhabitants have the ability to rotate things 90 degrees thus magically transforming a squat brick into a tall one. That's the fantasy land I want to live in!
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Monday February 22 2021, @09:02PM
Oh the calamity! Do you intend to doom us all?!?
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by zoward on Saturday January 30 2021, @04:36PM
They chose Krynn as an option, but it seems like the Forgotten Realms is more popular. I guess if I lived in a D&D world I'd have an option to learn magic, but death would lurk around every corner. But then I could also be resurrected, assuming I'm rich or well-connected enough? If I picked something like game-oriented like Azeroth or Norrath, do I get to respawn after I die?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday January 31 2021, @07:33PM (2 children)
In the first case, I would have to go with Robert Heinlein's Future History series, after the overthrow of Prophet's state and the taming of the media.
But if we must stick to the bookstore definition of fantasy, then some strange thoughts come to mind. Sure, middle-earth is an incredibly immersive setting, well thought out and well constructed. But it wouldn't be a lot of fun to live in. The same could be said for the settings of most classical fantasy; the world of Conan, or even Fafhrd, were generally pretty brutal places.
Phaze (Piers Anthony) would probably be more fun, even without access to Proton. The "Myth Adventures" (Robert Lynn Asprin) universe would also probably be more fun. I guess I'd have to flip a coin and go with one of those, if we can't have any Science-Fantasy.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by dltaylor on Wednesday February 03 2021, @10:47AM (1 child)
Unless we have hidden talents, perhaps due to a lack of resources, seems to me we'd all end up in Klah. No thank you.
As a heterosexual male, mostly brought up in mainstream US culture, Trollia has some obvious attractions, but ex-linebacker that I am, I'd hardly rate a single glance from a Trollop biologically programmed for Trolls.
Perv has a decent tech base, but Pervects all day, everywhere are a bit more than I care to deal with.
Winslow would be amazing as a guest, but it would require a near-infinite supply of money,
The Bazaar might be fun (unless you have to make a living clearing up Dragon poop), but leaving the compound to explore Deva? Again, no thanks.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Wednesday February 03 2021, @11:23AM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Funny) by srobert on Sunday January 31 2021, @09:26PM
Definitely in the Matrix. And Morpheus can take his red pills and fuck off. I like it inside the Matrix just the way it is with it's juicy and delicious steaks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 31 2021, @11:21PM
I don't recall that the world was ever identified by name, but it would certainly fit with some of the options listed.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 01 2021, @05:40AM (3 children)
I've spent more time in the world of Middle Earth, than all other fantasy worlds combined, so I'm most familiar with Middle Earth.
Pern is cool. I spent a couple months with the Chronicles of Amber. I've tried diving into some of the other fantasy universes, but none of them held my interest.
If I were to be transported into a fantasy world, I'd want magic, and I'd want to understand the laws that made the magic work. But, TBH, I'd much rather find myself in one of the futuristic Sci-Fi tech worlds. The fantasy worlds all have more than their fair share of dirt, muck, sweat and grime. Give me a mostly clean tech world, with hot and cold running water, and a chance to take a shower now and then. Top of the list is that "new" universe, The Expanse. Everyone gets the chance at a shower on ocassion, except the Belters, and maybe the proles on the overpopulated Earth.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday February 01 2021, @05:18PM (2 children)
Ever tried Joe Abercrombie - First law trilogy? Best author I've read in a while... though I expect he might grate if you don't get on with his style.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 01 2021, @09:09PM
Never have - I've just downloaded it to look at. ;^)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 06 2021, @05:01AM
My take on the trilogy:
It lacks polish. Not a bad story. It takes an old theme, adds a Nordic berserker to the mix, brings in the darker human races, but leaves some good stuff out. The Gandalf substitute isn't developed very well. Maybe there will be another book in which we learn more of his past, and his intentions, but at this point there is a lot lacking.
We have a couple non-human races, but no good guys among them. It's just good humans against bad humans and humans against evil nonhumans.
I'm no linguist, and a lot of Tolkien's efforts with language development is wasted on me. But, still, I feel a bit cheated that Abercrombie made no effort. Perhaps he is not a linguist either.
Maps. Or, no maps, rather. Maybe in the print editions, there are maps. In the pirated editions I downloaded, there are no maps. My mental map of the world is all I have. I guess Angland is rather like Alaska, just hanging off one side of the northern continent, with a vast white wilderness between the lower 48 and Alaska - and there aren't even any dragons in the wilderness. No dragons anywhere for that matter.
Joe's style is alright, all in all. He just needs to polish it some, and bring in some non-humans. What is a fantasy story without a couple characters such as Smaug, or some elves, orcs, halflings, and other such lovable creatures?
Thanks for the suggestion though. I did get drawn into the story at a few points!
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday February 01 2021, @06:47PM (1 child)
I'm not interested in living in a low-tech world. But if I had to choose I'd go with Pern, just not that particular planet.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @05:39AM
Fantasy world is better if you can use magic to make yourself immortal.
(Score: 1) by etherwalk on Tuesday February 02 2021, @09:55AM
Because why not?
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday February 03 2021, @03:22AM
Diaspar seems like a pleasant place to live. (A.C. Clarke,the City and the Stars).
The trouble with the ones listed is that we generally learn of them only because living in them is living in interesting times, a phrase generally suspected of being an ancient Chinese curse.
-- hendrik
(Score: 5, Insightful) by dltaylor on Wednesday February 03 2021, @10:15AM
The Constitution is very much an aspiration rather than a description of the United States of America.
Many of us would like to live in a "more perfect Union". Unfortunately we a stuck with hordes of citizens that have no interest in trying to get there from here. For example, we are supposed to have no laws "respecting an establishment of religion", but organizations claim exemption from taxes because they are religious. There a county in northern New Mexico that faced bankruptcy because so much of the land was held by various churches for retreats that the revenue didn't even support existing infrastructure while all of the freeloaders kept screaming for paving roads, ... Then there are the number of "Christian" jihadists quite happy to use law enforcement guns and threat of deadly force to enforce prohibitions against "sin".
We are supposed to have been presented with a Warrant based on probable cause, listing where the search shall take place, and specificly listing the item(s) and/or persons being sought. "Empty your pockets" and "Unlock your phone" do not fit that description.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 04 2021, @08:32PM
At the end of the run, the world of Scholck Mercenary had just survived total annihilation, but the result was very good medical care, near immortality, and a reasonable co-existence with multiple species.
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Friday February 05 2021, @06:37PM
A benevolent civilization of assorted superpowers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 08 2021, @06:43AM
Well, I voted "other" on the front page because my answer was going to be Niven's Known Space, but reading the other comments the majority view seems to be that SF doesn't count.
So under that condition, I suppose I'd go with post-catacendre Scadrial. (The world from Sanderson's Mistborn series.) The "old west" period of the Wax and Wayne trilogy is the only era fleshed out in print so far, and would be a perfectly acceptable destination, but the later, higher-tech eras would be interesting as well.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 08 2021, @09:59PM
If so, I'd like to live with the Moties [wikipedia.org].
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday February 09 2021, @05:03PM (2 children)
How about the heavily romanticized "wild west" USA right around the time of the transcontinental railway.
It would be exciting.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 10 2021, @03:06AM (1 child)
Firefly 'verse would be better.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 10 2021, @05:44PM
You mean a place where everything's dirty, technology is unreliable, everybody is hiding from the out-of-control government, half of the players are insane, and the men want to be called Jane? Seems like we already have that.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jasassin on Thursday February 11 2021, @06:47AM (2 children)
If you're a Trekkie you'll get it.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 16 2021, @02:12AM
Gotta follow through with that setup:
Risa is the only place where Trekkies can get it.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Tork on Tuesday February 16 2021, @07:57PM
Has that sentence ever been used before?
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Thursday February 11 2021, @08:56PM
History! Not real history of course, where death, disease, dirt, famine, war, and all the ugly little sideshows brought on by them ran rampant, but the nice glossy romantic history we were fed in school as children. Sure, there were some tough times, but the "good" guys always prevailed, God was on our side and peace and prosperity was brought to all good, obedient citizens.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Friday February 12 2021, @02:25AM (3 children)
A logical Earth, where decisions are made based on the well-being of the citizenry rather than on corrupt, personal, political gain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 12 2021, @04:49AM
The well-being of the citizenry is just a subplot in the story. You know, a peripheral part of the story line that can be edited out, without affecting the main plot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @06:47PM (1 child)
Only the citizenry care about their well being. Surrendering the political agency of the group to an individual is useful for making war, not running society...
(Score: 2) by Arik on Friday February 26 2021, @06:08AM
The unfortunate thing is that the next step usually involves the Big Chicken being a gigantic barbarian Cock to everyone else until they all gang up and remove his testicles. Even more unfortunate, the titanic expenditures of resources on all sides can be sufficient to set a race back several steps; often this does not leave sufficient heavy materials in the crust of the host planet to support a *second* attempt at the stars.
And so the entire race may die stillborn; entombed within the gravity-well in which they were conceived.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Sunday February 14 2021, @02:39AM
I guess I'll be the one to stick up for Middle Earth, if only to get a beer at the prancing pony.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @10:46PM
New Eden, in Minmatar space somewhere near Pator, a noobship with a capsule containing me, lol.
Oh the horrors i would unleash on that place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @12:17AM
Narnia?! What bible-thumping loser wants to live in Narnia?
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:26AM
Not sure why Krynn is there but Faerun isn't. You'd think the forgotten realms campaign is more popular than dragonlance. Level 18 cap is so limiting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @06:39PM
I once lived in a land with Rush Limbaugh. It was a better place.
God Bless Rush Limbaugh.
God Bless The United States Of America.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:42PM
Hydaelyn [fandom.com]
and
Gensokyo [fandom.com]
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @03:17PM (1 child)
It's the only place on Earth where everyone drives a flying car.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @08:26PM
With some kind of flag CGI'd-out on the top.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 26 2021, @06:54PM
If the choices are these olden' types or worlds only, then warhammer, but if mythological sci-fi worlds included then warhammer 40k.