Top Ten
Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’m putting my own spin on this
week’s topic. I think the topic is supposed to be about historical or
futuristic settings. That didn’t sound interesting enough for me, so I’m going
to list some books/series that have peculiar settings.
Ten books with awesomely weird settings
1. The Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling
You all knew
that this was going to be on the list. Let’s just get it out of the way immediately.
The Wizarding World is probably my favorite fictional setting ever. Lots of
awesomely weird stuff happens here. (Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, anyone?)
2. The Dark Tower series – Stephen King
These books
were described to me as “sci-fi/fantasy/horror western,” and that’s exactly
what most of them are. They have a Wild West setting, but with monsters, magic,
robots, and general craziness.
3. Midwinterblood – Marcus Sedgwick
A creepy Scandinavian
island where people are sacrificed to gods, reincarnated, and stalked by
vampires (not the sparkly kind). Sounds pretty awesome to me.
4. Going Bovine – Libba Bray
Most of this
story takes place inside the main character’s head as he’s dying from mad cow
disease. The character goes on a road trip across the US with a punk-rock angel
and a talking garden gnome. Yes, I’m totally serious. This is really what
happens in the book.
5. Feed – M.T. Anderson
The
characters go on vacation to the moon. Then they go on a date to a filet mignon
farm, and the farm has a maze made out of raw steak. Who doesn’t want to wander
around a giant meat maze?
6. The White Darkness – Geraldine McCaughrean
In this book,
a teenager and her imaginary boyfriend try to survive in Antarctica. Yes,
Antarctica. How awesome is that?
7. The Enchanted – Rene Denfeld
This weird
little book is set in an enchanted prison where goblin-creatures hug the warm
urns of recently cremated death-row inmates. Also, there are horses.
8. The Martian – Andy Weir
Mars is just
a strange place. Strange and very, very deadly.
9. Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
Most of this
story takes place in a virtual-reality universe where people can do whatever
bizarre thing they want. The characters spend a lot of time flying around in virtual
spaceships, running from enemies, and solving 1980s-themed puzzles.
10. A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
Parallel
color-coded Londons with dangerous magic and crazy kings. There’s so much
potential for weirdness. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Have you read any books with
awesomely weird settings?
I have only read The Martian and Ready Player One and loved both of those settings. This summer I will be listening to Harry Potter. I have to check out some of the others because I like different types of settings. Great list!
ReplyDeleteGreat list! Ready Player One has a great/weird setting :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun topic! Of course, the Wizarding World would be #1 :) FEED also has a very weird setting.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
Great list! I tried reading The Dark Tower series a few years ago but couldn't really get into it (I was told that the first book was pretty weak so maybe I should get back to checking out the other books in the series one of these days). Loved The Martian and Ready Player One; the latter had a very interesting setting.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Fun list! I can't think of any other crazy settings, but I do love Harry Potter, The Martian, and Ready Player One.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your take on this topic! I definitely struggled a bit this week. I would love to visit the world of Harry Potter more than anything else! Great list :D
ReplyDeleteHere are my Top Ten!
I really need to read Ready Player One...I hear so many wonderful things about it!
ReplyDeleteThe Wizarding World is probably my favourite fictional setting too!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/top-ten-tuesday-42/
I don't need a date, I'll totally go the filet mignon farm on my own! What a great list. The most recent weird setting I can think of is the Library of Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. I actually put the book aside because I had a hard time getting into the weirdness. I'll try again some day.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I have only read one book that made your list - The Martian. Many of the other books that you picked have been sitting on my TBR for a long time. I hope to get to A Darker Shade of Magic this year and maybe Ready Player One.
ReplyDelete