Wordsmithing and Worldbuilding: elves

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted and created by The Broke and the Bookish. To participate, click here.

I thought I'd combine two of my jobs on paper: mixing drinks and recommending books, and set up this list like book cocktails. So each number has a combo of popular books/series/authors/franchises, and then the resulting "mix" is what you should read. Got it?

Top 10 Books You Should Read if You Like These Popular Books/Authors

1. If you like Percy Jackson and MARVEL/DC Superheroes:

The Jack Blank Adventures by Matt Myklusch

An orphan hero, check.

Killer robots, check.

Ninjas, flying cars, supervillains, check.

There's even time travel.

This fun series straddles YA and MG and will appeal to both kids and their parents

2. If you liked Matched and Divergent:

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Reviewed it here

In a dystopian future, young midwife Gaia Stone must choose between her duty and rescuing her parents. And making that choice will cause her to question everything she knows. This is one dystopian novel that won't remind you of The Hunger Games. And the heroine is a midwife.

3. If you liked Twilight and anything by Jane Austen

The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy (and By These Ten Bones) by Clare B. Dunkle

For the record, THK trilogy is, in principle, nothing like Twilight. So if you're not a Twilight fan (I'm not either), don't write this one off. It has a similar story feel, and there is a lot of Jane Austen inspiration. In the first book, a charismatic (but ugly) goblin king chooses orphaned Kate to be his bride. As can be expected, Kate has a lot to say about this. In the sequels, there are lots of elves.* And By These Ten Bones is a Scottish werewolf romance/thriller.

4. If you like The Scorpio Races and Code Name Verity

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

I just reviewed this on the blog, but I had to include it because it was so fresh and different (and I loved it). Basically, it's alternate history with motorcycle racing, a strong heroine, and a minor dash of fantasy.

5. If you like Naruto and Star Wars

The Young Samurai Series** by Chris Bradford

Okay, so it's samurai, not ninja (there are ninjas though). And there is zero magic, and no spaceships. But the basic story of a spunky boy--an outsider in a traditional, proud culture--who must become a warrior and navigate a hostile world, and deal with both friends and enemies . . . I basically just described Naruto and Star Wars.

6. If you like The Hunger Games and Les Miserables (the Musical***)

The Kestrel (Westmark #2) by Lloyd Alexander

This is actually the second book in the Westmark trilogy (and you should read them all). One of the best novels about war, the consequences, and how war affects kids. I suppose it is more comparable to Mockingjay - and it handles the same themes with more wisdom and heart.

7. If you like The Walking Dead and The Maze Runner

Rot and Ruin (or the Joe Ledger series) by Jonathan Maberry

Whether you are 15, 25, or older, I dare you not to root for Benny Imura and his friends in their fight to survive. Now, I'm not keen on zombies, but these books are about so much more. They are coming of age, friendship, heroism, Bushido, survival novels. *And Tom Imura**** is in them.* The Joe Ledger novels are pretty good too (action thrillers with a side of zombie).

8. If you like the Gemma Doyle trilogy and The Infernal Devices

The Iron Codex series by Caitlin Kittredge

Steampunk fantasy that is better than the cover would make it seem. Everyone in Aoife Grayson's family has gone mad on their 16th birthday (a fate she's trying to avoid, obviously). Monsters, machines, a touch of romance, eccentric characters, and more monsters= a recipe for fun.

9. If you like Artemis Fowl and Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

An eerie, wry book where ghosts are commonplace, and only young Psychic Investigators can deal with the epidemic of spirits. The characters are lovable, the ghosts are actually kind of creepy, and the book is a fast paced mystery/adventure. A great Halloween pick.

10. If you like Cruel Beauty and A Thousand Nights

Keturah and Lord Death by Marine Leavitt

A girl follows a stag into a forest, gets lost, and almost dies. But when Death shows up, he's a handsome and stern young lord, and Keturah isn't ready to die. Keturah strikes a bargain with Death, telling him a story to stall her end. If she can find her true love in twenty-four hours, she'll be free from Death, but things don't turn out exactly how she plans.

Footnotes:

*ELVES! They have a strong rivalry with the goblins.

**One of my favorite series - ever. If you are into Japanese history, then you should check them out.

***The musical condensed most of the themes, and some of the characters, and made it much more sellable.

****

It's Tuesday, which means it's time for Top 10 Tuesday with The Broke and The Bookish. For instructions on how to participate, click here.

Usually there is a theme for the list, but this week is a freebie, which means that we have all picked our own topic. My topic: The Top 10 Fictional Worlds I'd Like to Visit (with reasons, gifs, footnotes, and theories as to why I'd leave)

1. Middle Earth (from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and LOTR)

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As soon as my feet touched that fantastical grass, I'd be off.
The Shire, Mirkwood, Rivendell, Lorien, and Rohan would be top of my must-see list.
Elves, dwarves, hobbits, food, the clothes, roughing it Fellowship style . . . why would you ever leave?

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I have a theory: Basically, it would be like high school, where everyone in Middle Earth would be the "cool kids table," and I'd be that person who everyone felt kind of bad for, but still didn't let sit with them (you know the one, the one trying so hard to be all elvish and awesome, and failing miserably).

That, or I'd get eaten by a spider when I was in Mirkwood.

2. The Enchanted Forest (from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede)

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If I survived Mirkwood, I think a kindlier, more whimsical magic forest might be in order. Dealing with Dragons was (still is) one of my favorite fantasy novels, and it still cracks me up. Cimorene is a kindred spirit, and I would love to help her make buckets of cherries jubilee for the dragons. After that, I would do some exploring, and hopefully not run into any annoying wizards. I'd be sure to carry spray bottles of soapy water with lemon though, as a precaution . . .
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Being polite, sensible, and not prone to eating random plants, I would probably get along just fine in this world. In the end, I'd probably leave because I'd want to see my family.

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3. The alternate 1914 of Leviathan (Scott Westerfeld)

It's Clankers (they use machines) versus Darwinists (genetic manipulation) on the brink of World War I. Though there were parts of these books I didn't enjoy so much, I did love the crazy alternate world. It would be fascinating to explore! I would like to travel the world and compare it to actual 1914. I would probably end up leaving because I'd miss my writing and my books. As much as I like writing by hand, I'll take my laptop back, thank you very much.

4. Camelot (Gerald Morris edition)

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Knights, picking flowers?* I am a King Arthur devotee, in all seriousness. I write retellings, I will read almost anything Arthurian, and I have a passionate love/hate relationship with the stories themselves. That being said, Le Morte d'Arthur is incredibly depressing.** Gerald Morris took all that pathos and ran over it, with scissors and a crazy grin (metaphorically). His knights go on pointless quests, take vows of silence where all they do is talk, and stumble in and out of the Otherworld at random. It is hilarious, and yet it somehow manages to stay true to the spirit of the beloved stories. Also, his version is a little kinder to the ladies. I would probably stick it out here until I was cursed by wandering Fair Folk, or swallowed by an enchanted castle, or something. If I survived that, I'd probably head somewhere a little more "modern" next.

5. Early 1800's England-a la Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)

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I sat here in a crisis of indecision over including this or Jane Austen's 19th century, only to realize that they were basically the same. But JS & MN has magic. As an American of average looks who is too fond of books and lacks sufficient funds, I doubt I'd have much chance at society (unless my book hopping came with magical powers?). Maybe I would just try to get a job as a servant? Perhaps I could pretend to be an heiress . . .

I would love to snoop on Strange and Norrell (though they'd probably discover me, non-magical person that I am). Assuming I didn't get tired of the mud or my inferior social status (or someone found out I was a fraud), I would explore this version of England until I felt too restricted (or until I got on the fairies' bad side, whatever happened first).

6. New Pacifica (Diana Peterfreund's Across a Star-Swept Sea***)

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The islands of New Pacifica, Albion and Galatea, are stand-ins for London and Paris during the French Revolution. Across a Star-Swept Sea is a retelling of/tribute to one of my favorite novels, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Throw in crazy futuristic elements (the sea minks, the fashion, the tech), class unrest (they have good reasons), and a fascinating future world, and it is definitely a place I'd like to visit. The main thing I didn't like about the novel was the teen romance,**** but if I was exploring the islands, that would be a non-issue. And I really want to see all those lushly described island locations . . . (Pimpernel is a far superior novel, but I don't fancy visiting the actual French Revolution!).

I'd fully intend on turning smuggler and helping to spirit people away from certain death. Which is how I'd end up leaving (what does happen if you die in a fantasy world?)

7. The Unwelcome Stranger (which is actually a ship in 1712 [seventeen twelvety] alternate timeline Earth)

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Which brings me to piracy. Long before I understood the moral implications, I really wanted to be a pirate. It was one of my favorite things to play/pretend as a kid (after wood elves!). When I was a teenager, I discovered Tanith Lee's wonderfully strange pirate fantasy, Piratica. The pirates drink coffee (instead of rum), some of them are actually traveling players, and they really only rob other pirates (and follow silly treasure maps). In other words, it's all the fun of Treasure Island with none of the serious danger (or scurvy, which is more of a deterrent). I would happily take up with Art and her (mostly) daring crew of ne'er do wells. Always a restless wanderer myself, I'd sail their way until I remembered how badly I wanted an awesome horse.

8. That obscure Caribbean Island from Walter Farley's Island Stallion

I read everything with horses on the cover when I was younger. I always wanted a horse like the Black Stallion, or Black Beauty, or even the Chincoteague ponies. I would visit the Island and camp out until I got a really awesome horse (which I would somehow manage to smuggle back). If I couldn't keep the horse, I'd leave, heartbroken.

9. Discworld from Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

They made a play in Chicago!

I confess that I haven't read every one, but if I had to pick, I'd join up with the Monstrous Regiment ladies, disguised as a man, naturally. Or I would try to have coffee with Death. Or maybe I would just explore the glorious, ridiculous world and talk to its inhabitants. Regardless, Discworld is full of adventure, satire, looniness, and general chaos. I think I would end up leaving because it made me exhausted (or overstimulated)!

10. Harry Potter's England

I'd want a job at Flourish and Blotts, or failing that, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I am not above sneaking into Hogwarts. My top priority would be the library! If I had the great good fortune to arrive and find I had wizardly gifts, I would be transported with delight. If not, I'm sure I could still have plenty of fun. One of the best parts of HP is the fabulous alternate world, existing right under Muggle noses. Diagon Alley almost holds more appeal than Hogwarts, if I'm honest, and I'd love to catch a professional Quidditch match. I think I would leave eventually, and maybe start back at Middle Earth?

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Honorable Mentions: Narnia! (Chronicles of Narnia), New Beijing (Lunar Chronicles), Namid (Others Series), London Below (Neverwhere), The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series), I could go on forever. There were so many places that I'd want to go that I just went for variety in the end.

It was hard to pick 10. However, I noticed that a lot of my favorite books weren't represented (I wouldn't really like to live in most of them, I suppose). As much as I love books like Rot & Ruin, The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, or The Count of Monte Cristo, I am not ashamed to admit that I'd far rather read about a lot of things than live them!

What about you? Are there any fictional worlds you'd love to visit? Do you think you'd actually give up the real one for them (if you could)? How do you think you'd fit into your world choice? Tell me in the comments :)

Footnotes:

*Actually from the soul-destroying (but hilarious) musical Camelot. Lancelot's disbelief seemed to fit here.

**I prefer the Celtic tales-less drama

***The companion novel, For Darkness Shows the Stars, is a retelling of Persuasion! I read these despite my dislike (loathing) for the author's other series. 'Nuff said, I'll keep it to myself.

****Despite the fact that it's in essence, a drippy (but not unbelievable) teen romance. I knew that going into it. It says a lot for the book that I liked it anyway.