My Top Ten Fantasy Worlds

Magnificient scenery, rich history and magical surroundings.

These are all things we crave when entering a fictional realm. Especially when we’re talking fantasy books. At least I do.

Whether it be a long historical timeline, a beautiful map, in-depth exploration of the world, the reader wants to be included in this fantasy world. We want to feel like we HAVE to visit this place ourselves.

I’m currently writing a fantasy series and I’m doing my best to make the world as exciting as it can be. Different kinds of magic, history. I want to include it all somehow.

Therefore, I have decided to create a Top Ten of my absolute favourite fantasy worlds.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

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10
Camp Half-Blood

At number 10 we have Camp Half-Blood and the rest of the Greek mythological world hidden within our own world in the Percy Jackson series. It’s very creative and has its own rich history, but if it had had it’s own actual world away from ours.. boy. Sign me up, Campers!

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9
Hrafnheim

Alright. So Hrafnheim is the other realm in the Whispers of Ravens trilogy by Danish fantasy author, Malene Sølvsten. This realm is within the Nordic mythology and it’s just so interesting and Nordic that I couldn’t not put it on the list of my favourite fictional places. It’s old school, with old lore and ways of living that is just fascinating. And yes, Hrafnheim is surrounded by Jörmungandr – The Midgard Serpent. Best hope it doesn’t let go of its tail…

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8
Prythian

Spring Court, Winter Court, Night Court (RHYSAND BABY!!) In the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas we get a magical area of the country for each season, time of day etc. That is pretty cool, but somehow also kind of tiresome I guess in the long run unless you just reaaally love springtime.

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7
Erilea

Assassins, fae, witches and everything in-between is what you’ll find at our next stop in Erilea. This is the setting of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and that woman knows how to create a fantasy realm. Sure, in some ways it’s pretty plain and not all that in-depth explained and explored, but it has a vastness to it that makes you want to dive in deeper.

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6
Mytica

Mytica – not to be confused with Mythica (a fantasy movie series from 2014) but it does share the same genre – Fantasy. Mytica is the island in the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes where most of the books takes place. It is divided into three sovereigns and each place is vastly different from the next, but everything about it sounds so intriguing and I want to know more about the history of these places and how they were once a united kingdom.

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5
Grisha

The GrishaVerse. We still have a lot to learn within this world, but what we know so far is that of a rich history filled with magic, lore and mystery that you just want to dive right into. We have Fjerda in the north that is definitely inspired by Scandinavia (represent!). There are words and names I recognise from my own language and I love that about this world. It is somehow recognisable to our own world (though without all the cool Grisha magic stuff).

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4
Harry Potter

Need I say more? The reason why it isn’t higher on the list is because it does take place in our world, though us unfortunate muggles can’t see it. But what it does have is enough to put it at number 4 (not Privet Drive though).

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3
Westeros

This universe is rich with history and facts to look up and you can spend hours diving into the different places and houses and learn all there is. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin aka A Song of Ice and Fire, has pretty much everything, yet stays close to the more realistic side of fantasy in a way that magic doesn’t dominate everything and focuses more on history, honor and who gets to sit on the most uncomfortable-looking throne ever.

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2
Tortall

My second most favourite fantasy world is hands down that of Tortall, created by Tamora Pierce in her kick-ass female-lead series of Alanna, Daine, Keladry and Ali (not to mention Numair’s own series and back in time to Beka Cooper). For me, Tortall has it all. It has a rich history (complete with a timeline, which I absolutely love) it has different kinds of kingdoms based heavily on our own world, it has all sorts of magic and magical creatures as well as a realm of the gods (and there are gods for everything!) I fell in love with Tortall many moons ago and I think it deserves so much more recognition because it’s such a well thought out world that I would move to in a heartbeat. Just say the word and I’m outta here.

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1
Middle-Earth

Yes. Middle-Earth. Home of Hobbits, Humans, Elves and Orcs and so so many other beings and creatures. J. R. R. Tolkien knew what he was doing when he created this world. It has such a detailed and intricate history that is so fleshed out through his other books aside from LOTR and The Hobbit and I wish I could live there. I visited Hobbiton on New Zealand back in 2013 and I was…speechless. It was so beautiful and just like what you see in the movies. I mean, this world… it really doesn’t get much better than this, right? I would love for you to try and prove me wrong.

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Now you may read this list and think, “why didn’t she put this world on the list? It’s my favourite!!”
Well, I’m only human and this human still has a lot of worlds to discover and this list is only based on the fantasy worlds I know and have read about. If you think I’m missing out, please do recommend me your favourite fictional world in the comments below.