Whenever I think of a fantasy setting those maps at the beginning of the book are the first thing that comes to mind. You know, the ones where you find all the medieval-inspired kingdoms and made up names for seas and forests. In reality, there’s a wide variety of fantasy settings, and not all of them need elaborate maps or imaginary kingdoms. For today’s Wyrd and Wonder post, I decided to share 10 cool fantasy settings in response to the day 18 prompt: fantasy landscapes.
Wyrd and Wonder is a month-long fantasy celebration hosted by Imyril, Lisa, Jorie, Annemieke, and Ariana.
Cool Fantasy Settings and Books that Bring Them to Life
1. A Forest
Let’s be real, a fantasy story set in a forest is a classic for a reason! There’s so much potential for fantasy creatures, witches’ huts, and hidden magical objects. Not to mention journeys through the forest where the ragtag group of adventurers have a chance to bond is one of the best parts of fantasy novels.
As it so happens, fantasy books with a forest setting was one of the Top Five prompts for Wyrd and Wonder this year, so I have a list of my favorite forest fantasies here.
2. An Ocean
The ocean isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a fantasy setting, but just think of all the sea creatures that could lurk beneath the surface! There’s a lot of lore surrounding sea monsters like the Kraken, sea serpents, mermaids, and more so there are already lots of ideas to incorporate into a fantasy world.
Andrea Stewart’s The Bone Shard Daughter captures the vast mysteries of the sea in her epic fantasy tale about overthrowing an empire.
3. A City
Cities are the home of a wide variety of shops, entertainment, and people, so isn’t too far of a stretch to include some fantasy there.
Fonda Lee’s Jade City combines gangsters, magic, and family drama into a film-like fantasy story.
4. A Palace/Castle
What if an entire fantasy story was confined to a single building. It might not sound like the most exciting premise, but The Goblin Emperor proves that you don’t need your protagonist to go on vast adventures to create an exciting fantasy novel. The everyday troubles of making friends, finding a partner, and avoiding assassination attempts are sure to keep any reader engaged.
It’s not necessary to confine your story to a castle setting, but it’s worth thinking about how small elements of typical fantasy worlds can be explored more in-depth. Maybe a tavern is the setting for an epic romance or a temple is a site for an exciting murder mystery. You don’t need a massive fantasy world for a story to be worth reading.
5. Underground
Underground fantasy settings create the potential for combining elements of low and high fantasy. What if fantasy creatures emerged from another world right beneath our feet? What is that world like? How do people/creatures within that world cope without sunlight? Or is there another sun-like mass beneath the Earth’s crust?
Gregor the Overlander follows a boy who journeys underground to find his younger sister. In the absence of sunlight, humans develop an unusual appearance and Earthly creatures evolve into intelligent and dangerous species.
6. The Underworld
What do Gods of Jade and Shadow and The Lightning Thief have in common? They both include the protagonist’s journey into the underworld! The underworld is different from an underground fantasy setting in that it’s specific to the land of the dead ruled by the god of death. Plus, like with the ocean, there’s so much mythology surrounding the underworld and the gods that rule it. Greek mythology is the most well know because of Percy Jackson, but there are also Roman, Norse, Mayan, and so many more interpretations of the land of the dead.
7. The Old West
What if there was magic but also, like, cowboys? Lucky for you Sarah Chorn answered this question in her novel, Of Honey and Wildfires, in which the daughter of an infamous outlaw and the son of a powerful businessman’s fates are inextricably intertwined. Their choices will change the lives of everyone they know.
8. Space
Who said space settings had to be sci-fi? Certainly not Tamsyn Muir who wrote her novel, Gideon the Ninth, about lesbian necromancers in space. Space is a great place to explore different cultures, alien races, and modern concepts mixed with fantasy.
9. A Circus/Carnival
What better place to include magic than an actual magical performance! Carnivals are the perfect fantasy setting because they have the potential to fulfill a character’s wildest dream or become their worse nightmare.
Both Caraval and The Midnight Circus have fantastic interpretations of carnivals as magical settings. They also both toe the line between dream and nightmare.
10. A Scientific Lab
It feels wrong to have magical elements in a science lab, but that’s what makes it such a great fantasy setting. It’s so wrong it’s funny!
Nimona, a fantasy graphic novel, combines modern science and ideas with a medieval fantasy setting creating an ironic base for a satirical critique of corporatism. I think Nimona is the best example of a fantasy landscape being used to develop the theme of a story. Settings aren’t just pretty backgrounds. They’re a writing tool that can be used to further engage readers.
What’s your favorite fantasy setting? Let’s chat in the comments!
A Note about the featured image: I underestimated the number of images I needed for my Wyrd and Wonder posts, and by the time I realized it it was too late to do anything about it. So I hope you enjoy this image of me holding a lilac flower that my mom picked for me :). It’s my favorite type of flower because they smell AMAZING. If you haven’t experienced lilacs before please find a lilac bush near you in the spring when they’re blooming!!!
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Peyton
I don’t think I’ve read enough to come up with 10 different settings, but here are two:
Woods: Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley. Not much of the book takes place in the forest itself, but there’s an important house called Woodwold and forest animals too. I think this book has my favorite talking animals ever.
A City: Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip. I think this is the best book I’ve read from McKillip so far, and the city of Ombria is one of the reasons for that. A substantial part of the book takes place in a castle, so maybe this one can do double duty. I also really liked City of Bones by Martha Wells. That one has a desert city, which is a setting I haven’t seen very much.
Coming up with 10 was hard for me too! A lot of fantasy has the classic settings like forest, caste, and mountains