Top Ten Tuesday: Worlds I Wouldn't Want to Live In
Top Ten Tuesday is a great meme created by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish that combines top ten lists and books. She’s come up with a great list of weekly discussion topics and I hope you’ll join in the discussion by commenting on this post or some of the other ones (you can find the list of participating blogs in this week's Top Ten Tuesday Post on her site).
This week’s topic is Top Ten Worlds I Wouldn't Want to Live In.
There are a lot of really scary worlds in fiction. Truly terrifying places that make me glad I don't live there, including:
1. The Universe of Destiny’s Blood by Marie BiladeauMind rape. Yeah, I’ll pass, thank you.
This SF universe has some great stuff - humanoid plant-people, interstellar space flight, and cool plants, but the mind-rape is gonna have to be a deal breaker for me.
2. Earth During Armeggedon (Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins)Post-apocalyptic world filled with demons ruled by a risen-from-the-dead tyrant in-dwelt by Satan. Uh, double helping of oh-hell-no.
3. Panem (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)A world where people let their children fight to the death No, just…no. O.o
4. Cittagazze (The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman)Cittagazze, the world of soul-sucking ghosts. ::shudders:: And while we’re on the subject—Lyra’s world where the church lobotomized children doesn’t sound like such a great place to live, either. :-)
5. Europe During World War II (Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank)I’m so happy I have not had to live through a major world war and I hope I never do. In particular, Anne Frank’s world seemed particularly difficult—locked in an attic days on end, in chronic fear of their lives. I don’t think I could have done it.
6. The Afterlife as Depicted In Sum: Forty Tales of the Afterlives by David EaglemanThere aren’t too many versions of the afterlife depicted in this book that I’d want to end up in. Some are horrifying, but most are just sad and empty :-(
7. Prydain (The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander)Horned huntsmen terrorizing the countryside? Ginormous black birds that spy on you (and swoop out of the sky to rip you to shreds) for evil enchanters and enchantresses? Evil cauldrons that can turn the dead into a zombie army? No, thank you! The land of Prydain as depicted in this series is a dark, foreboding place, full of danger and gruesome ways to die.
8. Camazotz (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle)Camazotz scared the crap out of me as a kid. It still does, actually, when I reread this book.
9. Future America (1984 by George Orwell)No, just…no. I have problems with authority and detest groupthink so I would be in trouble here.
10. America Without Labor Laws (The Jungle by Upton Sinclair)I’m so glad we have labor laws now and an economic safety net. I do not want to have to work in an abattoir, a sweat shop, or any kind of extremely low-paying job where my boss gets to force me to have sex with him in order to keep my job :-(
And there you have it—the places I definitely do NOT want to live!. What are yours? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
And remember—support bloggers. If you read it, comment on it! :-)
TERRI BRUCE writes science fiction and fantasy stories with a literary bent from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. Her contemporary fantasy Hereafter (Afterlife #1) is available wherever books are sold. Look for the sequel - Thereafter (Afterlife #2) coming May 1, 2014.
Comments
Thanks for stopping by!
1984 also made my list this week and I agree re: Europe during WW2, I can't imagine living through Hitler's regime or the threat of him invading.
My TTT