Top Ten Tuesday (3) - Jan 22nd

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's Top Ten list is "Top Ten Settings I'd Like To See More Of (Or At All)".

This week, rather than each list our top 5, we decided to collaborate on our list since we had so much in common!

Nicole and Ashley's Top 10

1. Victorian/Historical London

Think of Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices or Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy. Both of these stories are set in Victorian London and we just ADORE this setting. The way the "ladies" and "gents" behave, interact, dress, etc - we love every detail and would definitely jump at the opportunity to read more of it. Besides, the audiobook narrator would have a british accent and that's just a win-win.

2. 1920s/1930s New York City

Still on the subject of Libba Bray and her world building, Nicole is currently reading The Diviners which is set in 1930s New York City and she is already obsessed with how this time period enriches the story. This is a distinguishable period in history when women became more empowered and stepped outside of societal norms and expectations. It creates some fun reading and a break from the norm.

3. Fantasy Kingdoms (with or without magic)

For this setting were thinking of Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm, Melina Marchetta's The Lumatere Chronicles, or maybe even Maria Snyder's Study trilogy. We love the worlds these authors have created and anything is possible when you're building your own. We'll never get tired of it!

4. Anywhere with pirates and assassins

We admit this is  a little vague, but we haven't gotten our fill of neither pirates nor assassin's and you can have a lot of fun with both of these. Our inspiration for this one is Throne of Glass and Assassin's Curse (the latter of which combines both elements). We want more leads that can take someone out with a spoon or ya know, live on the sea, have a pegged leg and parrot, and steal from other people...?

5. The Future

Be it a highly advanced one, a post-apocalyptic one, or some type of dystopian - we'll read it all. We know this is again a little vague, but we always think it is fun when an author creates some type of future setting. Moira Young's Dust Lands, Veronica Roth's Divergent, Lauren DeStefano's My Chemical Garden, Anne Aguirre's Razorland series - any of these are within the realm of possibility and were so entertaining!!

6. Modern day, magic (or the supernatural) exists, and people know it.

Enough about hiding supernaturals and magic from the general public. Let's assume everyone knows it exists - what would the world be like? Nicole really enjoyed Holly Black's Curse Worker series (and highly recommends it!). In this book, certain people had the power to change your emotions or memories, cause pain, bring luck, kill you, all in a single touch. Nicole enjoyed the mafia-esque "worker families" that emerged, how everyone wore gloves to avoid skin contact, and how political figures were petitioning to round up workers and lock them away. It was just interesting and again, a change from the norm.

7. Small towns with a history of magic

In these settings of old and quaint towns, the residents don’t all believe or know about the magic that has been around for years. Think of the Castor series, taking place in the South where magic is still a part of life. The Raven Boys also takes place in an old VA town, which still has psychics and mystery within it yet it’s still unbeknownst to all townspeople.  It’s interesting to read how townspeople are kept hidden from what’s under their nose.

8. Foreign Cities

Foreign cities are always a great setting because it’s like being on a vacation somewhere fun and maybe new. Prague was the perfect city for Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  The gothic architecture in a busy city is the perfect setting for the dark and mysterious. Anna and the French Kiss and The Revenants series were based in Paris, and who doesn’t like a love story in the city of love.

9. Paranormal Schools

For this setting think the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins or Harry Potter.  We love books that take place in school settings; Hex Hall still has basic HS drama with a whole other fun element of witches, and werewolves, vampires and faeries! Besides, these schools are usually old and creepy, adding to the intrigue. More gossip girl meets paranormals wouldn’t be too bad of a setting.

10. Anywhere with Dragons

We really enjoyed the Firelight series, it was a nice break from vampires and werewolves, plus dragons can fly and breathe fire... pretty awesome traits. It would be nice to see some more dragon-human hybrids gracing the pages of our YA fantasy series. Maybe throw them into the paranormal schools ;)