Oh, the Places You’ll Go: Books with Incredible Settings

One of the many things I love about reading is a book’s ability to take the reader somewhere new, different, or completely imagined. I’ve been to so many amazing places, and I haven’t had to sit on a plane with strangers for hours on end. I win!

Here are a few books that have stood out to me, in terms of settings.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: When I think of creative settings, I picture the Night Circus. Those black and white tents, with magic inside waiting to be discovered. The gorgeous clock. The midnight dinners. One of the things I love about Erin Morgenstern is her ability to evoke not just sight and sound, but smell and taste. It’s magical. She casts the same spell with her second novel, The Starless Sea.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: I think one of the reasons this odd little book has stood the test of time is the unapologetic weirdness of both the characters and the setting. I recently read this book to my children. My toddler loved it. My oldest thought it was “too weird”. That’s okay, I love him anyway (Ha ha!).

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman: I really love the Inn of the Last Home, and the town of Solace in general. It’s such a cool idea, and it’s done so very well. It’s such a homey place. I’d love to visit the Inn of the Last Home and eat some of Otik’s spiced potatoes. Yum!

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Of course this series made the list. Rowling’s Wizarding World is so well-conceived that it’s very easy to picture. Oddly enough, it’s the Burrow that really stands out to me in terms of setting, though.

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold: I’m still in the middle of this book, but Sunder City is so well described that I had to include it in this post. A fantasy-slum town, it’s easily seen in my mind’s eye.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card: The enemy’s gate is down. Also, everything is so well-conceived and described that I never felt lost or disconnected from Ender’s world when reading this book, despite that being a slight issue I run into with sci-fi books.

I’m a sucker for books with beautifully described settings. What about you? What books come to mind when you think of a good setting?