Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings in Books

'Top Ten Tuesday' is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is 'Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings In Books'. I think that building a vivid and realistic world/setting can make or break a novel. So, in no particular order, here are some of the best worlds/settings that I have read in recent years. 

1. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. Need I say more? I think this a very obvious but necessary choice. The magical world in J.K. Rowling's 7 book series could not be described as anything but vivid. The attention to detail that she paid in creating her world, has even inspired it to be developed into an actual theme park world. 

2. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Similar to Rowling, Collins has also created a highly thought-out world to accompany her griping story line. The futuristic society of Panem is a frightening possibility of what North America could eventual look like. It is clear that Collins spent time ensuring that every aspect of her society filled a purpose and fit seamlessly together.

   

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Roth, although a younger writer than the above, nonetheless has created as vivid a world as Rowling or Collins. I love her use of factions and how she divided her society in this way.  

4. Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Although the setting of Winter's Bone is not made up - the Ozark Mountains of Missouri - it was still incredibly described by Woodrell. Woodrell's vivid depiction of the crystal meth culture and poverty experienced in the area, provided a rich setting for his novel.  

5. Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Nothing bad could be said of Shusterman's America in Unwind. His level of world building and detail is unparallelled and ingenious. Nothing more can be said, then to recommend that you read it for yourself.  

6. The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Why is it that the vividness of setting and world are so noticeable in dystopian works of fiction? Atwood's ability to set the stage in The Handmaiden's Tale is both remarkable and beautiful.  

7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Anyone who has read The Night Circus will understand why it is on this list. The setting of this novel plays such an important role in the story it is as if it was one of the main characters. Morgenstern's ability to poetically describe the circus setting enable the reader to be transported into the novel.  

8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. What novel better captures the American South in the 1930s? The long hot summer nights, and longer and hotter days? Lee's writing makes this work of fiction even seem autobiographical.  

9. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez's use of magical realism transforms the setting of One Hundred Years of Solitude into another world. Reading this novel is like falling down the rabbit hole into a place of confusion and wonder.   

10. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Midnight's Children takes place in India at the time surrounding it's moment of independence. Never having been to India, I appreciated Rushdie's ability to capture the uniqueness of the nation at this time, while undergoing and resisting colonization. A beautifully written epic novel.