I was recently writing about living in New York City–Manhattan–which I did for a few months in the late 90s. And reminiscing of the adventures and ridiculously unique experiences I had there like nowhere else.

It is a truly unique and special place.

And then I realized–whoa! No wonder this is where so many stories are born, set and matched!!

Movies and books and TV shows.

I mean Marvel set their stories there directly while DC Comics just renamed their cities and based them on it. (Metropolis and Gotham City – the light and the dark of the same city. New York.)

And you comic book fans that know more than I do may be gnashing your teeth and throwing your computer at hopefully something soft if I am unholy-ly wrong.

But it feels so right, how can it be wrong? (snicker)

So, places. Places in books, in your favorite books.

That got me thinking – what are my favorite places in books that I love?

And why?

Or do I even care?

I started racing through my favorite series.

Which books do I love in part because of the cool places?

The first one that jumped to mind was actually a book about an alien spaceship that was so large that over tens of thousands of years humans thought they had mapped the whole thing out, but then missed a space the size of a planet…because someone found a planet inside the ship.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around that, which is a fun exercise.

But missing a planet inside a spaceship. And that there is a planet hidden inside a spaceship at all!

Freaking cool idea.

So, how about more places?

Other favorite books of mine are set on the moon, with a space port and ships.

One series I love they hop to a different planet and culture each book, having to try to survive – I am realizing I love a lot of military space opera.

Hmmm…I did not realize that about myself.

OK, let’s try another genre.

Castles.

My favorite series of all time is four books, three of which are all in the same castle that I could near map out for you. The castle itself is not remarkable, but certain places in it are beloved because of what happens to my favorite character of all time there.

Another fantasy series I love has a school. (Not Harry Potter, though Hogwarts is a character all its own and an incredibly detailed and wonderous place to visit. I’d love to go visit…maybe someday…)

Speaking of wonderous places, Hobbiton or The Shire. Rivendell. The places in Lord of the Rings, every major location they travel to is its own detailed and magnificent place. Even Mordor. (But, I mean, no thanks on the Mordor.)

I live in Las Vegas, that has its own theme park feel on the Strip.

Even downtown is wondrous, filled with opportunities for adventure with Fremont Street. The Fremont Street Experience – and it is true, it is an experience. For good and sometimes not so good. Though all very memorable. (…including the things you can’t unsee).

Plus, the casinos and a whole city block dedicated just to musical shows with a perma-stage set up with booths, bars, etc.

And it rained today. Rained in the desert.

With a wetting of things long dried out, puffing duff into the nostrils. Spilled drinks and urine rehydrated.

It is not the pine-fresh scent of a new rain in the mountains.

This is city rain.

If we got a hard one, it would rinse it all away and clean the city, a nice reset for the year. But this was just an awkward moistening this morning, making my run an interesting buffet of smells as I moved block by block and back again.

So, my dear, these are some of mine, what are yours?

Your favorite places to explore in books?

Where the author did it right and strong? Had you there and experiencing it?

Whether you liked it or not! (I’m looking at you, horror readers. *shiver*)

Writing this blog, I rediscovered some favorite books I hadn’t read in a while that I might pick up again soon. I’d like to revisit those places again.

Wishing you a glorious week, dear readers.

Filled with many wonderous adventures of your own, for real and on the page.