In case everyone wasn't already aware of what a geek I am, this post should dispel all doubt. There are dozens of fantasy locations that I'd love to visit, but when I think about books I read - especially before my adult years - wierdly, there's one that comes to mind most that I've thought about repeatedly through the years, even though at the time I read it, I wasn't all that impressed by the book(s). Having discovered the joy of the Star Wars expanded universe through Timothy Zahn, for a long time I felt like I had to keep up with all of the books that were written. Some were brilliant, others... not so much. Zahn captured the essence of Star Wars. I'm still a big fan of The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton as well. Both introduced concepts or characters that, while the plots of the books may have been thrown out by prequels and/or sequels, have since become part of "Canon," such as Nightsisters, Kashyyyk, Dathomir and Thrawn. And there are certainly places in both authors books that have captured my imagination.
So which Star wars book has the honor of creating a locale that I would love to visit?
The Correllian Trilogy. Possibly one of the least "Star Wars" of the Star Wars books, which is why after reading it, I kind of dismissed it from my "head canon." But the story & ideas stuck with me because it had some cool concepts that always resonate with me. It was well written for a scif-fi trilogy, it just kind of felt like the author had a brilliant idea & decided, "Gee, lets insert Star Wars Characters into this cool world I've created." The problem with that premise is Star Wars is so much more on the fantasy side of things than science fiction.
So what about the location made me want to visit it? In these books, Han Solo's home solar system is essentially manufactured. I forget how many planets there were in it - I'm thinking 6 - with a different sentient species native to each. And through the books you find out that none of the planets were initially orbiting that star. Each planet has some ancient engine essentially that moved the whole planet there a much longer time ago from somewhere else in the galaxy far, far away. That alone I though was really cool. But then there's this big whopping abandoned mystery ship that is somehow connected with it all. It's only recently been discovered and Luke, Lando, and R2 go and investigate it. It kind of reminds me a little of Vgr from Star Trek: The Motion Picture meets the Dyson Sphere from Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Relics (that's the one with Scotty).
So yeah... That's what makes me the biggest geek. While I think the system itself would be amazing to visit... ultimately what I'd love to visit is the abandoned mystery ship. Just get me into space with a big ol' abandoned ship & I'd be happy. Ultimately, the ship I think is part of the key to preventing Han's evil near identical cousin from becoming space Donald Trump, and then your still left with all kinds of loose threads that go nowhere. But the loose threads are what I've thought about for 25 years since I read it in high school. Even though I'll probably never read it again. That's the kind of scifi that captures my attention. If you read or listen to Chris Tavenor's Before Inferno and Flight of the 500 that I voiced, I'm excited where the series is headed. :) I think I get to narrate the next one in a couple months.
Heck. Just get me into space. It's looking more and more possible all the time. Now you can buy shares in a company planning to build the first space hotel. Count me in (seriously, its a quarter a share and they're hoping to have it fully functional by 2027). That's a cruise I'd go for. :)
So... Is there a fake place you want to visit? Or a real place you're hoping will one day be created for you to visit?
I would never want to visit any of the fantasy lands I read about. There is always some horrible thing going on there. I like to read the book and then return to my normal world where dragons don't eat people (I know they aren't always bad) and magicians aren't trying to take over the world (again...I know they aren't always bad) and Darth Vader isn't going to force choke me. If I had to visit somewhere in a book it would be a nice small quiet town like in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs or the Ozarks in Summer of the Monkeys.
Oh, yes, I loved the ideas in the Correllian Trilogy too! Fun stuff. I agree, that would be an awesome star system to explore.
Also, this entire blog post makes me think that you're going to really love Earthkeepers. I don't want to spoil too much, but I'll just tell you that it also has to do with astroengineering and mysterious rediscovered technology.