Best Fictional Universe

[YankeyMCC]

We've had favorite giant robot, favorite alien threads how about Favorite Universe, which one would you most like to live in or at least which one do you think would be best and explain you thinking - safest, most fun, however you define 'best' - I'm thinking SF and Fantasy but if you have another say fictional history setting go for it as a suggestion.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Star Trek, LOTR, Harry Potter, Eureka, Herc & Xena

[Deja Q]

2. "Futurama"

I'd say "Doctor Who" but most people would think of that dilettante, drivel-laden new series (2005-????) rather than the proper (1963-1989) incarnation...

[kentauros]

17. I like the new series

:P

If I want something intelligent in sci-fi from the fifties/sixties and still be British, I'll go with the few Quatermass series :D

Still picked Babylon 5, though. Futurama looks a little too deadly for my tastes. Still funny

[Deja Q]

27. Quatermass is good stuff, yes indeedie...

:D

Please forgive; I tend to be outspoken -- and try not to feel bad anymore. Long story, but not relevant right now...

http://www.doctorwhoforum.com/showthread.php?t=208338

Somebody on that forum put up a post asking if anybody disavowed the new series. 251 responses so far, and most of those who had are saying pretty much the same things.

[peruban]

84. Hey! Some of us didn't get exposed to Doctor Who until the new series.

I went back and downloaded the movie from 1996 and caught up a little on the history but my friend says I HAVE to download the complete Tom Baker episodes and another episode called "The Five Doctors". I personally think the new series is, not to overwork an already overworked phrase, brilliant. The writing, the production values, the cast, all brilliant!

[leeroysphitz]

3. The Known Universe. n/t

[YankeyMCC]

4. Is that fictional?

[leeroysphitz]

5. The Larry Niven version is. Mostly. So far.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Niven

[YankeyMCC]

6. Ah lol

I thought you meant the universe we 'know'

[MineralMan]

78. Anyone remember Sector General?

I started reading that series in 1962. It was a universe in its own right.

[DarkTirade]

11. That would be 'Known Space' not 'Known Universe'.

And since half of his books take place outside of known space (most namely the Ringworld quadrilogy), I dunno if we can really keep calling the series that. :P

[leeroysphitz]

13. Ok. Ok. Lets not get too nit picky here...

Since at first hyperspace pilots needed a psionic mass indicator to avoid stars while traveling faster than light in order to avoid being shunted into some pre-big bang universe never to be heard from again. Then all of the sudden this problem with hyperspace and singularities had nothing to do with mass but with giant, ship eating MONSTERS that lived in hyperspace near to massive singularities. Luckily this was discovered just before The Ringworld had to be retro fitted to travel through hyerspace in order to save it from foreign invaders.

What a co-inky-dink.

[DarkTirade]

14. Nivven's well known for doing CYA retconning when new science

or facts that he discovers changes things. In this case, I'd guess that he found out that planetary gravity masses wouldn't be enough to cause any kind of 'singularity' as he described it, so he came up with something new. And it happened to explain why the Puppeteers were so afraid of space travel, no matter how safe the ship they were in was. Win for everyone!

Hell, the entire plot for the second Ringworld book came about because someone discovered a flaw with the concept. :)

[pokerfan]

24. The Ringworld is unstable!

[CrownPrinceBandar]

37. No rishathra for you.

[pokerfan]

46. Who needs rishathra

when one has boosterspice and a tasp?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

47. That's mean, underhanded and............

I like the way you think. Louie Wu, izzat you?

[pokerfan]

49. Speaker to Animals

[elshiva]

7. Other-Battlefield Earth

:sarcasm:




Seriously, though, the BuffyVerse.

[Orrex]

93. You don't want the Buffyverse

You just want the Spikeverse.

:eyes:

[elshiva]

106. No, I want them all!

Buffy bukkake! ;) :evilgrin:

[Orrex]

114. Yowza! I can honestly say that's not something I ever expected to read on DU. Or anywhere, really!

Careful what you wish for...

[yellowdogintexas]

8. either George R R Martin's universe in 'A Song of Ice and Fire' or Guy Gavriel Kaye's

universe in Tigana/Lions of Al Rhassan/Fionavir/Song for Arbonne/Last Light of the Sun/Sailing to Sarantium and its partner book (which I can't remember the name of right now)

These books are all loosely linked by being in different parts of the same 'world' but they stand alone well.

[UndertheOcean]

What , no mention of "Dune" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deep13]

66. The spice must flow! nt

[ElboRuum]

70. CHOAM bought up the rights...

The Bene Gesserit are pissed.

[peruban]

82. I have to second "Dune".

Though I think it's technically supposed to be our own universe, just wayyy off in the future.

[Hissyspit]

89. That was the first thing I thought.

[Godhumor]

9. Universe of Discworld

Great stories.

[JoDog]

65. Seconded!

[MissHoneychurch]

67. Third

best world ever!!!

[BarenakedLady]

74. You beat me to it.

:D

[RoyGBiv]

94. Definitely ...

I'm a fan of several in the poll, but Discworld is where the party is.

[cemaphonic]

10. Iain Banks' Culture would be pretty damn sweet.

[petronius]

51. I second this nomination, with the caveat that the fringes of the Culture and the

surrounding societies often seem more interesting - just give me the Culture tech to go exploring (and of course, I'd need to come back to the Culture proper for some R&R once the exploring got tiring... ;))

[cemaphonic]

86. Yeah, I've often thought that Contact/SC doesn't so much provide a necessary...

intelligence/foreign service role as it does provide an outlet for the misfits that just think that the core Culture is too safe and boring.

The Culture also goes through a lot of pretty squicky fads. But you don't have to go along with them if you don't want.

[baby_mouse]

111. Thirded!

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

12. STNG and after

Earth has become a nearly utopian socialist state, the Federation, institutionally, appears to be progressive and non-imperialist.

Roddenberry was a socialist and an outspoken atheist. So am I. Gotta stick with my guy.

[NewJeffCT]

26. I would probably go with Star Trek as well

It does appear pretty ideal, other than the Borg, the Cardassians, and other threats.

[YankeyMCC]

50. I'm a big Trek fan but it's those 'other threats'

that worry me...running into deadly spacial anomalies is a little to random and frequent for my comfort :)

[Inchworm]

15. I really liked Equillibrium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tko44AcPw

:hi:

[Drunken Irishman]

16. I'd say Demolition Man, but that future universe looks like it'd suck.

No sex, drinking, smoking or swearing.

Bah!

And everything is Taco Bell.

However, cool cars.

[XemaSab]

18. Probably not my favorite to live in

but the "Golden Compass" universe is pretty damn keen.

[JCMach1]

19. What, no LEXX?

[Inchworm]

22. Oh yea..everyone dies

Interesting :D

:P

[JCMach1]

30. Only in the light universe

[Forkboy]

85. I loved that damn show.

x(

[Lucian]

20. Westeros or the land across the Narrow Sea.

[yellowdogintexas]

43. (grinning) see my post above.

book 5, book 5

[MrSlayer]

21. The Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk or Krynn.

Any one of the D&D worlds.

[geomon666]

23. The Dark Tower

I'd never get bored in that universe. B-)

[pokerfan]

25. The ST Mirror Universe

"Give me your agonizer!"

[Lyric]

28. Lord of the Rings, of course. Harry Potter is pretty good too.

The rest is just a bunch of lasers, spaceships, and yucky stuff like that. Booooooring. :D

[hobbit709]

29. H. Beam Piper's

[Symarip]

31. Blade Runner

Read it and weep Star Wars and Star Trek fans.

[Jade Fox]

32. Ecotopia....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotopia

I loved the idea of streams running down this middle of streets in San Francisco.

[XemaSab]

101. The first Ecotopia was pretty cool

The series fell off after that. :P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

33. Douglas Adam's World and Piers Anthony's World

are pretty cool. I voted for Lord of The Rings with Harry Potter a close second, in my book anyway ;)

[CBGLuthier]

34. Julian May's Galactic Milieu

As hinted at in her Saga of Pliocene Exile series and depicted in the sequels/prequels Intervention and Galactic Milieu series.

A fantastic future except for one little blip involving the death of billions.

[Shakespeare]

35. other: Dan Simmons' universe in the Hyperion series

Farcasting (and, ultimately, free-casting)? Oh, hells yeah.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

36. This is the BEST answer..........

Just don't let the Shrike get ya!!

[YankeyMCC]

39. You know my pick was Foundation era

the time of the Traders in particular for the fun and adventure. But you know Hyperion might be even better choice at that. As long as I'm about to take the four steps and don't have to worry about that Shrike impaling me. :)

[Spacemom]

38. Heinlein's World as Myth

A universe in which Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz actually exist gets my vote. :D

[pitohui]

40. the best by far is the culture universe of iain banks

i do not think you would seriously want to live in some of these other universes

"lord of the rings"? "star trek"? i mean, isn't there a war on for large portions of these stories????

[Shardik]

41. Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld Series

(Not associated with the drek the SciFi channel associated with the name)

Anything with a Swashbuckling Sam Clemmons fighting with Hermann Goering has to be great.

Followed by OSC's Ender's game universe.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

42. The parallel universes in His Dark Materials.

[XemaSab]

102. Cittagaze

were it not for the specters... :o

[bain_sidhe]

44. One of C. J. Cherryh's -

Either the Alliance/Union, or the Atevi universe. I can't choose because I love 'em both.

[WinkyDink]

45. Metropolis. It WAS my universe for a decade.

[MichellesBFF]

48. Other

Discworld or the Thursday Next verse.

[JitterbugPerfume]

52. Babylon5

or Douglas Adams world

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

53. You have Planet of the Apes but not Star Wars?

[BlueIris]

54. I can't believe I'm about to post this, but: Stargate Universe.

Sigh. Yes, I have just outed myself as a Stargate SG-1/Atlantis fan. But we've all got to leave the closet sometime.

[laconicsax]

55. It's a good choice.

[Shardik]

56. I'm an SG fan as well.

And hate to see the end of it in only three episodes left of Atlantis.

Sigh.

[BlueIris]

58. Well, you know what they say about all good things... nt

[laconicsax]

60. SciFi decided to can Atlantis to make room for a third spin-off instead of buy both shows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Universe

[ElboRuum]

57. Other - The Dune Universe n/t

[MilesColtrane]

59. My vote too.

[ElboRuum]

69. I think...

...that if you had a truly nerdly debate in earnest about any "alternate reality" in the realm of science fiction/fantasy, Dune is an order of magnitude richer than its nearest counterparts, including Trek, Star Wars, and LOTR. The only reason that Trek and Star Wars even come close to it is all of the "non-canon" work done by other authors. LOTR starts out with a very rich universe owing to its canon, but the sheer scope and detailed richness of the Dune universe is without peer.

Consider this, every Dune movie attempt has been epic fail (IMHO, although the miniseries on SciFi wasn't horrible, unlike the Kyle MacLaughlin mass of hardened vomit from the mid-eighties). Each one suffers from the same two issues: 1) How do I compress a 500+ page (in paperback) opus into a 2-hour movie without throwing away most of the important stuff or alternately, how do I portray said book in a miniseries without becoming tedious and including "cruft" which is necessary to the story but difficult to justify in a motion picture? 2) How do I portray the ever important internal monologue that suffuses the book without doing so in a contrived way?

The last two attempts had answers to these questions which were unsatisfying to say the least. The Kyle MacLaughlin film answered the first by simply hacking and slashing major themes and ideas without somehow preserving backstory or continuity, and so only those who could mentally fill in the blanks from the book knew what the hell was going on. The second it answered with "We can't do this without contrivance, so contrivance it is!" which was at least an attempt, though a clumsy one, at preservation. The miniseries, on the other hand, balked at the first entirely by simply including everything, including the stuff that doesn't work on camera, but at least they attempted to provide the continuity that the other lacked. The second, well, it just basically tossed away any attempt at preserving the internal monologue.

One day someone is going to sense the balance and come up with a 4-hour movie (hell, the Ten Commandments worked at a 4-hour run time) which keeps the monologue, carefully clips out the cruft, maintains the continuity, and doesn't confuse people who didn't read the books. I know it's possible, that's why, I guess, people keep trying. Then maybe we can move on to Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

[MilesColtrane]

80. I'm definitely noting "cruft" for future usage.

:thumbsup:

[midnight armadillo]

90. A grim but well-imagined place

.

[Withywindle]

61. Another passenger on the Great A'Tuin here.

Seriously, who wouldn't want to live in a world that's truly ruled by Laws of Narrative?

[blueraven95]

115. count me in for Discworld

and awesome picture :thumbsup:

[The Inquisitive]

62. Star Wars hands down

[jobycom]

63. The one they teach us about in American history classes

The one that's free of genocide and racism, where a pure folk fought against slavery and where all wars and deaths were meaningful, all men heroic, and all villains very, very bad, and where the march to Utopia is unbridled, unbroken, and almost at its glorious end.

[XemaSab]

103. .

:patriot:

[jobycom]

64. Then there's Barbarella!

You can't beat a universe that thinks orgasms are the worst form of torture.

[noonwitch]

71. Or where women sit around, inhaling "the essence of men" on hookahs

Such a bizarre and silly movie.

[jobycom]

72. Are you ready for the remake?

Robert Rodriquez is currently casting, but there's a fight over whether his fiancee, Rose McGowan, or Sienna Miller should play the title role.

No, I'm really not joking.

[Bucky]

68. Hill Street Blues

[arcadian]

73. I like the one created by the porn industry

Where a pizza delivery man has more power than a CEO.

[LeftyMom]

104. More staying power at least.

;)

[FloridaJudy]

75. Best as in "best realized"

Or best as in "I'd like to live there"? Best realized = the Darkover/Barryar universes.

But I'd like to live on Lois McMaster Bujold's Beta Colony. Sane sort of place.

[Mad_Dem_X]

76. The Simpsons.

[MineralMan]

77. Ringworld

or Dune.

[Broken_Hero]

79. Other....

The DC Universe!!!!!!!!!!

:D

[InvisibleTouch]

81. I'll put in a vote for Space 1999, since no one else is showing it any love....

...but I'm a big Star Trek fan as well.

[peruban]

83. I would include Star Wars and Doctor Who

Though Star Wars is supposed to be just another galaxy "far, far away" in our universe and Doctor Who is supposed to be our own universe, so I don't know if they count as fictional universes, just fictional story lines.

[Mollis]

87. Pushing Daisies

I just dreamed about it, too.
Poor PD :(

[insanity]

88. Star Wars

[Hanse]

91. Zones of Thought. Naturally.

The Unthinking Depths, The Slow Zone, The Beyond, and beyond The Beyond.

[keroro gunsou]

92. the world of amertris

home of edward elric, the fullmetal alchemist.

it just looks like fun... alchemy and proto-steam punk tech...

or the final fantasy 6 world... before kefka decided to nuke it...

[RoyGBiv]

95. Specify era???

What does that mean?

The "universe" in which the LotR story takes places involves one era. The Hobbit takes place in another era, sorta, but both occur during the same "age."

[Chan790]

96. I think it would be construed to include The Silmarillion.

Although if that is the case, the question is best posed as the Tolkien Universe rather than the LoTR Universe.

[RoyGBiv]

97. That's what I was thinking ...

I'm still a bit confused about an "era" being specified though as what would constitute the best "universe."

But I shouldn't over-think it. It's a fun question, and I'm being pedantic.

And as much of a fan of Tolkien as I am, I still would vote Discworld.

[pokerfan]

98. Not the First Age!

Roving packs of Balrogs? No thank you! Give me Ithilian during the Second Age.

[YankeyMCC]

112. The others pretty much answered

Actually I would call the "Hobbit" and the War of the Rings two separate eras although obviously they are very close in time and relation. But the Silmarillion and other stories of early eras are also related all leading up to the war of the rings. And you might say you would like to live in the 4th age, after all the stories in the published works.

[RoyGBiv]

116. Well, actually ...

I don't think I'd want to live in any of 'em. I saw no mention of toilet paper in any of Tolkien's work, and toilet paper is a key issue. :)

[YankeyMCC]

117. LoL well I guess you wouldn't want a western

setting either...Toilet Sticks!

But I gotta think comfort loving Hobbits would have some more pleasant solution to the issue :)

[harmonicon]

99. other: Thomas Pynchon

[JanMichael]

100. Stardust. nt

[Shell Beau]

105. I wouldn't mind going to a wizard school and learning spells.

I love HArry Potter.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

107. Gaiman's Sandman

Whichever DC affiliated universe that occurs in.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

108. Whatever universe "The West Wing" is set in

Hopefully with the new Obama Administration, we'll be able to get a taste of that in this world though

[bridgit]

110. That would be: Sorkinville

:thumbsup:

[bridgit]

109. Other: KÀ and/or MirrorMask ~

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/ka/home/intro.htm


http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/mirrormask

[Heidi]

113. Polite society. (nt)