# Big Science Fiction OR Fantasy Worlds in Literature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566 "2015-02-13T13:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/61 "2015-02-18T01:41:12Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I have seen a good Dyson Sphere story, though it doesn’t focus on the Dyson Sphere. It’s “Relics”, a ST-TNG episode . . . They give us a Dyson Sphere…and then they take it away! In their monstrous obligation never to introduce any real alterations into the ST universe…they show us a hint of something as wonderful as this…then just blow it up at the end. Arrant production-company cowardice! (At least DS9 let them keep the Wormhole!) ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/62 "2015-02-19T16:02:07Z")
Well, I’m not sure where Trinopus’ pillbox picture came from, but the canonical pictures of Castle Amber can be found in [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Roger-Zelaznys-Visual-Guide-Castle/dp/0380755661/) with a Zelazny co-writer credit. Not that I would recommend it, really, but it’s better than the first bad example. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/63 "2015-02-19T16:56:04Z")
What about _The Night Land_ by **Hodgson** ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Night\_Land](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land)) ? It’s not a big world compared to some of the universes that have been mentioned so far but it’s a fascinating one, full of places with creepily evocative names: _the road where the silent ones walk, the mountain of the voice, the thing that nods_ and, most spooky of all, _the house of silence_. It’s a difficult read. Hodgson’s style is extremely affected, to the point of being ridiculous and/or grating but the world he created haunts me to this day. That’s one way to fit the requirement of “bigness” IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/64 "2015-02-19T18:15:50Z")
I think the Discworld needs another mention in this thread - if the OP hasn’t checked it out, it’s a fantastic series. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/65 "2015-02-19T21:58:17Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > Well, I’m not sure where Trinopus’ pillbox picture came from, but the canonical pictures of Castle Amber can be found in [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Roger-Zelaznys-Visual-Guide-Castle/dp/0380755661/) with a Zelazny co-writer credit. > > Not that I would recommend it, really, but it’s better than the first bad example. I’ve got that book! Kinda fun. That’s the first place I saw the image of C.A. as an ugly squat pillbox. (Until then, in my imagination, I had always seen it as a vast fantasy castle with a million architectural follies!) I just found the image I linked to with a quick search, and chose the ugliest. I love the joke (in that book) that there’s a guy in Amber whom everyone tolerates as a kook, who thinks he’s the author of the fictional series that everyone there is living in. _Right, right, that’s nice, Roger. Here, have another beer._ ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/66 "2015-02-20T23:47:13Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s BREATHTAKING! Fantastic, and just endless! It makes me think a little of Breughel’s “Tower of Babel,” and it also has some Escher-like infinities to it. The swirling of Tir-na Nog’th in the sky is wonderful. The more I look at this picture, the more I see! I love the archway in the lower center, and, just below it and to the right, the subtle climbing arcade/façade. And now I see the people on the balconies at the very bottom! Please pass along my absolute dumbstruck and awestruck admiration for this piece! (Are prints available?) Delicious! I want to go and visit and never leave! The artist (Pyracantha/Hannah Shapero) told me to provide you with her email address if you’d like a print - let me know, and I can send you a PM with that address. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566/67 "2015-02-21T00:04:31Z")
I’m popping in to mention the Xeelee sequence by Stephen Baxter. It starts a few nanoseconds after the Big Bang and continues to the end of baryonic life in the universe. A dyson sphere is a ping-pong ball compared to some of their structures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-science-fiction-or-fantasy-worlds-in-literature/712566.md?page=3)