Mor.

After careful thought all afternoon I’ve decided I’d live in the night garden.

Purely so I could make all the stones dirty Makka Pakka spends so long cleaning and then move them all out of his carefully stacked piles hopefully causing him to have some kind of massive OCD flip out and throttle Iggle Piggle with that red blanket he drags around everywhere.

Biggles.

or Star Wars if I had a Falcon or X-wing.

In response to first reply, no way I were going to choose Terry Pratchett.

However second option Only Fools & Horses for the reason I can do a crackin Boycie laugh impression. So I can pull that laugh off when people look at me funny riding my SC like it just came out of a showroom (no offence like SC owners)

Yep Star trek universe during Picards time or Ramsey street back in the 90’s as a second best.

I seem to have a vague memory of alien beings in the Night’s Dawn Trilogy that travelled the universe via a secret network of wormholes, who were reminiscent of gnomes and/or fairies. Travelling around with them for a while might be fun, who knows!?

Cloudsdale

Pretty sure I’m already in a fictional world of nightmare and farce. I’d like to return to reality please.

After careful thought all afternoon I’ve decided I’d live in the night garden.

That’s the last place I’d live. Things change size and scale on a whim. Giant sentient shapes, homeless people(?) living in caves or sleeping out in the open. It’s like my local park only with more psychedelics

Culture or a powerful ascendent in the malazen book of the fallen.

The shire in middle earth, in some period where nothing much is happening so I can grow veggies, drink ale and, as smoking isn’t bad for you, perfect blowing smoke rings.

Thursday Next’s Swindon, with Mk6 Dodo

After careful thought all afternoon I’ve decided I’d live in the night garden.

That’s the last place I’d live.

What would you prefer ‘Moon and Me’. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle.

Tiddletuddle.

Surely Wayne’s World.
Party Time.
Excellent!

Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B

Golgafrinchan itself might be nicer after the B Ark left. Just remember to give the phones a quick wipe with some Dettol once in a while.

What would you prefer ‘Moon and Me’. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle. Tiddletuddle.

If the thread was ‘What fictional place scares you the most’ then Moon and Me would be in the top 3.

Star wars? Really? The galaxy in civil war or oppressed by an evil Nazi-esque empire? Suffering and misery everywhere? No thanks.

Yeah but Jedi powers.

Historical perspective says that whatever world you chose, you’d simply get used to it and find it as limiting and irksome as the one we’re in now. If you were a middle ages peasant serf for example, living in a 21st century slum on benefits would seem like a life of extraordinary luxury, but only for a year or so, at which point you’d get used to it. Or start fantasising about living the Fast and Furious lifestyle or moving to Summer Bay.

You people need to learn to love the world you’re in, not fantasise about some better alternative. Or downsize for a few days – anyone for the Walking Dead – then come back and appreciate the grinding mundanity of Brexit Britain 🙂

some sort of cross between Whistler and online pornographic fantasy for me. Rule 34 and all that…

Anyverse with interstellar travel, but during a peaceful period when planets aren’t being blown up or people turned into cyborgs.

Or the Potterverse

Teletubbies probably. Hugs, free toast, all the cleaning done by that vacuum-cleaner, watching telly on your friends tummy… The only downside I can see is being forced to go to bed – it should be against their Tubby rights.

The world in Alan Moore’s Marvelman was pretty cool after Marvelwoman and Marvelman took over. It’s a long time since I read it, but I seem to remember everyone became a superhero and had loads of sex.

you’d be well hacked off if you ended up in potterland/star wars galaxy/x men universe with no powers

If I was going to have super powers it’d be mind control like Dr X, so handy

The world from the film Idiocracy just because I’d be the smartest man alive and probably able to live like a god. Plus Terry Crewes in a crazy wig!

Warhammer 40k universe would be probably be best avoided 🙂
Definitely the Culture or possibly Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time Universe

Edited – to remove spoiler 🙂 Sorry!

Yeah but Jedi powers.

Who says you’d have Jedi powers? There were only a few hundred Jedi, and most of them got killed. Luke was the only one for a while, and he really does not look like he’s having a cheerful middle age.

In the Culture, if you wanted Jedi powers you could just have them installed. If Star Wars existed in the Culture there’d be a world of Star Wars fans somewhere where people played the various different roles and species until they got bored and were morphed into another one.

The world from the film Idiocracy

What Britain, now?

I kind of like Rohan from LOTR, close enough to Fanghorn for a bit of stealth wild camping or maybe Rivendell. Obviously after Sauron has been vanquished and the elves have moved out.

They’re very pleasant but a bit serious and healthy looking for me. Holiday cottage in Hobbiton. Mrs gd agrees!

Sci-Fi world no idea, probably one from the Hitchhikers guide that isn’t the Frogstar, but definitely not Alderaan or Naboo (just the thought of being on the same planet as Ja Ja Bink’s – shudder) from star wars.

Caladan (from Dune) might be nice, rice, wine making, green and lush, logic and mathematics prized skills alongside being fit and healthy.

I’d be intrigued to experience The Land.

But I suspect I haven’t really thought this through…

Conan Doyle’s Sherlockian London.
Possibly as Watson, but without the leg/shoulder injury and the heavy turnover of wives.

I’d quite like a few terms at Mallory Towers.
Or perhaps Lord of the Flies? Pass the conch.

We’re already living in a Brave New World – modern MTB is basically Centrifugal Bumble Puppy, so that’s out.

The Culture was supposed to be a warning, not something to aspire to, but God yes, I can see the appeal.
Michael Moorcock’s Dancers at the Edge of Time has much the same premise, but Jherek has much, much more fun than Bank’s crew.

All in all, I think I’d quite like to live in an Ealing comedy.

For the non stop epic bantz between Nanny Plum and the Wise Old Elf, and unlimited jelly on tap, it’s Ben and Holly’s little kingdom for me.

Maybe with one of Bron’s Westeros brothels outside the walls of King Thistle’s castle. Even elves have needs, and I’m an elf. Parp!

It sounds quite nice in CFH’s fictional world.

The Culture was supposed to be a warning, not something to aspire to

Wow, really? Fascinating that you would get that from it.

I consider the whole thing to be a moving and profound statement of hope for humanity, and giving us a path towards it. That’s why I love it so much.

I’ve got to say that the main thing I am taking from this thread is that it seems I really should try to read the Culture series.

Banks himself seemed to be both pro and anti at the same time.

I was at a talk he gave at Waterstones in Manchester where he was pretty adamant that he would hate it, but he gave a few different answers over the years. 🙂

It was broadcast on the South Bank show, might still be out there. Look out for the handsome, clean shaven young chap in the audience in the M&S suit. 🙂

I’ve got to say that the main thing I am taking from this thread is that it seems I really should try to read the Culture series.

I have not read any SciFi that can hold a candle to it in terms of intellectual scope and content, except for a couple of Neal Stephenson books.

Start with Player of Games.

Lovejoy Antiques.