Sci-fi and fantasy authors pick the worlds they want to visit

I love asking other science-fiction and fantasy authors quick questions about the genre. This month I posed the following: What science-fiction or fantasy world would you like to visit and what character would you choose to be?

Here's my choice:

I'd go to Anne McCaffrey's Pern, no question, can I leave today?! I'd want to be the rider of a golden dragon, a Weyr Woman with a very hunky bronze dragonrider to be my Weyr Leader. I've wanted to be able to talk to dragons and go between on dragonback and fight Thread since forever! Well, since I read the first installment of Dragonflight in Analog magazine ... (and it was so exciting to read last week that Warner Bros. has optioned the books for a potential movie franchise.)

Now for some other opinions:

Yasmine Galenorn, author of the Otherworld Series

I'd visit Rachel Caine's Weather Warden universe — and I'd want to be a weather warden. I've always thought controlling the weather would be incredible — the concept of calling up the lightning? Maybe communing with a tornado or hurricane? To me that just seems like tapping into the core of the Earth herself. Plus, the added benefit of working with a gorgeous Djinn? Hot!

Ilona Andrews (Gordon and Ilona), authors of Kate Daniels and Edge series

Gordon says: For me it would be Mongo, the planet that Flash Gordon lands on in the old Saturday morning cartoons and the awesomely cheesy '80s film. It has Hawk men, Lion men, the Forest Kingdom of Arboria. Swords are as common as space ships, magic and science coexist in a land ruled by an immortal tyrant, Ming the Merciless. I would be Prince Thun, of the Lion men.

For Ilona, it would be the Star Wars universe. She has always wanted to be a Jedi knight, or perhaps a dreaded Sith Lord. It has been her favorite film since childhood. We have the fantastic Timothy Zahn novels, the 2008 Clone Wars animated series, and we even play the SWTOR MMO, in which she prefers to be a Sith Sorcerer. So that is probably what she would be.

Mur Lafferty, author of Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides)

To answer this question, I went through my book list on Goodreads and discovered that while I like SF and fantasy and all of their subgenres (dystopian, hard SF, urban fantasy, SFF romance, high fantasy, epic fantasy, contemporary fantasy, etc.), the only books that I feel that are inviting are fantasy. I don't want to be stuck on Mars with Weir's The Martian and I don't want to fight in Collins' The Hunger Games. While I wouldn't mind the contemporary world of London Below in Gaiman's Neverwhere, it seems what I truly want is to be in a world with dragons and have some sort of magic.

I'm pretty split between Anne McCaffrey's Pern and Melanie's Rawn's Dragon Prince world.

It seems the best jobs in Pern are to be a harper or a dragon rider, and considering I have absolutely no musical talent at all, I'd go for dragon rider. Gold queen dragon sounds the most exciting, and certainly have the most prestige, but I'm not sure I have the leadership ability to pull off weyrwoman. I would probably go for a blue or green dragon so I could fight Thread. But, heck, if we're talking about living in a world where I can telepathically link with dragons, who's to say I can't have leadership abilities, too?

As for Rawn's world, the stories follow the royal families and their political intrigue and wars, but really I'd just want to be a Sunrunner, someone who can travel on and communicate using the sun's powers, and can call fire. They can also communicate with dragons (yeah, spoilers for later books. Sorry.) But they do have weaknesses, namely water and metal, so that makes their job kind of dangerous.

Dragonriders on Pern don't have that worry. They just worry about Thread and losing their dragons. And plague. A LOT of plague seems to hit Pern. That's not cool. Maybe I'd want to be a doctor so I could discover antibiotics.

Or maybe I really just want a dragon. Huh. That's it. I want a gold dragon and antibiotics. Probably on Pern. Who can I talk to that can set that up?

Tee Morris, co-author of Dawn's Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

I have so many worlds to choose from, but if I were to choose one to visit, I think I would enjoy the world of Wen Spencer's Tinker. I love the idea of an inter-dimensional rift between the magical realm of Elfhome and Pittsburgh. Something about that concept always makes me smile. It was a wonderful ride, featuring a wide collection of colorful characters, and why not have quantum physics explain magic to you? I'm all in! Doubly so if I could be Windwolf. Seriously — I would love to enjoy some alone time with the whip-smart and ever-so-sassy Tinker. So most definitely Wen Spencer's world where sorcery meets the Steelers

P.J. Dean, author of The Felig Chronicles

I have great admiration for the world constructed for the film Blade Runner. I saw it when it was released in 1982 and instantly loved the film maker's view of L.A. as a place that was both foreign and familiar. That feeling was easily conveyed by the opening, aerial shot of the city at night and the depiction of a diverse population. The character I wanted to be? Roy Batty, hands down. This leader of the renegade band of replicants from the Nexus-6 colony was heartbreaking and menacing. On a mission to find their creator, he was unstoppable, mercurial and oddly tender. I just wanted some of his swagger. Yep, I'm Team Batty.

Eve Langlais, author of the Alien Abduction series

My first impulse when asked was to say the Dune universe by Frank Herbert, or Darkover by Marion Zimmerman Bradley, but while I love those worlds, I didn't know which character I'd want to be. I'd want to visit them more for exploration. So I rethought it in terms of me as a woman. And my final answer is the world Johanna Lindsey created in Warrior's Woman. With enough wild adventure and science-fiction to please the explorer in me, and sexy alpha warriors who don't mind teaching a human female their planet's customs — and lovemaking techniques — I think I could have lots of fun in that strange alien place — in and out of a bedroom lol.

Cara Bristol, author of Breeder

I was enthralled by the technology Anna Zaires created in her series The Krinar Chronicles. I would like to see planet Krina — but first I'd visit Lendkarda, the Krinar settlement on Earth just to be sure I liked it. I wouldn't want to be anyone other than human, but I would like to meet Korum, the alien hero of the series.

E.D. Walker, author of The Beauty's Beast

I'd want to be a Jaeger pilot in the Pacific Rim universe and save the world with my giant robot suit, fighting Godzilla-like monsters and kicking their butts! I'm also positive I'd be drift compatible with my sister so I already have my co-pilot picked out. Sign me up! Let's "cancel the apocalypse"!

Pauline Baird Jones, author of Core Punch: A Baker & Ban!drn Adventure

I'd want to be Miri Robertson in Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I'd like to be able to kick tush like her, but since I can't, I'd need Val Con to survive the story. And what a story it is! I also want to walk and talk with the turtles. Coolest aliens EVER. Agent of Change was my gateway book to the Liaden Universe and I'm so glad I found it.

Check back with HEA on Aug. 11 for more from sci-fi and fantasy authors.

Amazon best-seller Veronica Scott is a two-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and has written a number of science-fiction and paranormal romances. Her latest science-fiction romance release, Escape From Zulaire, recently received the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award for Paranormal and Futuristic Romance. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com. Please e-mail Veronica at scifiencounters@gmail.com about content related to this column. Due to the volume of mail, e-mails may not be answered personally, but all will be read.