I’ve done posts before about bookish worlds I want to visit and also authors I love to follow, so today, I’ve decided to combine the two together.

Because nothing screams “I love your work” more than shoving them into a dark, desolate world that they may not survive, right?! This is a labor of love, of course. Also, they started it. I might be more sympathetic to their plight if they hadn’t decimated all my feels at this point and bathed in the tears of their readers and gained sustenance from all this pain and suffering. Maybe. Porbably not, but you’ll never know, now will you?

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is supposed to be questions you’d ask your favorite authors, but I’ve actually had the opportunity to interview some of my favorite authors already, and I just wasn’t all that inspired by the prompt. So I flipped it a little!

Because what’s more fun than choosing random worlds to throw people into? Part of reading fantasy is getting to imagine a whole new world and, sometimes, imagining yourself as part of it. So that’s what I’ll be doing today, just with … other people. I tried to match these worlds up with the authors’ personalities, so let’s see if you agree with me!

Also, over the course of this, I’ve realized that I follow a lot of male authors on Twitter whose posts I enjoy … but where are the women? I dunno. I need to follow more. So in the comments, please drop the names of some female authors you love following on Twitter! I 100% need to remedy this and am a bit ashamed I haven’t already.

Jackson Ford ➠ Steelheart

Did I choose to send this author to a book that his own book could be comped to? Why yes, yes I did. No regrets. I think Jackson Ford would totally thrive in Sanderson’s world. Sure, it’s a little chaotic and dystopian, but he’d totally fit in with the main crew. And if he’s lucky? Maybe he’d even get some awesome superpowers. How’s that for a bonus?

Fredrik Backman ➠ Just One Damned Thing After Another

This one was a tough one, because by his own admissions, I’m not entirely sure how capable Fredrik Backman would be in the worlds of books I normally read, and goodness knows I don’t want to set him up for failure. What I love about following him in particular, though, is his humor, so I thought this world would be perfect for him! The characters in this are absolutely hilarious, and even if he isn’t one of the historians (which, let’s be honest, this group gets into enough trouble without him, so I don’t think that’d be a great idea), there are still plenty of places he could find his niche at St. Mary’s. And I definitely think he fits in perfectly with the rest of the crew.

Amparo Ortiz ➠ Paola Santiago and the River of Tears

Amparo Ortiz is Boricuan, and Paola Santiago is Mexican, so the cultures aren’t quite the same, but at least they have Spanish and la chancla (which conveniently plays a big role in this book) in common. So there’s that. I also suspect that Ortiz would be familiar with some of the legends and creatures in this book, which would make the adventure all the more exciting. Who doesn’t want an adventure filled with mythology they’re familiar with?! Plus, I can totally see Ortiz adopting a Chupacabra puppy and parading it around like it was totally a normal thing to have.

T.J. Klune ➠ Infinity Son

T.J. Klune’s whole aesthetic is queer romance between cinnamon roll characters, and I wanted to do that justice, and I think Infinity Son fits that bill nicely. More than that, though, it also has superheroes, which very much fits the vein of Klune’s new book The Extraordinaries. Do I think he’d be able to handle superpowers? Eh, maybe? As someone who also has ADHD, I do think that maaaaybe there could be some challenges there. I for sure wouldn’t trust myself with superpowers, because I’m too easily distracted. But you know what? I certainly think he should be given the choice to try it. Just … maybe not the fire power, okay?

Sam Sykes ➠ A Study in Brimstone

I used to love following Sam Sykes on Twitter, because he often made me laugh. I feel like he’d be a nice for for Warlock Holmes, and the two would probably be fast friends. Poor Watson. Poor, poor Watson. I’m sure this would double his woes. A Study in Brimestone takes place in a world full of supernatural beings, and Warlock Holmes is … well, a warlock. Which I have no doubt Sam Sykes would also work on training to be … which would likely end the same way, with unintended, horrible, yet mildly funny outcomes.

Matt Haig ➠ The House in the Cerulean Sea

Is it cheating to use a book from another author on this list? *shrug* Maybe. But this was a little too perfect to pass up. Matt Haig posts a lot of really positive things on Twitter and is an advocate for mental health and strikes me as the type of person who would get along with Arthur and Linus swimmingly. I can picture them all getting together for dinners and social events. Plus, this strikes me as a world that could really use the sort of advocate that Matt Haig is.

Kwame Mbalia ➠ David Mogo, Godhunter

I had to really stop and think about this. I mean, Kwame Mbalia has clearly already missed out on the demigod thing (as far as we know, anyway), so that’d be a bit of a bummer going into a world like David Mogo, Godhunter. But fear not! There are still wizards! The Orisha in this seem pretty cool, and I think Kwame Mbalia could totally find his niche here. Also perform some cool spells, be part of an uprising, and hopefully not mind too much that the Orisha have totally invaded and turned the world into a bit of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Hey, it happens.

Kiersten White ➠ Come Tumbling Down

The Wayward Children series would fit Kiersten White’s “innocent yet stabby” aesthetic really well, I think. First, that sums up several characters, all of whom are absolutely quirky and lovable but not to be taken lightly. Plus … doors to another world! She could totally find her perfect innocent and nice yet stabby world where she would obviously thrive and probably take over as a benevolent ruler who only sometimes tortures people in the hidden dungeons beneath her palace.

Justina Ireland ➠ The Merciful Crow

Justina Ireland is a huuuuge advocate for equal rights and standing up for the downtrodden, and there’s certainly plenty of that to do in The Merciful Crow. But also, there’s plenty of ways to flex her slightly stabby side, too! Perfect marrying of both worlds. She can, quite literally, fight for what she believes in.

Jay Kristoff ➠ Gideon the Ninth

Would he and Gideon band together and take over the universe? Almost certainly. It’d be worth it, though. I can’t say they’d be benevolent leaders, but they’d at least make things more interesting. This was the first book that popped into my head when I was trying to think of Jay Kristoff’s aesthetic. It’s dark and stabby and also necromancy (which is … awesome?), but also filled with dark, irreverent humor. In other words, it’s perfect. And Kristoff deserves to be a necromancer at this point. He’s earned it.

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