Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s topic is: What is a book you admire for something specific: world building, characters, dialogue, setting, plot twists, etc?

And remember to visit my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!

This week’s is a tough one to answer. I would struggle immensely to even pare this one down to one single book by one single author! There are too many to choose from for me. There are certainly two stand out authors for me on this subject. I am sure many of you will be surprised to read the names Stephen King and Sir Terry Pratchett listed here.

I’ll start with the easier of these two. Pratchett wrote the fantastic Discworld series spanning some forty-one books. Within that there are multiple sub-series, each with distinct characters and settings. It’s a beautiful series with an acerbic wit that cuts through every facet of life and society. I wrote them off as a children’s series. Oh how wrong I was. I love those books, and each time I re-read them I uncover a detail I’d not noticed, or a subtle joke that had passed me by. They really are a thing of magic.

Now for the master of horror, Stephen King. And yet, rather ironically, the first thing I’m going to reference isn’t horror. It’s The Dark Tower series. An incredible range of locales, landscapes and locations. The characters are intriguing too. Of course, I cannot forget The Stand. This one, it’s the characters for me. They really make the story for me. Then there is The Green Mile with the action all taking place within the death row section of a prison. Wonderfully crafted setting meets lovable and hateable characters in equal measure. Shrinking the location a bit is Misery. From a prison wing to a small cabin in a winter storm. And yet such a small setting is filled with such life, and tension. Then the characters – Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon – wow, what a pair. Props go to Kathy Bates and James Caan in the awesome movie. So for me, it’s less about one or two books, but more the worlds of one or two authors.