Goodreads asked Patricia C. Wrede:

If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

Patricia C. Wrede Well, I'd have some stipulations first - I want to go as a temporary tourist, not permanently, and I want to be able to specify the time. I wouldn't want to visit Gondor while it's in the middle of fighting off the siege of the orc hordes, for instance.

But if I could visit Tolkien's Middle Earth for a week or so to watch Aragorn being crowned - I would totally do that. I wouldn't mind a quick visit to Bujold's Barrayar, to watch Emperor Gregor's wedding or get some maple mead ice cream at Winterfair.

I wouldn't want to live in any of them, though - I like my current life just fine, for one thing. For another, I am all too aware of the unpleasant realities of a lot of the worlds I love best. I like a lot of modern conveniences, including things like washing machines and air conditioning, which lets out most worlds with a tech level that dates from before the mid-1900s.

And then there's the social status issue - I was impressed at an early age by a short story in which the protagonist was told he was not from this world, and must go back where he was born. So he did … and found himself shoveling manure for a living. Not something I would be well-suited for.

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