Every week, I'll be making a pinned post inviting you to share your favorite books with the slop-hungry hogs of Hexbear 
. Each week will be loosely structured around a particular genre, time period or other theme.
Last week's thread can be found here
For this week's theme: Worlds to get lost in
Books whose settings are so vividly painted that it's a pleasure just to spend time in them. Maybe it's a particular historical moment brought to life or a fantastical world. Perhaps it's a particular scene or milleu. Whatever the case, even if you wouldn't want to live there in real life, you don't want to come back to reality either.
Optional nerd discussion questions
What techniques does the author use to achieve the verisimilitude of their world? What particular aspects of the setting do you, personally, find so compelling? What is most alien about the setting to your own experience? What is most familiar?
If you have suggestions for future themes, DM me!
If you want to be added or removed from the ping list when I post the thread in the future, respond to this comment in the thread
One aspect of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy I haven't seen talked about as much on Hexbear is the loving descriptions of the geology, or rather areology, of Mars. He writes about the landscape of Mars like he's been hiking it his entire life. It makes it feel like a place, a land to love, not just a scientific curiosity.
It's one of the best parts. At first, I didn't care. But there was that one scene of a character all alone just dealing with the massive timescale and life of geological movement, and it was one of the most profound moments in the book. I don't even remember if there was a sentence that really hit or anything, it was just the thought process and vibe to the writing. He really nails the atmosphere, and the kind of wonder and awe we can experience while trying to think about the actual life of ostensibly lifeless materials (but not in an anthropocentric way).
His descriptions of how people live on Mercury are also wonderful. That's where I'd be. At his best he really gets how art, science, philosophy, nature, and fiction can interact in great ways.