Friday, June 19, 2009

Authors' (including Ursula LeGuin and Michael Moorcock) top 5 fantasy/real cities

SharedWorlds

Excerpt (Michael Moorcock):
"Old maps of Europe always showed Jerusalem as the centre of the world and symbolically, of course, this is understandable; but for me Marrakesh is the centre, where so many of the old trade routes met and where, still, Mercedes limousines, camels, donkeys and overloaded Peugeot trucks struggle to enter the narrow gates of a walled city which, rather more often than Casablanca, was where world leaders came to argue over the fates of millions. Marrakesh was where the balance of power between France and Morocco was held. It's where the Taureq, swathed in indigo and riding white camels, come in their haughty magnificence to trade with the Rif and the Bedouin, where privileged tourists lounge beside the pool at the Mamounia hotel, hardly aware of the long and bloody history which everywhere surrounds them."




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