M: Mordor

It a place created by J.R.R.Tolkien and immortalized by the way by Peter Jackson. No. Its not a place, its a hellhole. The realm of lord Sauron, the epitome of evil and power gluttony. I remember reading Lord of the Rings the first time and shuddering as I read the descriptions of the dark, dark place. I bowed to the superior quill of Tolkien. Gloom, hopelessness, all descends on the heart as one reads on.
The home of Mount Doom, where the ring of power was forged. A place where happiness has never visited nor tried to. The smells of reeking decay that swirls through the lands.

It all settles on the mind and translates into a forceful desire for Frodo to succeed. Mordor certainly helps in the reader wanting, no, needing the protagonist to accomplish his goal.

pic:Wikepedia

...the sun now climbing towards the South was veiled in the reeks of Mordor, and through a threatening haze it gleamed, remote, a sullen red, as if it were ending the day, or the end maybe of all of the world of light. And out of the gathering mirk the Nazgul came with their cold voices crying words of death; and then all hope was quenched.


What fictitious world has hit you hard in the guts?