Some days reality is just intolerably repugnant, and there isn't anything very interesting coming out of MacWorld, so you start looking around for an alternative. A top 10 list of places to look:
1. The Wardrobe, from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The original, all-time champeen.
2. The Gate of Hell, from Dante's Inferno. "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate."
3. Platform 9 3/4, Harry Potter.
4. Cimmeria, The Odyssey.
5. The Wood Between the Worlds, The Magician's Nephew. This entry incorporates some attractive accessories, those yellow and green rings.
6. The Tornado, The Wizard of Oz.
7. The Tollbooth, The Phantom Tollbooth. It's purple!
8. The Subtle Knife, His Dark Materials.
9. The Rabbit Hole, Alice in Wonderland.
10. The King's Roads, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
What else? The obelisk from 2001? That thing in Tron? Come on, insane Stargate fans. Show me whatcha got.
Real posting resumes (starts?) tomorrow.
TARDIS
tyrantking
Jan. 6, 2009 19:15:pm
at 19:15:pm
I can't remember if the TARDIS is just a space/time vehicle or actually a portal to another dimension?
Lev Grossman
Jan. 6, 2009 20:37:pm
at 20:37:pm
Not sure if this exactly qualifies, but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Besides I like to make Stephenson references wherever possible.
- The goggle/computer setup that Hiro Protagonist uses in Snowcrash to enter the Metaverse.
I don't know if I would actually want to go through this portal, but it would certainly make life interesting.
- The twisted redstone arch from WOT that leads to the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn.
n1nj4g1rl
Jan. 6, 2009 21:32:pm
at 21:32:pm
From Stargate SG-1's season one episode, 'There But For The Grace of God,' the Quantum Mirror, which allows travel to parallel universes. Seen again in season three's episode, 'Point of View.'
From Star Trek: The Original Series episode, 'City on the Edge of Forever,' the Guardian of Forever, a time portal to the past.
spoilergate
Jan. 7, 2009 01:05:am
at 01:05:am
-The Warrens in "The Malazan Book of the Dead" series by Steven Erikson, which are both portals AND other worlds.
-The Trans-dimensional Ironwood Doors in the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King.
hambyiii
Jan. 7, 2009 07:24:am
at 07:24:am
The cheap grape wine that Jack uses in The Talisman to get to the Territories until he learns how to do it himself. And if it doesn't work, keep drinking until you THINK you've transported to another world.
Kemper
Jan. 7, 2009 08:26:am
at 08:26:am
Does the Labyrinth count as a portal, or was it that glass orb thing David Bowie had? It's the only one I can think of off hand that someone hasn't listed already. Except maybe the looking glass in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
meredith81
Jan. 7, 2009 09:56:am
at 09:56:am
Oh! The doors the chick from Neverwhere can open, that's a pretty good one.
meredith81
Jan. 7, 2009 09:58:am
at 09:58:am
All books are like portals... to a world of fun and adventure, using your imagination!
Rorschach
Jan. 7, 2009 12:11:pm
at 12:11:pm
The Pattern in the Amber series by Roger Zelazny.
sfsf22
Jan. 7, 2009 12:30:pm
at 12:30:pm
You're all missing an important one. The Dark Portal created by Medivh himself. Otherwise, how else could the Orcs have crossed into Azeroth?
joethefinancier
Jan. 7, 2009 13:18:pm
at 13:18:pm
oh, good call on the dark tower doors. and i think the leaky cauldron (the entryway to diagon alley in the HP books) deserves a nod.
lulubangs
Jan. 7, 2009 13:40:pm
at 13:40:pm
Just the plain old "Stargate" from the Stargate shows - they come in normal, short-range rings, intergalactic, and Ori Supergate Strength - and when instantaneous travel isn't fast enough, there's also Ba'al's Time Traveling Gates.
fonaza
Jan. 7, 2009 14:35:pm
at 14:35:pm
The portal to Pylea on "Angel"! I suppose the Hellmouth on Buffy counts too.
sfsf22
Jan. 7, 2009 14:45:pm
at 14:45:pm
Ummm... the wormhole in DS9? Sisko uses it routinely to meet with the Prophets towards the end of the series.
I was going for the Quantuum Mirror from SG-1 as well, but beaten to the punch.
usesherbrain
Jan. 7, 2009 14:56:pm
at 14:56:pm
The Pattern in the Amber series by Roger Zelazny.
.
Ooooh, good call.
Cliff
Jan. 7, 2009 15:05:pm
at 15:05:pm
The eye in the hand in Faith No More's video of EPIC.
Brew
Jan. 7, 2009 17:10:pm
at 17:10:pm
Hey, I wrote a book (with my dad) that hase portals as a main plot element. I actually wrote them, and I think they're pretty awesome, but that's just me.
tereglith
Jan. 7, 2009 19:08:pm
at 19:08:pm
The Portal to ToonTown in Roger Rabbit!
The Boom Tube to the Fourth World!
Mario's Wondrous Warp Pipes!
almightygosh
Jan. 7, 2009 21:42:pm
at 21:42:pm
The gates in Anathem. C'mon.
rco012
Jan. 8, 2009 00:41:am
at 00:41:am
Okay, dragged a couple more out of my dormant synapses:
- The portal conjured at the end of Evil Dead II, which pulls Ash into the world in Evil Dead III: The Army of Darkness (which technically is meant to be the past, but it is "Other Worldy" enough for me)
- The device in Sliders...how the hell could I have forgotten that!
hambyiii
Jan. 8, 2009 05:37:am
at 05:37:am
Oh, yeah, the Sliders dealie - that's a good one. I completely forgot that show existed!
Oh, oh, oh, the weird glowing red space-storm from "Land of the Giants" that the Spindrift flew through and ended up in...the "Land of the Giants" (Which was pretty much exactly like earth, but 12 times bigger)
fonaza
Jan. 8, 2009 10:27:am
at 10:27:am
The hole in the wall in Stardust and then there's Cloak's cloak, a gateway to the Darkforce Dimension
aaroscape
Jan. 8, 2009 11:01:am
at 11:01:am
@rco012 - ooo, good call - they're great gates. Don;t want to say more in case people haven't read it yet.
aaroscape
Jan. 8, 2009 11:02:am
at 11:02:am
The letter box on the front door of the children's urban home in 'Elidor' - when the letterbox buzzes with the vibration of passing traffic, rather than opening onto the steet, it looks out onto the High Places in Elidor.
Scared me for years, that did, such a mundane portal.
FF
frostfox63
Jan. 9, 2009 10:29:am
at 10:29:am