What happens if ... character/story switch

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Have you ever been reading a book and wonder, what would 'so-and-so' do in this situation? I'm reading Trickster's Queen at the moment and suddenly had an image of Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games) in there. Oh NO. That would just not work out at all.

So I wondered if anyone else has ever done this? Or, while reading, you don't so much wonder as that character just goes into the book and you KNOW what will happen.

Here is an opportunity to let your imagination run free. What book are you currently reading, or have read recently, and think of someone from another book somehow, magically, being written into your current book. This could be anything from a character from one dystopia book to another, or cross genres. It could also be someone who is 'real' (for example, maybe you are reading a biography) and suddenly Cary Grant is in The Hidden Staircase. What would happen?

Another example -- what would Elizabeth Bennett (of Pride and Prejudice) do if she finds herself in Matilda or House of Furies or Ella Minnow Pea?

What would Katniss Everdeen do if she found herself written into Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?

The possibilities abound!

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

This thread got me thinking. I recently returned to Artemis Fowl series after not reading them for a couple of years. Artemis Fowl is undoubtedly a genius, even as a child and later, a teenager with emphasis in psychology, sociology, physics, literature, fine arts and music. He manages to trick fairies’ top police squad and individual members multiple times and evade them as well. However, Artemis can do all that in the modern world, with help of other people, like his bodyguard and modern technology. So, how would he cope if he went into the past, for example into the world of The Eagle of the Ninth, or maybe even switched places with Esca, young gladiator turned personal slave of Marcus Flavius Aquila?

I think it would be quite a shock for Artemis at first. He would be out of his depth, but I think that in that arsenal of knowledge there is also quite a lot of history on hand. He could loosely anticipate the current of events happening around him and maybe even integrated himself into the society as an inventor, where he would enjoy the perks the title brought with it. So, at the end, Artemis Fowl would turn out just fine in the past.

It would be a bit harder for Esca in the future though. Unlike Artemis, he does not have the knowledge of the future like Artemis does of the past, but I think Esca would have survived and adapted to his circumstance out of sheer pride and stubbornness. Even after becoming a slave, Esca always made the best of his current situation and successfully navigated a rough Roman society. I believe it would be easier to live in the future if someone comes from the past, so he could perhaps become a history teacher or maybe a reenactor.