Bookish Job Hunting

Book characters can have some pretty strange jobs. They can shed light on some real professions that might not be as well known, as well as introduce you to jobs that could never exist in our world. For today’s post, I have compiled four which I think are some of the most unique out of all the books I have read. I present them to you to possibly help you decide what fictional world you would truly want to live in.

I also thought it would be fun to write. Let’s just get into it.

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Rithmatists (from The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson)

Are you into art? Would you like to return to the good old days of childhood sidewalk art fun? Well, let your imagination go wild as a Rithmatist! You’ll draw circles, lines, and all the little chalk creatures (chalklings) you want! It’s a great way to put your chalk skills to the test. Not only that, but those chalk drawings will come to life.

Only 1 in 1000 people are chosen to become Rithmatists, so you’ll be a member of an elite, respected group. The fact that you are also automatically conscripted to go fight wild chalklings in a place called Nebrask for several years, where many Rithmatists die, is basically nothing when you think about all the prestige you receive at home.

Right?

Horologists

This one isn’t strange so much as uncommon these days. In The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a book I read recently, we follow a boy named Hugo who fixes the clocks in a train station in Paris. That is what horologists do. They fix and make clocks and watches. It’s something that isn’t usually talked about in books, so I thought it was interesting to learn more about it. Clockmaking is such intricate work, and it requires a very steady hand.

Of course, these days a lot of clocks are digital, so they don’t have to be wound and tightened and fixed the way they did in Hugo’s day.

Renegades

Existing in Marissa Meyer’s aptly named book Renegades, a Renegade is a superhero, but not in the usual sense. When I think of superheroes, I generally think of one person (or a small group of people) working to fight crime outside of the law. In this book, though, the Renegades are the law. They are like the police force of this world, not solo crime fighters. In this world, the superheroes make the laws and enforce them simultaneously.

It’s a unique way to look at superpowered people, and I also happen to think it would be a really cool job.

Belles (from The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton)

These girls have the power to make people beautiful. I mean, their title literally means beautiful in French, so that probably isn’t all that surprising. It’s more than just makeup and fashion, though—Belles literally have the ability to change someone’s body. They can make your waist thinner or wider, can change the length and color of your hair in a few seconds. They can give you a different skin tone. They can alter your face to make you look completely different. They’re like cosmetologists and plastic surgeons all at once, though the changes they make don’t last forever, and tend to look significantly more natural.

The book doesn’t call it magic, but that’s basically what it is. Belles even have limited control over things like plants and animals, able to change their colors, or make them grow or shrink.

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There you have it. Those are four of the most unique jobs I have found in my bookish job hunt. Let me know in the comments of any weird or cool jobs you’ve read about in books, and I’ll see you guys later!

Thanks for reading!

-Ariel

P.S. Sorry if this post is a little lackluster. I haven’t been feeling great recently, but I still wanted to make sure to get this out to you guys. I hope you like it anyway.