Index of maps

Useful little index. I particularly like finding these as I read mostly on my eReader which, as with most eInk readers, is just appalling when it comes to maps. I usually go looking for a map online, then print it and keep it in my eReader's case whilst I'm reading that book.
 
That is great, thanks so much for sharing!

Vertigo, I have also found it to be a bit annoying trying to look at maps on ereaders, but for whatever reason your practical solution of printing them out and keeping them in the case never occurred to me. :rolleyes: Thanks for the suggestion, as I will definitely do that from now on.
 
Ooh, thanks for sharing this.

By chance, I just finished (well, probably) the map for my WIP. Thinking of slightly cropping it for inclusion in the book and having the larger version on my website (I'll check with my own Kindle to see how small/large look.

I'm not really into maps (as a reader) anymore so the question never arose, but that's a cunning suggestion, Vertigo.
 
I've been working on the map for my WIP, mostly in my head truth be told. It really sucks that I can't afford any of the map-creating software out there!
 
I'm reasonably happy with my effort (might change one more thing...), and my cover artist had a brilliant suggestion which may help to make it better. I don't think fancy software is needed to make a decent map (and I'm no artist).
 
Agree with thaddeus I have seen some pretty dire examples of digitally generated maps (take a look at Weber's official Safehold map - it's dreadful). I think the best maps are very often the ones that are clearly hand-drawn.

Quick rant: one thing about many maps that always annoys me is they are so often not drawn logically. Rivers generally start in hills or mountins and enter the sea at bays or deltas. So many maps just have a squiggly blue line with no apparent origin that just pops out into the sea from a seemingly random piece of coast. Similar consideration needs to be given to the siting of cities, deserts etc. Mountains don't just pop up anywhere they are created by the collisions of continents so the mountains on maps should follow the boundaries of two or more distinct regions (one of which may be the sea - consider the Andes and Rockies in the Americas). Very ragged coast lines tend to be mostly in colder climates created by glacial action. Warmer climates tend to have smoother less indented coastlines. And so on. If you want a map that has no geological logic to it then look no further than the Lord of the Rings! Loved the book hated the map!

If I wanted to design a map I would start by looking at a world atlas and then combine elements of that into the world I want to create.
 
Tell me about it Vertigo! The geology and geomorphology in particular of fantasy worlds is often extremely lacking. I did see a rendering of the geological map of Middle Earth once though, clutching at straws if I ever saw it!
 
I just wanted to raise the point that not all SFF books have 'geologically substandard' maps (which I realise is not what is being said here) by way of an example.

Russell Kirkpatrick is a New Zealand Fantasy author and his maps/diagrammatics are of a pretty good quality. He's a cartographer by profession, which naturally explains things as does the fact that his series has a fair degree of emphasis on geography in this EPIC (trek) story that in turn proves to be a genuine boost to the overall story arc.

I've always appreciated a good map in my fantasy stories, If done well it becomes a real asset to the narrative and overall 'believability' of the story itself...as alluded to by Vertigo.

Handy link too...:)

P.S. I printed out the seperate panels of the LOTR map as it was supplied in my 1979 edition before pasting them onto a single wooden panel. I found this really helped simply in terms of working out all of the various place names and where specific characters were located during the narrative.
 
Yeah, Gollum, I agree Russell Kirkpatrick's map are exceptional (if a little mind-boggling sometimes) and his writing isn't any too shabby either. I loved his Broken Man series but I've not read the earlier one yet. Quite a different sort of fantasy story I thought. I seem to remember him saying somewhere that he loved writing fantasy because it alowed him to indulge in his two loves: fantasy and map-making.
 
Vertigo said:
Rivers generally start in hills or mountins and enter the sea at bays or deltas.
Click to expand...


Except when the come from underground springs, bogs, lakes etc. Plenty of spring based ones round my way. Take the Piddle for example. But they still should follow a gradient.
 
Fair point AMB! But, as you say, they must follow a gradient and the longer the river, the more important its source be significantly higher. This also affects how it should flow; meandering across plains or carving out valleys.
 
Thanks, I will bookmark that. I saw another site like that except it had a few more including Middle Earth and Narnia
 
Good start to a list. would be really useful if it added some of the classics:
Treasure Island
Oz
Various ERB
Poictesme
40 Acre Wood
Conan etc
Hyperboria
Earthsea
The Young Kingdoms
Lankhmar, Newhon
Prydain
Dune
Pern
Arkham
Florin & guilder
etc
 
Lady of Winterfell said:
That is great, thanks so much for sharing!

Vertigo, I have also found it to be a bit annoying trying to look at maps on ereaders, but for whatever reason your practical solution of printing them out and keeping them in the case never occurred to me. :rolleyes: Thanks for the suggestion, as I will definitely do that from now on.
Click to expand...

Yeah I concur... great idea. Never occurred to me. I too am a big map-referencer.
 
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