Maps and the Fantasy Novel

[Taltos]

Writer should have and remember map of the world he/she is building. SO there wouldn't be too many readers nitpicking

For me personally, maps are not important, very rarely look for them or at them.

 

[Pyan]

I'd have liked to have a map of Nehwon, but I don't think there ever was one.

I've an atlas of fantasy worlds at home,( I'm in my local library: up to four hours free broadband per day!) and I think there's one in that. I'll try to post details as soon as I can.

 

[The Blackfish]

Well I have to agree with Culhwch and Gollum - I am a big fan of the fantasy map. It is actually one of the first things I look for when scouting new books, because for me, it is an indication of how serious the writer is about building their world.

Culhwch, I too bought the Kirkpatrick book because of the detail in his maps. If only everyone could draw maps like that! I did like the series more than you, but thought it wimpered out in the third and concluding book.

I do agree with earlier posts that a bad map actually hinders the story, and the distance thing is one of my pet hates as well. An example of this is in "Eragon", by Christopher Paolini, where the characters take almost no time to go large distances, and months and months to go short distances. Admitedly the guy was only a teenager when he wrote it but still ...

A map is very important to me when I write, because it helps to keep things in perspective. How does the place that I am writing about relate to other places? Do the characters know about far away lands, or are they in the dark?

I guess it comes down to how you learn / are stimulated - visually, or verbally?

One thing though that I would like to see more of in fantasy maps is things like
1) Latitude determines climate - Authors are good at the "cold northern wastes", but what about the tropical heat waves in the centre of the map?
2) Altitude markings - Most land is not just "flat" or "mountains", but is somewhere inbetween, usually indicated by parrallel lines (close togther for high altitude and wide apart for low altitude)
3) Global scale - This of course depends on the authors willingnes to reveal the whole world, but I like to be able to see a world in its entirety.

A map is not the be all and end all of a book, and should always serve the story, not the other way around. But I think both writers and publishers should take greater care and time to show maps, thus improving the consitency and believability of a story.
As we have heard, a bad map is a hindrance, but a good map will improve a story immensely.

 

[GOLLUM]

HMMM.. I agree with some of your observations on maps Balckfish, by the way hello to another Aussie..

You should check out N.Z. author Russelk Kirkpatricks recent trilogy I've read called the Fire Of Heaven. Its nothing remarkable but he uses a lot of description in his story revolving around the landscape his different charaters travel through. The point is he's a mapmaker by trade and it shows in his maps which are fairly detailed as you might expect. This I think is a good example where someone's natural experience and knowledge of using maps has directly translated and indeed influnced their writing.

I think the use of a map as you say is also helpful to an author when they're trying to get a handle on the different locations in thier story if they're writing about multiple characters in different places especially and also if they're trying to exlain how geography can directly affect the politics and social welfare of the various populations in their story and also if they're planing for e.g. military campaigns etc..

 

[The Blackfish]

Hi Gollum,

yes, I have read Kirkpatricks books (I think I said so in my previous post) and was highly impressed. Hopefully there will be more maps like that in the future!

 

[GOLLUM]

Hi Gollum,

yes, I have read Kirkpatricks books (I think I said so in my previous post) and was highly impressed. Hopefully there will be more maps like that in the future!

Yep I just posted to your post on the other thread.
I read the trilogy too and didn't mind it although it was a little generic for my liking. Having said that he certianly went all out with his use of maps and its efect on his story.