Map, map, my kingdom for a map …

• Posted in About Books

Pet peeve time: What is up with epic fantasy books not having maps in them anymore? It seems like the last four or five epic fantasy books that I’ve read have not had a map in them — and it is driving me insane.

In the past few months, I’ve read Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe and Melusine by Sarah Monette. These are both epic fantasies — and neither one of them had a map in it. This is especially troublesome in the Monette book, since she talks about so many different cultures/people and her characters travel from one side of the world to the other — supposedly this huge, huge distance. Bledsoe’s book is focused on a smaller geographic area so it didn’t bother me quite as much that there wasn’t a map in that one.

The lack of a map seems to be a new, disappointing trend to me. Back when I first started reading epic fantasy, it seemed like every book I picked up — especially those by the likes of Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and Terry Goodkind — had a map of the respective world in it. Now? It doesn’t seem like anybody has a map in their book.

Am I the only one that this bothers?

I like seeing the maps and tracking the characters from one city to the other. I like knowing where the various races/creatures live. I like seeing the topography of the rivers and mountains and whatnot — it makes the characters’ journey seem that much more, well, epic to me. I just expect a map in an epic fantasy book since its scope is usually so big and sprawling.

I wonder if maybe the publishers are trying to save money/paper by not including maps anymore — if maybe they are using those artist dollars and two pages for something else. Or maybe the author just doesn’t want a map in his/her book. Maybe she doesn’t want to limit herself that way. There could be any number of reasons for this trend.

Now, I do think that it’s a little different situation when it comes to urban fantasy. I don’t really expect a map in an urban fantasy book since so many of those take place in cities. It’s just easier for me to visualize things on a city scale than on a worldwide scale. But if the characters are traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles over mountain ranges and across seas like they do in epic fantasy books, then, yeah, I expect a map — or two.

Personally, I’ve thought about doing a map of Ashland, but I can’t draw to save my life, and I think my dollars would be better spent on promoting my books rather than hiring someone to do a map for me. Plus, there are probably some rights/usage issues that I would have to talk to my publisher about first.

Also, I try to add at least one new location in every one of the Elemental Assassin books, so the map would be out of date by the time the next book came out. And I don’t want to box myself in too much by saying that this goes here and that goes there, when I might come up with a cool idea in the future and need to rearrange things. Besides, my city is pretty simple — the rich part of town, the poor part of town, and the suburbs. All readers really need to know is what part of town a business or house is located in. I think the descriptions/characters take care of the rest.

I don’t know — maybe I should just chalk it all up to The Mystery of the Missing Map. That would make a great case for Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars to work on, wouldn’t it? 😉

What about you guys? Are you missing maps in epic fantasy books? Are there any books that you think need a map? Share in the comments.

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6 Responses to “Map, map, my kingdom for a map …”

  1. Alex Bledsoe says:

    Hey, Jennifer. I wanted to address the map issue as it applies to me, because it might be of interest to readers wondering how such things get decided.

    When I wrote “The Sword-Edged Blonde,” I recall the editor suggesting a map, but I was against it because it seemed to violate the ratio of fantasy to mystery. At the time, I felt a map would throw it too far into the fantasy camp (Raymond Chandler never used a map of Los Angeles, for example). Also, for all I knew this would be the *only* Eddie LaCrosse book, and I was hypersensitive about getting the balance right. Had I known for sure there would be a series, I might have been more open to the idea.

    I didn’t feel “Burn Me Deadly” needed a map because, as you noted, it takes place in a single small town. I did suggest a map to my editor for the third Eddie book, “Dark Jenny” (out in 2011), but this time he felt it wasn’t needed, and I tend to agree. But I wouldn’t mind if, in subsequent books, that changes.

    So that’s my map story. Thanks for bringing up such an interesting topic!

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, Alex. Thanks for dropping by and explaining your take on maps. I appreciate it. And I’m looking forward to Dark Jenny. 😉

    There was another epic fantasy that I read recently — Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. I believe it had a map of the city where some of the action took place, but no map of the world as a whole, which would have been helpful since half the book takes place at sea.

    I like fantasy maps. But it seems like a lot of the new books just don’t have them anymore for whatever reason.

  3. Mihir says:

    Hey Jennifer

    Great topic & maps has always been a integral part of epic fantasy, though recently some authors like Joe Abercrombie have disdained the use of maps. I feel it helps in some situations as the landscape described is unknown to the reader say against in the case of Urban fantasy or thrillers which are set in real world locations.

    Oddly 1 of heroic fantasy’s beloved writers David Gemmell almost never had a map in his books except in his last book wherein a fan made map was included[though this map was also scoffed at]. I always prefer maps as it somehow adds to the story for me. And lastly in the case of Scott Lynch, I guess the world will be revealed in parts as the books go along[a la George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF books].

    Mihir

  4. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, Mihir. Thanks for chiming in. I know some authors don’t like maps, but I really do. But then, I’m kind of a geek that way. LOL. But yeah, I think epic fantasies especially should have some sort of map or guide or glossary in them.

    I’ve never read Gemmell, but he’s someone I’ve been meaning to try.

    I can’t remember if there was a big world map in Lynch’s first book or not. I’m thinking that it was just a map of the city where all the action took place. I wish the third book in his series was out already. Every time I go to Amazon, the release date has been bumped back. Bring on the Gentleman Bastards!

  5. Dewey says:

    I don’t believe your Elemental Assassin needs a map. I was never lost on where and when your characters were. Sure a map would be nice, but your books would not suffer without it.

    And I disagree with how for something to be epic, the characters must travel place after place across wide expanse of geography. If the story is really good, and with characters that do something resulting in far-reaching consequences, that itself can be epic enough. Though I will agree traveling far and wide help up the epic points. Nothing like saving the world when you need to travel around the world to save it…

  6. Jennifer Estep says:

    That’s good to know. 😉

    I meant epic fantasy more in the context of swords/sorcery/magic books set in a medieval-type world — a la David Eddings, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, etc. I wasn’t saying that all the epic fantasy books involve characters traveling great distances. I know there are tons of them that take place in a single city/castle/keep/whatever.

    But yeah, a map definitely helps when the characters do travel great distances. And isn’t strange how the magical sword/crystal/amulet/thing that will save the universe is always located on the other side of the world? LOL.

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