I usually sketch myself out something vague to use as reference, then make it more and more detailed as I work through the book. At that point, I approach and artist and have them help me come up with a good visual style for the book and the map. If it’s an artist I know well, I can sometimes let them do more of the work–the Mistborn maps, for instance, were developed by Isaac Stewart with very little input from me beyond the text and some basic instructions.
What is your all-time favorite fantasy novel map?
Wow, that’s putting me on the spot. There are many different aspects I like about a lot of different maps. I love how the map in The Hobbit is the map the characters carry around. That struck me when I read that book. I really liked how David Eddings’ books had a big map and then a zoom-in for every section when the characters would go there. But I wouldn’t call either of those my favorite fantasy map.
The main Wheel of Time map is certainly one of the prettiest. But the best I’ve probably seen is the one from Leviathan. That one kind of blew me away.
I usually sketch myself out something vague to use as reference, then make it more and more detailed as I work through the book. At that point, I approach and artist and have them help me come up with a good visual style for the book and the map. If it’s an artist I know well, I can sometimes let them do more of the work–the Mistborn maps, for instance, were developed by Isaac Stewart with very little input from me beyond the text and some basic instructions.
What is your all-time favorite fantasy novel map?
Wow, that’s putting me on the spot. There are many different aspects I like about a lot of different maps. I love how the map in The Hobbit is the map the characters carry around. That struck me when I read that book. I really liked how David Eddings’ books had a big map and then a zoom-in for every section when the characters would go there. But I wouldn’t call either of those my favorite fantasy map.
The main Wheel of Time map is certainly one of the prettiest. But the best I’ve probably seen is the one from Leviathan. That one kind of blew me away.