Maps in books (and author worldbuilding skills)

[NeonKnight]

I found this site (in German) online: fantasy atlas

It has maps of the worlds from a number of fantasy / SF books. Some of them are very well done indeed - I think (from the brief flip I had through them) that they have been drawn for the site.

Ravs

Actually Ravs, those maps are almost entirely derived from the book I mentioned above, the Atlas of Fantasy

[ravells]

My apologies! I have sent an email to the cartographer to ask him to visit the site!

[NeonKnight]

My apologies! I have sent an email to the cartographer to ask him to visit the site!

No prob. I have seen the Elric map (Moorcook) from the Atlas of Fantasy over 20 years ago, but the Colored one is new to me.

It is also interesting to note, that the Elric map of Melnibone is not in any actually Elric book to my knowledge.

[landorl]

I'm kind of fond of Dennis L McKiernan's world of Mithgar map
Mithgar

The books (at least the first three) are almost direct knockoffs of Tolkien. - They fight a Gorgon in Moria... ah Kreggen Kor rather, instead of the Balrog, and Gandalf is away in Middle Earth somewhere, but other than that, they were strikingly similar.

Still, if you like LOTR, they are an easy read. Some of his later works were a bit better though.

[The Cartographist]

The Map of Mithgar is one of the favorites from my readings.

And, as you say, the stories are COMPLETELY plagiarized from Tolkien. It was sad, actually, because I had heard that his books were good.

[NeonKnight]

Yeah, I remeber that.

The had to go into the dwarven ruins to cross to the other side. A Tentacle octopus type critter garbs the pony or what not from the lake out side the dwarven gates, etc, etc, etc.

Oh, and towards the end the Great Shadow was encirciling the Ringed, White City, with its many encircling outwalls.

[ravells]

Lol! How do people get away with writing stuff like that? I'm reminded of the Early Terry Brooks 'Sword of Shannara' , which to my mind has always stood as the epitome of the Tolkien ripoff industry.

That Mithgar map is very pretty, though!

[landorl]

I think that I was about 15 when I first read the Iron Tower Trilogy. Back then, I realized that it was a complete knock off of Tolkien, but it was still a fun read, and the writing style made for a quick easy read. I tried to read it later, and I had a hard time getting past how much of a knock off it was, and it seemed almost too simplistic.

Fortunately, I read the Hel's Crucible dualog, and it was more original, and a little better written. Still a quick easy read with a lot of action. If you are looking for a new concept in fantasy, this is not it, but if you like Tolkien's work, you will probably like McKiernan's works.

As far as the Sword of Shanara, that one had some of the same elements as LOTR, but it was unique enough to be a different story. The Elfstones of Shanara was a great departure, and a good book also. The maps in the Shanara books were a little weak though.

[James_Heard]

I'm more in favor of Harry Turtledove's maps for Videssos.

[Eilathen]

Hey, i found a new map to share

The author is Alison Croggon, an australian writer. Very tolkien-ish...as i understand, the novel is very lyrical...but i have not read it yet. Just thought i'd show you this and see what you pros had to say

http://booksofpellinor.com/maps/edil_map.html