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.

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…

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!

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

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.

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!