Other Jimness > Codex Alera Spoilers
A Map (cont'd) Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers
xsmrahn:
First, let me say that this series ranks way high on my list of most favorite scifantasy stories. I love the good guys, the bad guys, the dance of intention/information, wow! Everytime a new book comes out, I reread several of the older ones. But darn it, the map doesn't rank anywhere near the story.
Okay, the map is really pretty, I like the shading, font & illustrations of Marat & Canem. It is very visually pleasing at first glance. I also really like having it, I had everything pictured backwards (the west is always the frontier to me, but jeez, that's because I grew up in the West!) But speaking as a geologist, it always surprises me how many authors/illustrators make dumb maps. Honestly, pick up a real map & then do some splicing or have the map checked by someone who thinks about stuff like gravity & glaciation & plate techtonics!
Most of the time they do bad things with water. That is this map's problem. Rivers start in topography, not in the flats. They can bisect topography (ie canyon) but that's hard to do realistically at this scale. Rivers that come from mountains have speed, they don't tend to build the Mississippi style delta that you see coming out of Kalare. Those tend to happen with lower relief, bigger drainage rivers like, well, the Mississippi (maybe the Gaul could have ended that way, or the Tiber). Lakes are also pretty rare in real geography--think about it, they are either in the mountains (glaciation) or they are reservoirs (man made). Okay, the Great Lakes of North America aren't in a very mountainous region, but they are glacier made. Unless a lake is important to the story, I'd say skip it, as they are really hard to get right.
The Calderon valley looks weird in the big map, although they put in a bunch of hill/mountain symbols in the blow up. That makes it better but it would have been even better to have the Redhill Heights range trend that way.
Sorry to be so picky, but when you soak in all the great attention to detail in the words & plot line, it wrenches to see lack of detail in the map.
belgarion:
--- Quote from: xsmrahn on December 11, 2009, 04:33:31 AM ---First, let me say that this series ranks way high on my list of most favorite scifantasy stories. I love the good guys, the bad guys, the dance of intention/information, wow! Everytime a new book comes out, I reread several of the older ones. But darn it, the map doesn't rank anywhere near the story.
Okay, the map is really pretty, I like the shading, font & illustrations of Marat & Canem. It is very visually pleasing at first glance. I also really like having it, I had everything pictured backwards (the west is always the frontier to me, but jeez, that's because I grew up in the West!) But speaking as a geologist, it always surprises me how many authors/illustrators make dumb maps. Honestly, pick up a real map & then do some splicing or have the map checked by someone who thinks about stuff like gravity & glaciation & plate techtonics!
Most of the time they do bad things with water. That is this map's problem. Rivers start in topography, not in the flats. They can bisect topography (ie canyon) but that's hard to do realistically at this scale. Rivers that come from mountains have speed, they don't tend to build the Mississippi style delta that you see coming out of Kalare. Those tend to happen with lower relief, bigger drainage rivers like, well, the Mississippi (maybe the Gaul could have ended that way, or the Tiber). Lakes are also pretty rare in real geography--think about it, they are either in the mountains (glaciation) or they are reservoirs (man made). Okay, the Great Lakes of North America aren't in a very mountainous region, but they are glacier made. Unless a lake is important to the story, I'd say skip it, as they are really hard to get right.
The Calderon valley looks weird in the big map, although they put in a bunch of hill/mountain symbols in the blow up. That makes it better but it would have been even better to have the Redhill Heights range trend that way.
Sorry to be so picky, but when you soak in all the great attention to detail in the words & plot line, it wrenches to see lack of detail in the map.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the comments xsm. The map was an evolutionary kind of thing. We started on it roughly three years ago and built it up as we received each book from Jim.
I'm pretty sure that Jim ok'd the map before it went into FLF and it reflects how he sees the Carna geography. It is a work of fiction and authors do have and can take literary liberties. The geography doesn't conform to Earth's reality but I kinda think it doesn't have to as long as it matches Jim's imagination. Just like a book of hard sci fi fiction doesn't necessarily have to conform to our reality's rules of physics. I suppose some would argue that no matter what reality we imagine that physics is physics. I guess I don't see it that way. Anyway, hope for the next series, that you'll be with us to help in the map thread.
M.
Shecky:
--- Quote from: xsmrahn on December 11, 2009, 04:33:31 AM ---First, let me say that this series ranks way high on my list of most favorite scifantasy stories. I love the good guys, the bad guys, the dance of intention/information, wow! Everytime a new book comes out, I reread several of the older ones. But darn it, the map doesn't rank anywhere near the story.
Okay, the map is really pretty, I like the shading, font & illustrations of Marat & Canem. It is very visually pleasing at first glance. I also really like having it, I had everything pictured backwards (the west is always the frontier to me, but jeez, that's because I grew up in the West!) But speaking as a geologist, it always surprises me how many authors/illustrators make dumb maps. Honestly, pick up a real map & then do some splicing or have the map checked by someone who thinks about stuff like gravity & glaciation & plate techtonics!
Most of the time they do bad things with water. That is this map's problem. Rivers start in topography, not in the flats. They can bisect topography (ie canyon) but that's hard to do realistically at this scale. Rivers that come from mountains have speed, they don't tend to build the Mississippi style delta that you see coming out of Kalare. Those tend to happen with lower relief, bigger drainage rivers like, well, the Mississippi (maybe the Gaul could have ended that way, or the Tiber). Lakes are also pretty rare in real geography--think about it, they are either in the mountains (glaciation) or they are reservoirs (man made). Okay, the Great Lakes of North America aren't in a very mountainous region, but they are glacier made. Unless a lake is important to the story, I'd say skip it, as they are really hard to get right.
The Calderon valley looks weird in the big map, although they put in a bunch of hill/mountain symbols in the blow up. That makes it better but it would have been even better to have the Redhill Heights range trend that way.
Sorry to be so picky, but when you soak in all the great attention to detail in the words & plot line, it wrenches to see lack of detail in the map.
--- End quote ---
I think you're stuck in modern-map thinking. Look at the style of the map and ask yourself if it's 1) intended to be accurate like today's maps or 2) only vaguely representational like the maps of 400 years ago. Add to that the question of whether it would be the kind of map WE would have... or the kind that Alerans would have. There's your answer.
IIIMarconeIII:
ok lets be serious (click to show/hide)A mountain got up and walked around. , are we really worried about, gravity & glaciation & plate techtonics.
belgarion:
--- Quote from: IIIMarconeIII on December 11, 2009, 02:39:21 PM ---ok lets be serious (click to show/hide)A mountain got up and walked around. , are we really worried about, gravity & glaciation & plate techtonics.
--- End quote ---
LMAO :~)
Mikey
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