There is something nice about maps. The idea of geometrically plotting out an expense of land, turning it from reality into the abstract, making things once concrete into symbols and stratagems. I don’t know why, but there is a joy to designing maps. Especially maps to lands that don’t exist, can’t exist. Whose geometry itself is of otherworldly, unworldly. Cubical. Sliced into spheres laying over spheres. Hierarchy of aether divorced from land. Here there be floating castles, murky mists filled with shining eyes and spirits whose graves were left baking in the sun.
Maps, also, should be tied to character, to exploration of the people within the text, and not divorced or outside of the text. All things within a text should be exploration of character, even the things not inside the text but residing inside the holes of the text, the art beside the text, the numbers on the page and the maps glued to the book that come unfolding when looked at in the correct way.
I love maps. Have for as long as I can remember. I don’t know how much productivity I’ve lost because I’ve looked something up on GoogleMaps and gotten lost…LOL
One thing I love about Google Maps is that if you know how to program, you can do just about ANYTHING with them. One of these days I want to tell a story using google maps
I too, love maps and have many books filled with images of old maps. There is a strong allure to maps of the fantastic, I am constantly sketching maps of fanciful places that only have shape and form within my mind.
“Hierarchy of aether divorced from land. Here there be floating castles, murky mists filled with shining eyes and spirits whose graves were left baking in the sun.”
Damn, I love your gift with words.