# Novels With Maps of Imaginary Places **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [August 13, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583 "2022-08-13T03:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/21 "2022-08-13T14:35:19Z")
C. S. Lewis and his brother Warren Lewis as children created an imaginary land called Boxen. They wrote stories and made maps of this land. What is left of this in 1985 was published as _Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis_ (retitled in later editions as _Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia_): > **[Boxen (C. S. Lewis)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxen_(C._S._Lewis))** > > Boxen is a fictional world that C. S. Lewis ("Jack") and his brother W. H. Lewis ("Warnie") created as children. The world of Boxen was created when Jack's stories about Animal-Land and Warnie's stories about India were brought together. In Surprised by Joy, Jack explains that the union of Animal-Land and India took place "sometime in the late eighteenth century (their eighteenth century, not ours)". > During a time when influenza was ravaging many families, the Lewis brothers were forced to stay... ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/22 "2022-08-13T14:42:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > How did this come to be a thing? Was LOTR first? The Hobbit had one earlier, though LOTR expanded it quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/23 "2022-08-13T14:52:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s particularly hard to refer to a map while reading an e-book. This. It’s the thing I dislike most about e-books. I can’t enlarge the damn maps on my Kindle ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/24 "2022-08-13T14:52:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > But I find it annoying when they are essential to following the story and reading is constantly interrupted by necessary revisits to the end papers to refer to a map. > > It’s particularly hard to refer to a map while reading an e-book. Yes, i really like ebooks, but they aren’t good for checking the maps. And yes i enjoy maps and find them helpful to visualize the world and where people are in it. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/25 "2022-08-13T18:29:06Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > It’s particularly hard to refer to a map while reading an e-book. > > This. It’s the thing I dislike most about e-books. I can’t enlarge the damn maps on my Kindle Some of them you can. I’ve done so. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/26 "2022-08-13T18:30:46Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Some of them you can. I’ve done so. some e-books? or some kindles? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/27 "2022-08-13T19:32:55Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s particularly hard to refer to a map while reading an e-book. Imagine the frustration of someone listening to the audiobook. . Apparently, I really like maps of fictitious places. I’ve hand-drawn many maps of cities that don’t exist, and drew a large one that shows how to get from The Shire to Narnia. Hint: turn left just after the Fire Swamp, look for the cantina in Mos Eisley (sign says Korova Blue Milk Bar), have a butterbeer while you wait for the next bus (CatBus, Knight Bus, Bulgy Bus or Miss Frizzle’s … schedules vary. Do not get off at Dictionopolis or Shiz, but continue on to Pallet Town _… etc etc._ ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/28 "2022-08-13T20:00:15Z")
Some ebooks on kindles. I have a kindle fire 10. I read a lot of fantasy and love maps. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/29 "2022-08-13T20:02:46Z")
I love maps in fantasy books. Many of the most popular series will have a map of some sort, tho not all are included in the books. As said above, Conan had a map, so did _Elric of Melnibone_ and Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane books. When _Wheel of Time_ was on Amazon Prime last year, I looked up the map because I hadn’t read the books. Great details on some of those maps. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/30 "2022-08-13T20:13:05Z")
IIRC all of Jerry Pournelle’s Falkenberg’s Legion/Lysander of Sparta books had maps of the various planets they fought on. They were quite helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/31 "2022-08-13T20:18:17Z")
Maps make a book, whether fiction or nonfiction, better. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/32 "2022-08-13T20:42:41Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Maps make a book, whether fiction or nonfiction, better A crutch can also make a lame man better. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/33 "2022-08-13T20:49:21Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > There’s a very evocative map in **William Hope Hodgson** ’s _[The Night Land](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Land)_ (1912). > > It is a very singular novel set a particularly haunting world. I would not hesitate to call it one the most remarkable world-building exercise in speculative fiction but it is marred by an impossibly stilted writing style. That was a very intense, but also, at times, very boring book. I didn’t really need the map because he was pretty obsessive about physical descriptions. I was thinking of _Islandia_ by Austin Tappan Wright. I needed the map sometimes with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/34 "2022-08-13T20:58:12Z")
One I remember was the [map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Lands.beyond.jpg) of the Kingdom of Wisdom from [The Phantom Tollbooth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Tollbooth). Somewhere between third and fifth grades (can’t remember exactly), I hand-copied the map as a school project. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/35 "2022-08-13T21:02:27Z")
Drawn by Jules Feiffer. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/36 "2022-08-13T21:08:22Z")
Mine was better. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/37 "2022-08-14T02:59:52Z")
The first Oz book to include a map was _Tik-Tok of Oz_. Before that, Baum had drawn one for his live travel lecture / magic lantern / short movie live performance _Fairylogue and Radio Plays_. Some later books included detail maps of the action area. The publisher had a map you could write in for, and you can get a set today (one map of Oz and one map of the continent Oz is in the center of and its surrounding seas) from the International Wizard of Oz Club ([http://ozclub.org](http://ozclub.org) ). I’m pretty sure _Islandia_ by August Tappan Wright had a map. _Gulliver’s Travels_ has maps. Tolkien recommended _starting_ with a draft of the map, so you don’t foozle yourself while writing. Many modern editions of Dante come with modern maps, but Dante wrote long before Gutenberg, and I am unaware of any official, auctorial map—and I’m pretty sure I would know if one existed. Are they useful? Plenty, depending on how your brain operates. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/38 "2022-08-14T05:59:11Z")
I feel like Edgar Rice Burroughs had maps in the Barssom books of Mars, which are a sort of fantasy. They were the first thought I had for early maps in books. I had 2/3 of LoTR with large fold out maps, I think they broke from the binding though. (Paperbacks) ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/39 "2022-08-14T07:29:09Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > That was a very intense, but also, at times, very boring book. I didn’t really need the map because he was pretty obsessive about physical descriptions. **Hodgson** ’s vision is amazingly unique and eerie. His style is horribly artificial. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583/40 "2022-08-14T19:27:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > This. It’s the thing I dislike most about e-books. I can’t enlarge the damn maps on my Kindle On the original Kindle, it was horrible. Since most of the Kindle (Fire) machines can handle things like tabs, I just open what I’m reading twice on two tabs and flip back and forth between the two pages. For non-Fantasy works, I usually have one tab set to Google Earth or Google Maps and flip between the text and the maps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-maps-of-imaginary-places/969583.md?page=3)