History Main / FantasyWorldMap

** No, it wouldn't. A map of the entire world can be found in the Big White Book, and it looks nothing like Earth.
*** Really? A continent across the ocean from the westlands (Europe) that is mostly north-south (America), the westlands are east of a much larger continent with much more impressive mountain ranges (Asia), a small, island continent exists (Australia), and the map suggests a southern polar continent (Antarctica). Africa is the only thing missing, really.
**** [[HumansAreWhite Can't imagine why.]]
**** Oh, there are dark-skinned people. They all live on the ocean (in boats, not just swimming around). So apparently Africa sunk and they adapted really fast.
***** Your all missing the point. The world of the Wheel Of Time IS Earth, but set un the future and changed by [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The Breaking of The World]] caused by the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]] male [[WitchSpecies Aes Sedai]].

**** [[LeastCommonSkinTone Can't imagine why.]]

* AndreNorton's early ''WitchWorld'' novels had a small world map drawn by Jack Gaughan, showing the three main kingdoms with the ocean to the west. In some of the later novels there are two maps covering a much wider area, one of which depicts the lands adjacent to the western ocean, and the other depicting the rest of the eastern continent.

** Viciously parodied in the 1969 paperback ''BoredOfTheRings'' by the Harvard Lampoon, whose map of "Lower Middle Earth" (online copy [[http://boredoftherings.150m.com/bored_map.html here]], but it comes laden with popup ads) includes such features as "The Legendary Drillingrigs", "The Land of the Knee-walking Turkeys", "The Islets of the Langerhans", "The Tiny X-Shaped Forest", and a body of water shaped like the profile of Richard Nixon called "The Bay of Milhous". It also includes a compass rose with the directions Up, Down, Right (pointing left) and Left (pointing right). (This last may be an intentional ShoutOut to the original maps of Oz -- see below.) Fortunately for the competency-challenged cast, they didn't have to visit ''every'' labeled spot on it.

* Each of the five books in Lloyd Alexander's ''[[PrydainChronicles Chronicles of Prydain]]'' features a map at the beginning which is relevant to the plot of the story. Since they take place in different parts of Prydain, the map naturally changes; the map also notes what happens where. It should be noted that this map bears an obvious resemblance to that of Wales, though "Prydain is not Wales--not entirely, at least."

* Star Wars got the Fantasy World Map treatment in form of "The Essential Atlas", which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just what it is]]. The authors had to not only go through the [[StarWars six movies]], but also the [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse tv shows, comic books, novels, e-stories and Video Games]]. All in all this encompasses to a Fantasy GALAXY Map.

* By the end of 90-th, StarWars Galaxy had received a map that established the key regions and locations for a couple dozens of major planets. By the end of 2000-th, StarWars Galaxy had received a full Atlas, with over '''60 astro-maps''' and precise locations of over '''4,500''' planets.

***** Your all missing the point. The world of the Whel Of Time IS Earth, but set un the future and changed by [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The Breaking of The World]] caused by the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]] male [[WitchSpecies Aes Sedai]].

When the map is particularly badly done and makes [[DidNotDoTheResearch no sense]], it's a PatchworkMap. A similarly lazy but more tantilizing choice is HijackedGeography.

Sometimes complicated by opaque library book covers that cannot be removed from the book. In that case, there will forever be one side of the map that you cannot see without breaking the book cover, though if you're lucky the map will be on the inside of both the front and back covers, covering up the left and right sides respectively.

* ''MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' likewise has several, although it's not always clear how the different continents relate to each others.

* The manga series ''DragonKnights'' begins to feature a map of the world with each volume starting around the beginning of the arc when the titular Knights split up on different quests.

* ''AFireUponTheDeep'' by ''VernorVinge''. While a science fiction novel, it has a map of the galaxy done in fantasy style. It includes a delineation of the "Zones of Thought", which regulate FTL travel, as well as the path the protagonists' ship takes.

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Maps of fantasy worlds have been a feature of {{Fantasy}} books ever since [[strike:Tolkien]] [[OlderThanTheyThink L. Frank Baum]]. A visual reference can be very handy. Often drawn in elaborate script, pointing out the DoomedHometown, TheKingdom, TheEmpire, various {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s, each of the FiveRaces' lands. Also marking out many of the {{Wacky Wayside Tribe}}s, the dangerous ForbiddenZone ({{Mordor}}) and other [[TheLostWoods Lost Woods]]. DianaWynneJones's ''TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' has a few things to say on the subject of maps, including the fact that if you're on a quest you may expect to visit ''every single place'' marked on them.

[[caption-width:256:''FinalFantasyI'''s map helpfully reminds you which game you're playing.]]

** Could you explain what's wrong with it? This troper has it in his hands right now, and besides the Hadarac desert looking out of place, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it.

Sometimes complicated by transparent library book covers that cannot be removed from the book. In that case, there will forever be one side of the map that you cannot see without breaking the book cover, though if you're lucky the map will be on the inside of both the front and back covers, covering up the left and right sides respectively.

* By the end of 90-th, StarWars Galaxy had received a map that established the key regions and locations for a couple dozens of major planets. By the end of 2000-th, StarWars Galaxy had received a full Atlas, with over '''60 astro-maps''' and precise locations of over '''4,500''' planets. SoYeah...

* ''TheTenthKingdom'' also has a map thoughtfully provided for the viewers' enjoyment, on the wall of Snow White Memorial Prison, so that both the hapless heroes TrappedInAnotherWorld and the viewers can learn exactly what the Nine Kingdoms look like. Unlike most versions of the fantasy map, it displays places which are never visited in the miniseries, since the story remains confined to the Fourth Kingdom (with brief forays into the Third and Ninth). It also has the amusing location marker "You Are Imprisoned Here" -- this becomes a slight RunningGag in the {{Novelization}} with a map in Kissing Town marked "You Are Romantically Here" -- and has the interesting feature of being remarkably similar in outlines to Europe... a feature which has led to some interesting EpilepticTrees among the fandom, ranging from [[AlternateHistory the Nine Kingdoms having diverged from our timeline centuries ago]] to our world being a nonmagical, cursed offshoot of the Kingdoms.