Tiffany MunroMap of the Northern Lands
This map is for J.M. Gillingham’s new book, Everspring from Crowsnest Books, the second in a series that’s shaping up to maybe be a trilogy. Get Gatewatch and Everspring here! Great books, lovely style, thoughtfully rendered inside and out. I did my best to make the map resemble the style of the cover artist’s work without being too cluttered. You’ll see this in the hand lettered runic text that matches the font and the clouds behind the mountains which are detailed in a similar way to the cover art.
Here’s the blurb to get you hyped! This is the next best thing to reading the Hobbit and it’s sure to become a beloved favorite of the next generation of fantasy readers.
Torin Ten-Trees and his closest companions, Bryn and Grimsa, set out to join The Gatewatch and become trollhunters. When a troupe of meddling dwarves throws them off course they are captured by trolls and taken as prisoners to a secret gathering deep underground. There they learn that an ancient giant has crowned himself king of the trolls and plans to utterly destroy The Gatewatch. Their perilous journey back to the land of sun and stars will stretch their strength to the limit, strain their wits, and demand an unspeakable sacrifice. But will it be enough to defeat the Troll King? The Gatewatch is an epic troll-hunting adventure inspired by the Norse Myths and the Icelandic Sagas.
This is my third map for the series… technically fourth if you count the above ground and underground versions of the region with the caves… perhaps in the future we’ll zoom out even further!
I thought I’d posted them on my portfolio but I’m not finding them to link here. I’ll have to dig them out and post then make a backlink here.
I’m really happy with this map, the way the coast resembles a giant, the detail in the mountains, etc.
The books are a bit like reading a poetic myth, really quite something, perfect for kids just getting into fantasy too. I recommend them!
I make custom maps for your fantasy novel
You don’t have to write about giants, trolls, dwarves and craft poems in dead languages for me to be interested in creating a map for your book! While I absolutely adored making this Norse inspired map with runic lettering, I’d adore making whatever is unique about your book too! If you’re self-published or working with a publisher, just reach out and I’ll talk to you about what I can make for your setting!
The rivers don’t make much sense at all, but the map itself is pretty great.
Thanks, Owen. I like this map quite a bit. I had no say in the rivers, my commissioner gave me a specific illustration of where they were to go. Given as the story is a mythological tale about how all of the rivers spring from this one source I think it’s fine to handwave it as “magical font of all water propels its journey” rather than “accurate fluid dynamics”. It is mythical fantasy, after all, not science fiction. When I’m given the opportunity to design my own watersheds I try to make them believable but in the end, my client’s requests always win out over my preference. And I’ve drawn worse rivers than these on client request. (hello darkness my old friend)