Tiffany MunroThe Fallen: Fantasy Book Map and Cover Design for Peter J. Wood
The Fallen grew out of an earlier map I made for Peter J. Wood’s novel The Steading. See the map for: The Steading: A Story of Survival and New Beginnings The first book needed a secluded homestead hidden in a mountain valley. The sequel opened the camera dramatically: Peter came back asking for the same visual language across a much larger part of the world, running from Arctic country in the north to desert in the south.
That meant the original Steading map had to become a small part of a much broader geography without losing its identity. We originally discussed treating it as an inset with a magnifying-glass effect, but once I started drawing I integrated the old region directly at the new scale. The finished map was designed for a 7 × 10 inch book page and needed to remain readable in grayscale for the printed novel, while still having enough restrained colour to work as a standalone digital piece.
The cover was a different sort of job. Peter already had a photographic base he could legally use, but wanted it to feel less like stock photography and more like the same world as the map. We reworked the typography and atmosphere around the image, leaning into the book’s colder survival-horror edge: northern light, haze, shadowy figures at the forest edge, and the suggestion of death in the sky rather than a giant literal skull yelling “THIS BOOK CONTAINS PERIL.” Subtlety won.
Peter has since turned the project into The Steading Trilogy, and I have continued doing cover work for later editions and audiobook versions. You can find The Fallen by Peter J. Wood on Amazon.
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I create book maps, cover design, illustration, layout, and other world-building art for independent authors and game creators. Contact me for a quote and tell me what strange thing your manuscript needs made visible.
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